A frantic first half - that saw all four goals in the game netted - saw us fall to defeat against Crystal Palace at London Colney.
The scoring began after just six minutes when Zach Marsh spun past his marker and sent a low centre across goal which was tapped home by Franco Umeh, who could have had a second soon after but the attacker missed from close range.
However we responded to that let-off and managed to get ourselves level on 20 minutes when Jimi Gower found himself with a sight of goal, and he coolly found the bottom corner to restore parity for Jack Wilshere’s team.
But that lasted just six minutes when Eyimofe Jemide rose highest to nod a corner down into a congested penalty area, and Umeh was on hand again to lash the ball into the net.
It looked as though we would go into the break still well in the contest, but the one-goal deficit turned to two in first-half stoppage time when Palace sprung a counter-attack that saw Asher Agbinone square for Marsh to slide past Noah Cooper.
That ultimately was the end of the scoring despite a whole half to play, with Cooper denying Agbinone in the second half to keep us in contention, however the Eagles held firm to take the points south of the river.
What it means
We are now eighth in the U18s Premier League South, with Palace jumping up into second spot, albeit 15 points behind runaway leaders West Ham United.
What’s next
We head to West Bromwich Albion on Saturday, March 4 who sit a point and a position behind us in the table, before we face Palace again a week later at their Beckenham base.
Teams
Arsenal: Cooper, Robinson, Quamina, Kacurri, Nichols, Kamara, M’Hand, Gower, Ferdinand, Ibrahim (Green 64), Benjamin (Kabia 64).
Palace: Izquierdo, Kporha, Cardines, Jemide, Grante, Reid, Agbinone (Dixon 90), Austin, Gibbard (Obou 69), Umeh (Socoliche 74), Marsh (Williams 90).
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