Nottingham Forest U21s came out on top of an electric game against Aston Villa U21s that saw both sides throw caution to the wind in a 4-3 contest at Meadow Lane, moving to the top of the table.
Despite initially taking the lead, The Reds were pegged back multiple times by a plucky Aston Villa team as the destination of all three points seemed to be inconclusive all the way throughout.
Lyle Taylor had opened the scoring with a belting drive, but The Reds found themselves needing to dig deep and equalise twice and eventually re-take and keep the lead after further goals from Ben Perry, Josh Powell and Alex Mighten.
Warren Joyce named four changes to the side that saw off Middlesbrough late on last Friday evening, as Taylor, Perry, Powell and Sam Collins replaced Esapa Osong, Oliver Hammond, Kyle McAdam and Jack Thompson.
The contest got off to a strong start from the hosts, who looked to constantly press against the Villa defence and close off passing lanes as quickly as possible with relentless pressure. Such pressing presented Collins with an early opportunity to cross in search of Taylor, but Josh Feeney was on hand for the visitors to clear their lines with the experienced forward lurking.
The game swiftly took an unfortunate turn, however, as Ben Hammond endured a nasty clash of heads with Omari Kellyman soon after, with both men requiring treatment on the field for over five minutes before being withdrawn.
The break in play did little to deter Forest from their determined early display, and they soon carved out a chance as Taylor picked up possession on the left-hand side before cutting in and curled an effort over the bar.
Villa sought to remind their hosts of their presence in the game as soon as possible, and threatened to do so through substitute Brad Young, who raced in behind onto a long ball over the top only to be denied just before he could reach the box by a gorgeous tackle from captain Jamie McDonnell.
Forest soon shook that off and quickly pushed forward down the centre through Ben Perry, who slipped Taylor in behind again down the right channel before the striker smashed an effort on goal, only to be denied inexplicably by a flying block off the line from Kaine Kesler.
The Reds kept the suffocating pressure up, though, and soon had more chances as Alex Gibson-Hammond outed himself as a constant thorn in the visitors’ sides, driving past two on the right before seeing a cross cleared, and soon again as he cut past one more on the left before bending a powerful strike over the bar.
It was fitting, then, that it would be Gibson-Hammond and Taylor who combined to break the deadlock as the winger again beat his man on the left edge of the box before picking out the Montserrat international just inside the area, who took a touch and blasted an unstoppable effort into the near top corner, leaving the goalkeeper with absolutely no chance.
The lead wouldn’t hold long for all Forest’s unrelenting energy and dominance, as the Villains soon restored parity through Young, who steadied himself in the midst of some post-corner chaos to roll onto his left foot and loop an equaliser high into the top left corner.
Forest dusted themselves off and kept the chances coming as a breathless first half came to a close, as Gibson-Hammond again picked up possession and drove through the heart of the midfield before rolling a pass through the legs of Feeney in search of Larsson, who just couldn’t reach the pass as the chance fizzled away.
Villa began to quickly grow their presence further in the contest, and soon found themselves placed into the ascendancy by Kaden Young, who broke in behind off of a quick one-two to slide home his sides second of the evening to take the lead in the contest for what would certainly not be the last time.
There was still to be one more opportunity for Forest in the first half, as Taylor chested down a cross from the right before laying it off for Larsson, who struck into a sea of claret shirts as the curtain fell on an electric first half.
As the second half began, Villa looked to target the channels with clever runs and reverse passes, one combination of which saw Brad Young peel away from his marker and blast a low effort into the side netting as the Villains threatened to run away with the game.
Forest were not to be silenced, however, and soon made a chance of their own as a floated cross to the back post from Taylor allowed Justin Hanks to attack with a header, but the keeper caught it on the stretch with no red shirts on hand to force it home.
The full-back was presented with another fine chance to score by Taylor, as the forward drove to the byline after a set from Powell to pick Hanks out again at the back post, this time along the floor, who’s shot was just too close to the keeper.
It was not to matter for long, as mere seconds later Hanks drove a low cross of his own across the face of goal in search of Taylor, but it evaded everyone but Powell at the back post, who drove home with precision and power to draw his side level.
That too was to be swiftly undone as Villa quickly restored their advantage, as a cross in from the left made its way over to Brad Young once again, who struck low and hard on goal from a tight angle to grab a third for his side, despite the best efforts of Zach Abbott on the line.
Alex Mighten’s introduction breathed wind into the host’s sails, with the tricky winger coming off of the bench to pick up possession down the left-wing before cutting in onto his favoured right foot and arrowing a powerful effort wide of the mark.
The energy that him and fellow substitute Esapa Osong brought into the game bore fruit for the Reds very quickly, as the latter drove inside to pick out the former on the edge, who set Ben Perry up just barely inside the area to slide home a gorgeous equaliser in a game with seemingly no end to its drama.
A fourth beckoned for Nottingham Forest as the ever-dangerous Gibson-Hammond again cut in from the right wing and beat his marker, finding enough room from range to bend a left-footed attempt agonizingly wide of the far post.
The young Reds continued to pile forward in an end-to-end affair and kept relentlessly pushing to make as many chances as they could in search of the goal that would finally restore their lead. They almost found it with fifteen left on the clock as Larsson’s run into the right-hand channel was picked out by Hanks, but the Swede was drowned out before he could put away the chance.
A fourth was not to evade Forest any longer, and it came by way of Mighten who put the exclamation point on a fantastic performance from off the bench by picking up the ball on the edge of the box and keeping cool to roll himself into a yard of space, beating his marker, and arrowing a skidding strike into the bottom left to finally re-establish the lead of an astoundingly pulsating match.
Mighten kept the dazzling antics up straight after, showing off his blistering pace down the left flank before forcing a corner off of a Villa shirt. The subsequent set-piece was whipped in superbly by Larsson to pick out Osong, who couldn’t make the connection on the volley.
Villa had one final chance to break through a resolute and determined Forest backline as Brad Young picked out Kesler at the back post, who worked himself into space but could only smash his effort over the target.
The visitors had no answer to the fantastic defensive efforts shown by the squad in the four minutes that were added on, and Nottingham Forest U21’s held on for a breath-taking win that moves them to the top of the Premier League 2 Division 2 table.