Josh Woods scored the winning goal against Everton Under 21s but Accrington Stanley are out of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy.
This was the final Northern Group A game for the Reds and Stanley needed to win by two clear goals to have a chance of reaching the knock-out stages.
However, they couldn’t find a third against the young Toffeemen.
John Doolan made wholesale changes with only Jake Batty having started Saturday’s draw with Walsall.
The seven named on the bench were all teenagers in Stanley’s Academy.
It was all the Reds in the early stages with an Ash Hunter strike saved by Zan-Luk Leban while Connor O’Brien ran from his own area but fired narrowly wide.
There was an early substitution on 11 minutes with Blackburn loan defender Batty coming off, replaced by 17-year-old Finlay Wilkinson for his first team debut.
Everton, however, grew into the game and, in their first attack on 13 minutes, Seamus Conneely had to hook Charlie Whitaker’s header off the line.
Stanley took the lead on 24 minutes when Hunter’s corner sailed towards Josh Woods at the near post, Whitaker was jumping with him and the goal was given to the Everton man as an own goal.
Everton Under 21s equalised five minutes later when Harrison Armstrong got the ball on the edge of the area, turned and fired low into the far corner of the net.
Hunter’s dipping effort wasn’t far off while Josh Woods fired narrowly wide in later stages of the first half while Everton continued to pose a threat.
Stanley retook the lead on 59 minutes when O’Brien broke strongly from his own half, passed to Josh Woods on the edge of the area and he curled the ball into the far corner of the net.
Everton looked to get back in it, Whitaker firing over and Jacob Beaumont-Clark hitting the top of the crossbar with a dipping effort.
Hunter had a strike saved as Stanley looked for the all-important two-goal cushion.
Lennox Williams came on for his Reds debut on 76 minutes but it was Everton who were next in action, Whitaker heading over in the six yard box.
Lewis Trickett fired over in a good position while, after a strong run by Benjamin, Whitaker’s goalbound strike took a deflection and Matthew Apter fired across the goal and wide on 90 minutes for the visitors.
Finlay Tunstall and Sheikh Sohna came on for their Stanley debuts in added time.
Despite the win, Stanley remain bottom of the group on goal difference with table toppers Stockport and Tranmere still to face each other to see who goes through with County.
Stanley: Kelly, O’Brien, Conneely (Williams), Pickles, Batty (Wilkinson), Hall, Khumbeni (Tunstall), Hunter (Sohna), Knowles (Popoola), Trickett
Subs: Rogerson, Tunstall, Alston
Yellow: Conneely, Hunter, Wilkinson
Crowd: 450 (61 from Everton)
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