Notts County youth team’s fantastic run of form came to a halt after they were finally defeated by Doncaster Rovers Under-18s.
The Magpies had won seven league matches on the bounce but lost for the first time since November in the midweek meeting on away turf.
Academy manager Mick Leonard paid tribute to the players for turning around a slow opening to the campaign and has challenged them to pick themselves up for their weekend encounter with Rotherham United.
He told the official site: “It’s been a great run from where we started at the beginning of the season.
“It’s disappointing to have lost because it could’ve put us in striking distance of probably second place at the end of the season.
“I said to the boys that all good runs come to an end, it doesn’t matter if you’re Bayern Munich, Chelsea or Manchester City, but it’s how you react in the next game what’s important.
“We need to react in a positive manner for Saturday away at Rotherham and try to get on another run until the end of the season.
“The biggest compliment I can pay to our boys is that Doncaster were the home teams and their main focus was on stopping us from playing.
“It was as if they were the away team but they got what they were after and we’ll move on.”
Photographs By Andy Stokes.