A FIRST-HALF penalty condemned Everton under-18s to their third defeat of the season as they lost 1-0 at Nottingham Forest on Saturday.

Despite fielding a strong side featuring several youngsters with first-team experience in Shane Duffy, James Wallace and Jose Baxter, Neil Dewsnip’s side lost out.

The home side started a bit better than Everton and following a free-kick the referee gave Forest a penalty after the ball hit Duffy’s hand. It appeared the Everton defender was pushed, but Forest took advantage of their fortune to convert the spot-kick and take the lead.

Everton tried their best to get back into the match with Baxter trying his luck with a couple of long-range efforts that failed to trouble the keeper.

Towards the end of the first half 17-year-old German right-back Shkodran Mustafi – a summer recruit from Hamburg – twice had headers from Nathan Craig corners cleared off the line.

After the break Everton battled away to grab an equaliser and created plenty of chances.

They almost got the leveller following a couple of changes from coach Dewsnip halfway through the second half. Conor McAleny and Tom Doneghan replaced Lewis Codling and Adam Forshaw.