Town’s U21s were beaten 1-0 by Sheffield United at Playford Road this afternoon.
In a competitive and very closely fought game it was a match between two sides who had scored six times in their last home match.
There was an early booking for Zain Tahir on the edge of the box but the free-kick by Matty Roberts was held by keeper Henry Molyneux.
It was a much-changed United side from the one that beat Brentford 6-0 last Tuesday at Bramall Lane as several were included in their first-team squad for their Caraboa Cup match against Barnsley.
There was a chance for Marshall Francis but his effort was held by Town keeper Henry Gray. Then he was involved with a tussle with Jacob Mazionis and was lucky not to get booked and the referee spoke to the pair of them. Giant Town centre-back Mazionis then hit the bar with a header from a corner but the referee spotted an infringement.
After a drinks break things were quiet for a while until Francis was booked for a foul. The away side got into a decent position but failed to make the most of it.
However, right on half-time, United, who had Zach Giggs, son of Ryan, among their subs, took the lead as Billy Blacker did good work on the right beat a couple of defenders before scoring.
At the break, Olly Davis replaced Ash Boatswain, then on 53 minutes Harry Boyes and Blacker linked up well to win a corner.
Just after the hour mark, Evan Easton was booked as United were defending but not always legally getting away with frequent shirt pulling.
Town were putting on a fair amount of pressure but were just not making that final telling pass. Jili Buyabu shot over the bar and a Town shot was deflected onto the bar.
On 84 minutes, a Boyes pass found Alfie Atherton whose shot was deflected wide.
Late on, keeper Molyneux was booked for time-wasting as were other defenders for fouls. For Town, Mazionis and Emmanuel Okunowo also received yellow cards.
Although the home team pressed hard in stoppage time they just could not quite create that real chance.
A late knock for Francis after he was caught by a Town player saw him limp off and be replaced by Jackson Blaize. Prior to that, Gray made a brave and courageous save from close range when United looked as if they would get a second goal, blocking with his stomach, but he recovered after treatment.
Elsewhere, the U18s lost 6-4 away to Luton in the Professional Development League Cup.
Town: Gray, Babb, Lewis, Mazionis, Ayoola, Onuchukwu (Turner), Morgan, Okunowo, Boatswain (O Davis 46), T Taylor, Roberts. Unused: Fleischer, Curtis, Sains.
Sheffield United: Molyneux, Buyabu, Boyes, Sasnauskas, Tahir, Waldron, Blacker, Easton, Atherton, Aston, Francis (Blaize 90).
Unused: Grainger, Prunty, Haughton-Parris, Giggs.