Swindon Town U18s bowed out of the FA Youth Cup at the quarter-final stage, following a 1-0 away defeat to Bristol City at Ashton Gate on Thursday evening.
Bristol City's Billy Phillips scored the game's only goal and left Swindon disappointed to be defeated, but proud of where their FA Youth Cup journey has taken them.
Town made two changes to the side which fell to an unfortunate defeat in their opening Merit League One fixture, with Sonny Hart and Fletcher Hubbard back involved in the starting XI.
It was an opening that saw Swindon looked to defend City's early threat, with the returning Sonny Hart forced into a fantastic tackle to stop Elijah Morrison from firing goalwards in the 14th minute.
Bristol City's Ephraim Yeboah looked to threaten following this chance, but Town held firm and created their first real opening in the 32nd minute through midfielder Jaxon Brown.
Having soaked up and looked to threaten on the break, Brown was given space to shoot from distance having progressed forward with the ball well, but unfortunately saw his effort deflect for a corner which Bristol City were able to deal with.
With the game beginning to even out, it would be Bristol City that would find the game's opener and it was a well-taken strike by Billy Phillips that broke the deadlock and left Swindon looking for a reaction in the second half.
Half-time: Bristol City U18s 1 Swindon Town U18s 0
Swindon started to find their rhythm in the second half and had their best chance of the game so far just minutes into the second 45, through the threatening Jaxon Brown once again.
After a well-timed pass from Fletcher Hubbard set the midfielder through into the Bristol City penalty area, Brown looked to find the far corner with a low drive that unfortunately went wide of the far post but left Town with plenty of optimism to get back into the tie.
The next 20 minutes were well contested and after a change up front saw Miles Obodo replace Botan Ameen just past the hour mark, Town had another golden chance to equalise in the 68th minute.
A well-worked corner routine conducted by the influential Fletcher Hubbard again, his deep cross picked out Harley Hunt, who knocked the ball back into the Bristol City six-yard box, but even after a scramble from both sets of players, Town were unable to poke the ball home as they continued to press for an equaliser late on.
Logan Coles was introduced with 10 minutes left to play and it was he and fellow substitute Miles Obodo who almost got their side back on level terms with arguably Town's best chance in the 83rd minute.
After a strong run from Obodo down the right-hand side left the forward charging towards the Bristol City goal, with Coles in the area as an option to square the ball across to, Obodo opted to try and catch Joseph Duncan out at his front post and force a good save from the City keeper, with Swindon feeling like the chances they'd created had deserved an equaliser in the second half.
Despite six minutes of added time leaving Swindon with more time to find that goal their second-half performance deserved, Bristol City saw out the narrow lead and progressed into the FA Youth Cup semi-finals.
Although they were defeated at the quarter-final stage, Town can take a lot of pride in where their FA Youth Cup run has taken them, defeating the likes of Manchester United, Luton and Sunderland along the way, leaving them with plenty of positives and confidence going into their remaining Merit League One fixtures of the 23/24 season.
Bristol City U18s: Duncan, James, Anderson, Hewlett (C), Campbell-Slowey, Taylor, Nelson, Meerholz, Yeboah, Phillips (Bak 90), Morrison
Goal: Phillips 43
Subs not used: Witchard, Davies, Kasvosve, Griffin, Foxwell
Swindon Town U18s: Evans (C), McGregor, Chard, Stewart, Hart, Hunt, Hubbard, Brown, Ameen, Keyes, Alston
Subs not used: McCormick, Adams, Gonzalez, Hutt
Referee: Matthew Russell
