READING FC suffered a 3-1 defeat at Leicester City in the Under 18 Premier League on Saturday.
The visitors were behind right from the start after Conor Tee converted an early cross to put Foxes in front.
Leicester then made it 2-0 when Tyrese Shade was sent clear before slotting past Royals keeper Gabriel Rosario.
David Dodds youngsters refused to buckle and pulled one back with an Ethan Coleman header from a corner.
But George Heaven quickly restored the host’s two-goal advantage, with neither side able to find the net in the second half.
U18s manager Dodds said: “We’ve said right from the off in pre-season that we’re really young this year.
“It is more good experience for the younger lads and we had four schoolboys out there at the end.
“There were some really promising things in the first half, but in the second half we struggled to get out from the back as well as we had in the first. It’s a young team that will learn from the experience.
“It’s a great philosophy we have here, to play players above their age group and take them out of their comfort zone.”
Reading U18: Rosario, Wilson, Lawless, Obamakinwa (Pendlebury 60), Nditi, Buchanan, Sparta, Coleman, Nolan (Nevers HT), Wallace (Matete 70), Moore. Subs not used: Desbois, Lawrence.
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