Kaiyne Woolery's winner ended United's reign as Manchester Senior Cup holders as the Reserves lost to Bolton Wanderers on a chilly night in Leyland.
The home side were sharper from the outset and had three outstanding early chances. Luke Woodland fired past Joel Pereira but wide of the far post, from a Hayden White pass, before Ryan Sellers rattled the bar when scooping a curler over the Reds keeper. Woolery's run through the heart of the defence would have yielded the opening goal but for Pereira's brilliant stop.
United recovered from the shaky start and Andy Kellett, on loan from the Trotters, could only provide a poor finish following some fine approach work by Ashley Fletcher to prompt jeers from some of the home fans. A Sean Goss free-kick brought the best out of Harry Campbell, who dived to his right to palm away, and the keeper thwarted Fletcher's left-footed shot when the striker expertly brought down a long ball forward.
After Donald Love survived a shout for handball inside his own box, a scramble led to Georg Iliev flashing wide from a promising position and Fletcher was unable to profit from Joe Rothwell's corner despite some scrappy defending. The second half followed a similar pattern with Rob Holding clearing off the line at one end before clipping narrowly wide at the other.
Reece James mishit a decent opening and Bolton struck in the 54th minute when Quade Taylor's through ball allowed Woolery to sprint on the inside of Liam Grimshaw and finish with a clever lofted effort over Pereira. Jimmy Ball and Goss tested the respective keepers with low shots and, although Goss' corners caused some problems, Warren Joyce's side struggled to keep their hopes alive.
Woolery's pace almost led to a killer second but he fluffed his lines following a blistering run while Pereira saved smartly from Woodland as Bolton pressed. United rarely
