Tuesday afternoon saw our Under-21s suffer a first defeat in five games with a 4-2 loss away to Crystal Palace.

Palace opened the scoring inside the third minute through Kwesi Appiah’s header, but the United youngsters hit back within just two minutes as Jake Skelton diverted Eoghan Stokes’ shot beyond goalkeeper Chris Kettings.

It was a frantic start to proceedings at the home of Tooting and Mitcham FC, and Palace were back in front on the seventh minute through Appiah’s second of the afternoon.

The Ghana international completed his hat-trick shortly after half-time, before Reise Allassani added a fourth from close-range.

Luke Parkin reduced the deficit, capping off a smart run with a cool finish, while Eric Grimes kept out a Connor Dymond penalty with a fine reflex save in the closing stages.

United team: Grimes, Coyle, Coker (Denton 52), Killock, Skelton, Purver, Thompson, N'Goyi (Vann 88), Booker (Lyman 58), Parkin, Stokes. Subs not used. Atkinson, Crouz.