Scottish summer signing Brandon Forbes and the prolific Errol Mundle-Smith sealed a 2-1 Premier League 2 win for Norwich City's Under-21s at Reading's Under-21s on Monday.

After a deflating defeat against Manchester United in their last game, the development squad turned their fortunes around at the Select Car Leasing Stadium. 

Alan Neilson's line up featured Jonathan Tomkinson and Jaden Warner, along with Forbes, Billy Gee and AJ Bridge, who all arrived on deadline night.

Norwich started the game poorly, with their build-up play in the defensive third being sloppy - allowing Reading to win turnovers in advanced areas. 

One player that didn’t struggle in the opening minutes was Caleb Ansen, with the goalkeeper making a couple smart saves, before having a massive involvement in Norwich’s opening goal. 

Ansen executed a perfect pass into Finley Welch’s feet, which subsequently allowed the versatile forward to drive forward on the half turn. Welch constructed a powerful sprint into Reading’s defensive third, playing a beautifully weighted pass to Forbes on the right.

This resulted in Forbes creating space for himself to shoot from a tight angle - powering a venomous strike home past the keeper. That goal was Forbes’ first for the club, taking his goal contribution tally to three.

Norwich then relinquished control of the game, with their central midfield players growing into the encounter. A recurring plan for Norwich was to use their deep-lying playmakers to increase the ball speed during counter-attacking opportunities, giving chances for Welch, Mundle-Smith and Forbes to flourish in one-on-one battles. 

Centre back Warner was substituted at half-time after a tumble towards the end of the opening period. 

Norwich then started the second half similarly to the first, with inconsistent ball retention in deep areas. This allowed Reading to start the half on the front foot, testing Ansen on a regular basis. 

The hosts got back into the game close to the hour mark, as Norwich failed to deal with a cross into the box, which was subsequently tucked home by Jack Senga-Ngoyi. 

However, the Canaries showed a positive response from going behind, as they scored five minutes later, with Mundle-Smith scoring his sixth of the season. 

The goal was beautifully crafted, as Bridge made a proactive overloading run on the left flank, before whipping in a delightful cross for Mundle-Smith to tuck home. Mundle-Smith is now the top goal contributor between the U18s & U21s sides, accumulating eight across all competitions. 

The game then became more stretched, with both teams going more direct - wanting to get their strikers into play. With some smart personnel changes from Neilson, the Canaries battled through an intense game, moving up to 12th in the league - back into a qualifying position. 

Reading U21s: Rowley, Beacroft, Source, Senga (Saint-Louis, 76), Stickland, Harrison, Barough, Borgnis (Howard, 45), Okine-Peters, Wellens (Trialist, 76), McMillan (Osho, 68). Sub (not used): Rhone. 

Bookings: Borgnis, Beacroft

Goal: Senga-Ngoyi (54)

Norwich U21s: Ansen, Tomkinson, Warner (Okwumo, 45), Gee, Mahovo, Djedje, Bridge (Wilson, 75), Manning, Forbes (Ogwuru, 63), Welch, Mundle-Smith (Roberts, 84). Sub (not used): Finch.

Bookings: AJ Bridge, Djedje

Goals: Forbes (17), Mundle-Smith (59)

Assists: Welch (17), AJ Bridge (59)