Nottingham Forest may have suffered FA Youth Cup heartbreak as they were beaten 3-1 at Old Trafford by Manchester United, but the young Reds showed there was plenty of be optimistic about despite the result.
When United skipper Rhys Bennett headed the hosts in-front, they could have buckled under the pressure and gone on to be beaten heavily. Instead, Warren Joyce's side showed character to fight back and level the scores when Joshua Powell's strike from distance trickled under Radek Vitek's arms in the United goal.
Forest gave a good account of themselves again in the second half. Detlef Esapa-Osong, the provider of so many of Forest Under-18s' goals this season - proved dangerous up-front, as did Dale Taylor and Sam Collins out-wide.
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But questions will be left hanging over the result after referee Josh Smith awarded a penalty following Zach Abbott's clumsy tackle on Alejandro Garnacho. The Forest man may have been deserving in the yellow card shown, but replays later indicated the initial foul was outside the penalty area.
That did not seem to matter one bit to Garnacho, though, who fired home from 12 yards despite the controversial circumstances. Perhaps the penalty would have made no difference given Garnacho added another goal deep into stoppage-time, but the result will probably sting no less.
Despite all of that, Forest fans were given plenty to be optimistic about with three key players standing out in the FA Youth Cup final defeat to United.
JAMIE McDONNELL
It is an incredible responsibility to captain your club in a Cup final, let alone one at Old Trafford - and the pressure on him, along with all the other Forest youngsters, would have been huge in-front of the 67,492-strong crowd.
Despite that though he took the armband and captained his side to an excellent performance. In a game that saw midfield turn quite scrappy at times, McDonnell's role as skipper expanded beyond his responsibilities in the middle of the pitch as he looked to repeatedly motivate his team-mates even when things were not going their way.
Beaming with pride as he walked his team out onto the Old Trafford turf, he was also one of the first to head towards the Forest supporters situated in the East Stand at full-time. He seems to love playing for Forest and the 6,000-odd Reds fans who traveled north will almost certainly hear his name a lot in the future.
JOSHUA POWELL
Scoring in a Cup final should be a childhood dream, but for Joshua Powell the test will now be as to how he manages to respond after he provided Forest's sole goal in a 3-1 defeat at Old Trafford.
The youngster, operating on the right of midfield, partnered Sam Collins well throughout the night but was a regular thorn in United's side as he pressed up and down the right wing.
Whilst his set-piece delivery - from corners and free-kicks - occasionally lacked the accuracy needed of them, the 17-year-old still has plenty of time to refine his talent.
Forest seem to have a talent at developing right-sided players: Matty Cash and Brennan Johnson to name a couple. Josh Powell could be another to be added onto that list.
DALE TAYLOR
Unlike Powell, Taylor isn't a Nottingham lad. Just like McDonnell, Taylor was flown to Trentside from Northern Ireland having had his talent spotted as a youngster through the Reds' contacts across the Irish sea. His talent was clear and so Forest swooped.
Alongside Etlef Esapa Osong, Taylor has been one of the main suppliers of goals for Warren Joyce's side. He produced an excellent performance in the semi-final victory over Chelsea and it was another glowing performance at Old Trafford.
His physicality made him difficult to mark and it could be argued that he is - slightly - similar to the attacking profile of Kienan Davis. With strength, pace and the occasional display of skill to his disposal, Taylor spreads fear through defenders' minds as he bears towards goal.
He has been involved in Steve Cooper's first-team squad in recent weeks and has already made his senior Northern Ireland debut. If you had to put money on one of these players having a lasting role at Forest, Taylor would be the front-runner.
