After winning the North title last weekend following a 5-3 win over Derby County boosted by second-place Manchester United falling to a 2-0 defeat to Newcastle, Oliver Reiss rotated his Under-18s squad that faced Stoke.
And after a tense 26 minutes, centre-back Yohann Obin finally got the Blues off the mark, tapping home the rebound after his initial header from a corner was saved.
Teddie Lamb quickly doubling our lead with a first-time finish just after the half hour mark but before the break, a high press from Stoke allowed Jerome Kyremeh to halve the deficit and left it all to play for in the second half.
Straight out the gate Stoke pushed for more and just four minutes into the second half, Ryan Liu drew the visitors level with a close-range finish.
Lamb restored City’s lead from the penalty spot before two quick goals for Stoke, from Tristan Achu and Pedro Nzau, put the Potters ahead with just under 15 left to play.
Our young Blues continued to fight, with our hard work rewarded on 86 minutes when substitutes Jake Wain and Kylan Midwood linked up with the latter tapping home to see the end-to-end match finish 4-4.
Watch the highlights from our draw with Stoke via the video above...
