Norwich City's youngsters squandered a two-goal advantage to lose 3-2 to Bromley U21s in the Premier League Cup on Friday evening.
The Canaries, now managed jointly by Olly Lee and Alan Neilson, sit bottom of Group A having taken a single point from their opening three matches against Exeter City, Bromley and Bristol City.
A stunning late winner from former Aldershot striker Marc Nouble completed a second-half comeback for the hosts, with City losing their grip after leading at the interval.
Harmony Okwumo gave Norwich the lead inside the opening eight minutes. The right-back cut inside and saw his initial effort blocked before dispatching the rebound beyond James Batt.
Brandon Forbes and Dan Ogwuru had opportunities to double their advantage soon after with midfielder AJ Bridge also firing just over the crossbar.
City's pressure paid dividends when Ogwuru converted inside the opening eight minutes of the second period. After Sonny Rowland's forward ball created havoc amongst the Bromley defence, the striker profited from a defensive mix-up to convert Norwich's second.
Bromley responded just 13 minutes later when Nouble's effort was saved by City keeper Ellis Craven into the path of Charlie Paye who bundled home to ignite a comeback for the League Two outfit.
Paye was on hand to restore parity after City failed to clear a set-piece, leaving the defender to fire home his second of the evening from close range.
Nouble supplied the killer blow in stoppage time, cutting inside on the left before beautifully curling the ball beyond Craven to secure a valuable three points for the hosts and leave Norwich shellshocked.
U21 lead coach Lee offered an honest assessment of a difficult evening for the young Canaries at Hayes Lane.
"It was a really disappointing evening," Lee told City's official channels. "The result is obviously disappointing but there was a lot of the performance that I thought was missing.
"Fair play to Bromley. They showed what being a footballer is all about - effort and hard work, winning tackles and doing the hard yards. Some of the group didn't do that this evening. That's something that won't be acceptable. We are demanding more of the boys, and they need to start showing it.
"Football has a funny way of testing you. At 2-1, you could see that we were having a little bit of a wobble, and I was looking for who was going to step up, take control and kill the moment. We didn't have that, and the boys have to learn the hard way tonight.
"It's a real learning lesson, but we go back and start working again."
90th minute winner at Hayes Lane tonight 🚀 #WeAreBromley pic.twitter.com/mQr1ogjZwl
— Bromley FC (@bromleyfc) November 8, 2024
Bromley Under-21s: Batt; Fletcher, Morgan, Aris (Gutuerrez 75), Paye, Paul-Lavaly, Penn, Deh (Nouble 64), Kelmendi (Ibrahim 75), Corbin (Evans 64), Elerwe (Cave 32).
Goals: Paye 66, 83, Nouble 90+1
Bookings: Fletcher 23, Deh 45+1
Norwich City Under-21s: Craven; Okwumo (Simbai 85), Keita, Tomkinson, Warner; Rowland (Daley 72), Djedje, Bridge; Manning, Forbes (Mundle-Smith 85), Ogwuru. Subs not used: Finch, Owen.
Goals: Okwumo 8, Ogwuru 53
Bookings: Forbes 18, Okwumo 45+1, Ogwuru 90+6
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