U18s: Leicester 3-1 Bolton

Wanderers' Under 18 side suffered a 3-1 reverse at the hands of Leicester City on Saturday morning.

The Foxes had experienced a similar start to the Whites during the opening months of the season, but the hosts were to start the brighter of the two sides with a goal from Ben Chilwell inside four minutes of the clash.

With an early lead under their belts, Leicester were to hit Wanderers with a sucker-punch shortly after as Simonas Stankevicius doubled their advantage.

Not to be deterred however, the Whites enjoyed a number of opportunities to pull themselves back into the clash as Tom Walker hit the post with a free-kick and Jamie Thomas being adjudged to have been offside as he fired home the rebound.

Bolton's determination was clear to see, and their hard work was rewarded in the 65th minute as Carl Kennedy connected with Walker's corner to half the deficit.

A late rally saw Wanderers go close to snatching what would have been a deserved equaliser, but the Foxes hit them on the counter-attack to put the result beyond doubt.

Speaking following the final whistle, coach David Lee admitted his disappointment that his side had been forced to leave Belvoir Drive empty handed.

"We weren't good enough in the first half, but we were the better side in the second and deserved something out of the game," he explained. "There were a lot of positives that we can take away though and one or two great individual performances.

"We'll pick ourselves up and will be ready to go again against Newcastle on Saturday."

Bolton: Campbell, Greenaugh, Gibson, Ball, Kennedy, Cvetko, Thomas, Bailey, Abbotts (Nelson, 80), Hinchcliffe (Newby, 60), Walker

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David Lee takes positives despite another defeat for Bolton Wanderers Under-18s

The wait for a first league win goes on for Wanderers Under-18s after a 3-1 defeat at Leicester City on Saturday.

David Lee’s side have now drawn just one and lost nine in the FA U18 Premier League and were behind early on when Ben Chilwell gave the Foxes the lead inside four minutes.

Wanderers were hit by the sucker punch of a second goal for Leicester when Lithuania youth international Simonas Stankevicius headed home. Two goals down at half time, Lee’s side came out brightly in the second period and did everything they could to get back into the game.

They hit the woodwork twice – Tom Walker’s free kick one of those attempts that came back off the post to be followed up by Jamie Thomas but his effort was chalked off for offside.

They halved the deficit when Walker’s corner was headed home by Carl Kennedy on 65 minutes.

The Whites pushed for a leveller but got caught on the counter-attack in the final minute when the hosts sealed victory with a third goal, Stankevicius again heading his second.

Lee was left disappointed as the winless run stretched to 10 games, but he was satisfied with the team’s hard work on the day.

Lee said: “We weren’t good enough in the first half but we were the better side in the second and deserved something out of the game.

“There were a lot of positives that we can take away, though, and one or two great individual performances.

“We’ll pick ourselves up and will be ready to go again against Newcastle on Saturday.”

The U18s kick off at the later time of 1pm in that game against Newcastle at Lostock.

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