On a perfect evening conducive to fast flowing football the Forest under 18's welcomed their counterparts from across the Midlands, in the form of Walsall, for this F.A. Youth Cup first round tie.

Forest set the early pace playing some lovely slick passing on The City Ground turf and had an early opportunity inside three minutes as Max Wright swung in a corner which found Adriano Moke on the edge of the box, whose shot was turned just wide by Tim Hopkinson.

Forest didn't have long to wait as they took the lead with a fine goal after nine minutes. Adam Newbold latched onto a through-ball before holding off challenges from three Walsall defenders then rounding the keeper and finishing with a superb left footed strike from a tight angle.

Forest kept up their pressure on the Walsall defence and were unlucky not to test the Walsall keeper on 11 minutes after good work down the left from Reece Staples. His left-footed cross was glanced across the face of the goal by Adriano Moke who was becoming more and more of a threat down the Forest right.

This seemed to stir Walsall into life and they were unlucky not to equalise in the sixteenth minute when Josh Craddock saw his shot headed onto the Forest crossbar from off his own line by Jack Pearson, only to see it fall to another Walsall forward, who saw his effort expertly turned back onto the crossbar by Karl Darlow before the ball was scrambled to safety at the cost of a corner.

The game still remained very tight with both teams trying to open each other with some neat passing. On twenty minutes Adriano Moke latched onto a ball from Tim Hopkinson only to see his effort blocked by the Walsall back-line.

It was then Hopkinson looked to increase the lead as he collected a ball from Liam Hook in the left channel, firing a left footed shot which flew narrowly past the keepers left hand post.

Forest were really in the ascendancy by this stage and were narrowly denied the cushion of a two goal advantage as Jack Pearson saw his header beat the keeper but drift narrowly past the far post.

On 33 minutes Walsall snatched an equaliser as Andrew Bentley converted a penalty. Rorey Curtis nicked a long ball over the defence and past Darlow in the Forest goal. The two players collided and as the shot drifted wide the referee pointed to the spot. Darlow picked himself up and although he managed to get two solid hands to the spot kick it found the back of the net as he dived to the left.

And on 44 minutes Walsall took the lead as a deep corner from Edward Ryan found Josh Craddock at the back post. He planted a towering header past Darlow who was just unable to get a strong hand to it at full stretch.

The early exchanges in the second half were quite even as both teams looked to keep it tight. The Forest team were relieved to see their skipper James Reid recover from a hefty challenge on 55 minutes as the England U17 challenged for a 50:50 ball in a bid to keep possession.

On 65 minutes Forest had an opportunity to get back into the game. A good passage of play saw Reece Staples and Tim Hopkinson linking up well, culminating in Forest winning a free kick on the edge of the area as Adam Newbold was brought down. James Reid shook off the earlier knock to step up and hit a curling effort inches wide of the keeper's left hand post.

Both teams continued to cancel each other out, and with the Forest back line of Jack Pearson and Sean McCashin looking strong, Walsall were restricted to long-range shots. No more so than on seventy five minutes as Andrew Bentley fired in a shot from 22 yards, which went a yard wide of Darlow's post.

Forest brought on George Thompson and Nialle Rodney in a bid to take the game into extra time. However, it was the lively Walsall substitute Dexter Ravenhill who came closest to extending the lead for the away team as he was put through by Richard David. His fierce shot was well saved by Darlow in the Forest goal as he got down well to block with his legs.

The young Forest team probed hard to find an equaliser in the dying minutes but were unable to find the killer ball in the final third to send the game into extra time as Walsall progressed to the second round of the competition.

Forest: Darlow, Fairclough J, Reid, Wright, McCashin, Pearson, Moke (Rodney 82), Hook, Newbold, Hopkinson, Staples (Sibson 70)
Subs not used: O'Brien, Diagne, Thompson
Scorer: Newbold 9min
Bookings: Pearson 41min, Rodney 86min

Walsall: Skeldon, Silver, Bacchus, D. Schwarz, T. Schwarz, Bentley (Westlake90), Jones (Woolleston 84), R. Davies, Curtis (Ravenhill 66), Craddock, Ryan.
Sub not used: Cox.
Scorers: Bentley pen 33min, Craddock 44min
Bookings: Craddock 38min, Silver 82min

Referee: S.P. Bennett
Attendance: 280