Following a heavy defeat at the hands of Tuesday evening’s visitors a week ago, Fulham’s Reserves put in a hard working performance to take a point - having opened the scoring against their West Midlands opponents.
With matches being called off due to adverse weather conditions, it was testament to the quality of the pitch at Motspur Park that saw the game go ahead despite heavy rainfall. Both sides were keen to get the ball down and play from the outset despite conditions.
Once again Aston Villa fielded a side with a number of names more familiar with the Villa first team squad, among those Martin Laursen, Luke Moore, Isaiah Osbourne and Stuart Taylor.
Fulham fielded a more experienced side than the one that travelled up to Birmingham a week ago. The central defensive pairing of Elliot Omozusi and Adam Watts provided the solidity at the back, with Rob Milsom and TJ Moncur in the full back positions. Ian Pearce was brought in as a central midfielder alongside Matty Collins. There was plenty of creativity in the side with Chris James and Lino Goncalves on the wings and Wayne Brown dropping off Ismael Ehui upfront.
The first half was an evenly contested affair with both sides getting chances at their opponents’ goal. However, it was Villa that were carving out the clearer openings but through a lack of poor finishing and good keeping from Brooks-Meade they were unable to open the scoring.
The best of their chances fell to Isaiah Osbourne, whose downward header bounced up early allowing Brooks-Meade to tip over with ease.
On the half hour mark a lovely through ball by Osbourne find McGurk in the clear, seemingly with only Brooks-Meade to beat Villa were surely going to open the scoring, but a fantastic last ditch challenge by Watts nicked the ball away.
Although Villa had a good amount of pressure Fulham were a threat on the break, Ismael Ehui sending a header wide after a superb Moncur cross. Goncalves blazed a shot over the bar from 20 yards out after a good run, one which saw the Villa defenders standing off, reluctant to commit themselves on the greasy surface.
Going in 0-0 at the break Fulham would have been satisfied with their performance and the action could not have got off to a better start in the second period as the Whites took the lead. Good attacking play by Wayne Brown on the right saw him feed the ball into Ian Pearce, he took it on first time and on the half volley steered a perfectly weighted shot over Taylor in the Villa goal; much to the delight of a drenched Fulham bench.
The goal acted as a spur to Villa who stepped up a gear in hunt of the equaliser. Luke Moore, whose pace and trickery was a problem all night, arrowed a shot over the bar from the edge of the box five minutes after Fulham’s opener. Craig Gardener lashed wide from far out and although hit at some pace Brooks-Meade had it covered. For all their possession and wayward attempts on goal Villa were being stifled in the Fulham area by some staunch defensive work.
A double substitution saw Joe Anderson replace Milsom and Bradley Hudson Odoi come on for Lino Goncalves after the hour.
When Villa finally got their equaliser it came in unlikely fashion as a defensive mix-up allowed Luke Moore to sneak in and grab his third in a week, a frustrating way for the Whites to concede. Moments later Luke Moore was bundled over in the box and although Villa’s appeals were long and loud the referee was less than interested and waved play on.
The final minutes of the game were frenetic as both sides endeavoured to get the winning goal; the play suggested that neither side wanted to settle for the point, with Hudson-Odoi forcing a smart save from Taylor at one end and Fulham desperately clearing at the other to deny Villa bundling the ball in from a Zoltan Steiber corner.
Fulham will be glad to have rectified last week’s defeat with a solid performance, the only sour note of the evening was a red card for Chris James following a clumsy challenge on Villa’s second half substitute, Sam Williams.
Fulham: Brooks-Meade; Moncur, Watts, Pearce, Milsom (Anderson 59); James, Omozusi, Collins, Goncalves (Hudson-Odoi 65); Brown, Ehui
Subs: Etheridge (GK), Cameron, Saunders
