Leeds United under-18s fell to a 1-0 defeat against Manchester United at Old Trafford on Wednesday night, but exited the FA Youth Cup with their head held high after a strong performance.

The Whites were backed by a 1,400 strong band of travelling supporters from across the Pennines and looked a solid match for their arch-rivals throughout the game, pushing for the opener from the outset and coming close on a handful of occasions.

Goalkeeper Cooper Sherry was forced into a top one-on-one save in the first half when pantomime villain Hannibal Mejbri was played through on goal late into the first half, but could only force a save wide for a corner.

However, the hard defensive work of Mark Jackson’s lineup was undone when a glanced header from the host’s forward, Dillon Hoogewerf, found the far corner and proved the decisive goal on the night.

Leeds were reduced to 10 men too following a second yellow card for striker Henri Kumwenda, but this didn’t faze the visitors as they pushed valiantly for a late equaliser.

It wasn’t to be for Leeds as they were knocked out of the cup in the fifth round, however, there were still immense positives to take from the performance across the board. 

Here, we take a look at three Leeds youngsters who caught the eye at the Theatre of Dreams…

Charlie Cresswell

The skipper was busy all evening for the away side as they looked to gain control of the game throughout but were forced into doing a lot of defending on the night.

Cresswell was a rock at centre-back for the Whites and can count himself unfortunate that he didn’t come away at full-time with a clean sheet in 90 minutes, after some heroic tackles and overall defending consistently thwarted the Red Devils in their pursuit of an opener.

What was also impressive in his performance was his ability on the ball to play out from the back with relative comfort, despite the high press that the home side were applying on Leeds, especially when they went down to 10 in the second half.

Stuart McKinstry

The Scottish winger was very impressive throughout the game and came into his own when Leeds went a man down, demonstrating great footwork and technique to create chances late into the match.

McKinstry has been a regular feature of Carlos Coberan’s under-23s side and there is a reason why after seeing that performance.

His guile on the ball was a constant thorn in the side of the home side’s left-back and even though he was often isolated in the final third, he still managed to gain great territory for Leeds by drawing fouls, corners or even managing to get a shot away at goal.

How much do you know about Leeds' new signings?

Nohan Kenneh

The holding midfielder was operating in a very similar role to Kalvin Phillips in the first team, as a more advanced central defender, tasked with breaking up play in the middle of the pitch but also being the springboard to start most of Leeds attacks.

Kenneh started his day off very well being called up to England’s under-17s side and the quality on and off the ball that he showed was a testament to why he earned that call-up.

Man United’s midfield setup was always bound to control the game, but the way in which Kenneh and his teammates were able to break up play on a regular basis was marvellous.

The 17-year-old is touted to break into the first-team before long and his performance in that complex defensive role did his prospects no harm going forward.

Honourable mentions have to go to goalkeeper Cooper Skerry and central midfielder Jack Jenkins. The young stopper produced a string of fine saves to keep the Whites in the contest throughout and was very confident in his distribution both short and long. Jenkins had a tough battle in the middle of midfield coming up against a very strong Man United setup, but held his own very well and managed to spring more than a few dangerous attacks with some swift play on the ball.