Everton Under-21s rallied in vain as they suffered a 3-2 defeat at Sunderland on Monday evening.
The young Blues were undone by a quickfire double blow midway through the first half, but found hope through a Thomas Robson own goal minutes before the break.
A second period full of pressure and openings proved frustrating, particularly when Ola Toivonen grabbed his second of the night through a Black Cats counter-attack.
Kieran Dowell struck a sublime 86th-minute free kick to offer late hope, but the Toffees’ best chances had already been and gone.
Courtney Duffus found the side-netting, Matthew Pennington hit the post and Leandro Rodriguez saw an effort cleared off the line.
Ultimately there was to be no third goal for the Toffees, who remain fourth in the Premier League’s top division.
The hosts lined up with international experience in the form of Seb Larsson and Toivonen, plus recent Premier League debutant Jordan Pickford.
David Unsworth, meanwhile, was able to again call on Brendan Galloway for the game televised live on BT Sport.
The cameras certainly picked a cracker, which kicked into life on 20 minutes when Toivonen, who had headed against the crossbar moments earlier, nodded past Russell Griffiths as a corner lingered in the Blues’ box.
Less than two minutes later and the Mackems had doubled their lead in similar circumstances. Galloway could only steer another corner deeper into the box and Thomas Beadling was on hand to poke home.
Duffus then went agonisingly close to providing an immediate response. The big forward did everything right as he rounded the goalkeeper, but couldn’t find the target with two defenders hurriedly retreating.
A slice of fortune came the Blues’ way as Robson was unable to get out of the way of an unclaimed cross and instead steered the ball into his own net as the clock ticked towards half time.
That goal evidently gave Everton a boost – and they could have been level on 47 minutes when Pennington met Joe Williams’ cross on the volley, only to be denied by the fingertips of Pickford and his near post.
Rodriguez was next to go close as Pickford raced out to close down Gethin Jones, leaving his goalmouth unattended. The substitute’s centre found the Uruguayan, but a defender was able to thwart his effort on the line from eight yards.
Sunderland had been dealt with well in the second half, but were still able to land a killer third on 73 minutes as Toivonen completed a counter to restore their two-goal advantage.
As full time neared, the lively Felipe Mattioni put a fizzing cross on a plate after good trickery outside the box, but no one was on hand to convert.
The Toffees continued to push, however, and got some form of reward when Dowell produced a moment of magic from 25 yards.
Having recently struck a goal of the month contender from 40 yards against Southampton, the 18-year-old threw another beauty into contention with a curling free-kick into the top corner despite Pickford getting a hand to it.
Galloway went close in the five minutes of added time, but the BT cameras were focused on the victorious Mackems when the whistle finally blew.
Next up for the Under-21s is another league clash with Reading at Southport on Monday 14 March.
Everton U21s: Griffiths, Mattioni, Pennington, Holgate, Galloway, Davies, Williams (c), Charsley, Dowell, C.Duffus, Rodriguez. Subs: Hewelt, Jones, Dyson, Evans, Foulds.
Sunderland U21s: Pickford, J Robson, T Robson, Brady, Beadling, Agnew, Larsson, Toivonen, Honeyman, Greenwood, Mandron. Subs: Talbot, Smith, E Robson, Lawson, McEvoy.
