Joe Haigh found the net early in the second half, but our opponents responded early in the second period of the game.

Both sides had chances to grab a winner, but neither could find the decisive goal, so a penalty shoot-out was needed to decide the outcome of the game.

It took just six minutes for the game’s first chance and our young Blues should have taken the lead as Jayden Wareham found an unmarked Leo Castledine, but his left-footed effort was saved by an outstretched boot.

We took a deserved lead through Haigh as he unleashed a great right-footed shot after some good work from Castledine.

Castledine impressed in this outing and early in the second half he created an opportunity for Charlie Webster with a driving run into the box. Webster could only fire against the head of a defender on the line to spare the blushes of the keeper, who was in no man’s land.

Bashir Humphreys was next to have an effort denied by the Toronto goalkeeper as he smashed a left-footed shot against the chest of the stopper.

With chances galore being spurned by our boys, Toronto equalised totally against the run of play. Ted Curd made the save from the initial shot but could not stop the rebound.

After a missed opportunity from Toronto in the final moments of the game, our young Blues also failed to take our final chance as a free header from Mason Burstow flew over the bar.

Jude Soonsup-Bell and Lewis Hall both missed their penalties as Toronto claimed victory.

Despite this defeat, development squad head coach Mark Robinson was pleased with his side’s efforts as they gear up for the start of the new Premier League 2 season.

‘Tonight, was our most complete performance and there were many pleasing things,’ he said.

He did mention that our young Blues must become more clinical if they are to win more games in the future.

‘In two games we have had over 40 attempts on goal and scored two and had nine attempts against and conceded three, so despite the level of performance we need to look into the real detail together of why we have not won both games comfortably.’

The team will now return to England and prepare for next weekend’s friendly against Bromley.

In other Academy news, our Under-18s kicked off their pre-season campaign with a convincing 3-0 win over Bournemouth on Saturday. Louis Flower and Chinonso Chibueze were amongst the goalscorers.

Chelsea (3-4-3): Sami Tlemcani; Brodi Hughes, Alfie Gilchrist, Bashir Humphreys; Derrick Abu, Billy Gilmour, Jimi Tauriainen, Edwin Andersson; Leo Castledine, Joe Haigh, Jayden Wareham

Subs used: Ted Curd, Dion Rankine, Charlie Webster, Xavier Simons, Xavier Mbuyamba, Lewis Hall, Mason Burstow, Ben Elliot, Harvey Vale, Jude Soonsup-Bell, Omari Hutchinson.

Scorer: Haigh 21