21s enjoy Leixoes workout
Nottingham Forest’s Under 21s got their pre-season schedule underway this morning with a game against Portuguese side Leixoes SC.
Jamie Fullarton’s men enjoyed a productive 90 minutes as they tested out their fitness levels in warm conditions in Porto but were eventually beaten by a goal in each half from the home side.
The game started at a frenetic pace as Forest looked to be relishing the chance to get minutes under their belts but it was the hosts who went in front just before the half-hour mark as a powerful low finish was enough to beat Ross Durrant in The Reds’ goal.
An instinctive save from Durrant soon prevented Leixoes from doubling their lead while goalscoring opportunities were proving difficult to come by for Forest in the opening 45 minutes.
After the break there were chances for James Thorne, Virgil Gomis and Alex Iacovitti to restore parity but Forest were made to pay with four minutes remaining as a corner was headed home by the Leixoes right-winger to condemn The Reds to a 2-0 defeat.
Despite the scoreline it remained a positive exercise for Fullarton who was able to give minutes to the majority of his squad ahead of another friendly against Boavista on Monday morning (kick-off 10.30am).
Keep up to date with the Under 21's and Under 18's pre-season tour of Portugal by following @NFFC_Academy.
Forest: Durrant (Erlandsson 46’), Burns (Gabriel 59’), Worrall, Karo (c), Kelly (Iacovitti 67’), Thorne (Otim 59’), Cash (Crookes 67’), Rees (Yates 59’), Austin (Wright 59’), Thomas (Gomis 67’), Walton
Quelle: nottinghamforest.co.uk
