A second-half fightback was not enough to keep Islington & Camden Under-13s in the Sydney Gill Cup as they went down 4-2 at Hackney.

The home side struck early on, making use of their pace and direct style to run onto balls beyond the defence and go 2-0 up inside the opening 10 minutes.

I&C gradually fought their way back into the game thanks to the hard graft of Charlie Wickham and Darnell Joe-Luke in midfield, while Shae Hutchinson forced a good save from the goalkeeper.

But Hackney remained two goals to the good at half-time and they extended their lead almost immediately after the restart, exploiting their opponents’ ability to deal with the aerial ball.

I&C refused to give up and they pulled a goal back when Hutchinson tucked away a penalty 12 minutes later.

Hackney added a fourth goal with a chip that sailed over Jonty Purdom, but the visitors rounded off the scoring with a consolation strike from Zane Matthew.

I&C coach Andy Taylor said: “We got caught cold at the start and that was always going to make it difficult. It was a good, spirited performance in the second half and the scoreline reflected that.”

Islington & Camden: Wickham (St Paul’s), Matthew (UCS), Purdom, Kanyejo, Williams-Lauder (UCL), Ming (Islington Arts & Media), Swash (Central Foundation), Hutchinson, Domi (St Mary Magdalene), Joe-Luke (Haverstock), Appah (St Aloysius).