Liverpool U18s saw their FA Premier Academy League Group C title hopes dealt a blow after they went down to a 4-2 defeat against Nottingham Forest on Saturday afternoon.
A flurry of international call-ups meant the Reds were far from full strength for the visit of the Group D leaders and they found themselves two goals down inside the opening 20 minutes.
Krisztian Adorjan reduced the arrears soon after but the East Midlands outfit added third just after the interval.
Toni Silva did set up a late rally with a close range strike five minutes from time but the away side made sure of the points when they converted a free-kick deep into stoppage time.
The result means Rodolfo Borrell's youngsters' hopes of extending their winning run to eight league matches is over and they must now pick themselves up ahead of a tough trip to Manchester United a week on Monday.
On a dour afternoon in Kirkby, the visitors made a vibrant start to the proceedings and stole in front on four minutes when Wallace expertly nodded home a right-wing cross.
The Reds responded and could have been level two minutes later but debutant Jack Dunn saw his 30 yard piledriver cannon back off the crossbar.
Next, Silva made an adventurous burst into the area but despite going down under a poor challenge from Osborne the referee waved away his appeals.
It was end to end stuff and Jamie Stephens did well to keep the away side out on their next foray forward when he coolly collected Papworth's instinctive strike from distance.
On 14 minutes Dunn was again at the forefront of the Reds' attack but after he fired over the top Forest broke forward to snatch their second of the afternoon.
Once again Liverpool failed to deal with a ball in from the right and when Papworth was left unmarked inside the six yard box he took full advantage by heading home the simplest of goals.
At this point the hosts appeared shell shocked but the spirit that has been such a key factor in their impressive form this term once again shone through and they forced their way back into the contest on 24 minutes.
Craig Roddan instigated the move when he played an inch perfect ball inside the full-back for Patrik Poor to chase on the right flank. The Hungarian ventured into the penalty area before picking out Adorjan who coolly slotted home from close range.
Suddenly there was a whole new complexion to the game and when Coady powered onto Dunn's neat flick he was unlucky to see his angled drive deflected to safety.
The sight of Michael Ngoo stretching his legs on the touchline would have given the team a further lift and he replaced Henoc Mukendi on 36 minutes after an agreement was reached with the medical team that the former Southend United striker could only play an hour of the encounter.
There would have been a strong belief amongst the home support that they could still turn the game in their favour but within three minutes of the restart Forest had restored their two-goal cushion.
Once again Liverpool were susceptible to a cross from the flank and after Bamford's header rebounded off the post Blake was on hand to steer in.
The goal seemed to kill the game and the Reds only threatened sporadically with Coady and Adorjan both wasting half chances.
With time running out the home team began to turn the screw and five minutes from time Silva pounced from close range after Forest had failed to clear Dunn's delicate free-kick.
However, despite staging a late onslaught Borrell's team could not find an equalizer and Blake made sure of victory when he curled home a superb free-kick deep into stoppage time.
