In the first Academy SW6 derby of the season, the Whites took all the plaudits with a convincing and mature display. Having relinquished a first-half lead, it was left to striker Lewis Smith to score late on and ensure Fulham have the bragging rights until the next meeting in February.
Despite a tentative start, Fulham created a couple of chances early on. Chelsea keeper Sam Walker had to be alert on 15 minutes when Lewis Smith cut inside his marker and struck a shot low towards the near post. But Walker did well to get down and save. Smith’s tireless running was creating Chelsea a lot of problems.
A deserved breakthrough came in the 23 rd minute when Ashley Thompson was alert to only a half-save by Walker. When the ball spilled loose from a powerful long-range drive by Matt Saunders, the centre-back was on hand to tuck home the rebound and give the Whites a deserved lead.
Making a swath of substitutions at the start of the second-half, Chelsea slowly got back into the game. But as the Whites adjusted to the changes they began to stamp their authority on the match once more and should have doubled their lead early on, when some outstanding wing play from Lino Goncalves set up Lewis Smith for a diving header which only narrowly missed the goal.
With chances going begging, Chelsea grew in confidence and eventually grabbed an equaliser. A deep cross from the right went unchallenged and Ben Gordon took one touch and scored well past Foderingham to set up a tense final quarter.
The goal initially prompted a nervy response as Chelsea went in search of a win, but Fulham soon regained their focus and rediscovered their earlier form. The Whites chipped away with some slick passing moves, but when the winning goal came it was via an old fashioned punt upfield!
Second-half substitute, Wesley Foderingham, sent the ball downfield and the Chelsea defence failed to deal with it. This left Lewis Smith clean through on goal and the youngster finished consummately, lifting the ball over the advancing Walker’s head to give the Whites a fantastic 2-1 away victory.
Speaking after the game Under 18s Manager, Gary Brazil, had nothing but praise for his young charges: “It was a pleasing result and we played well for large parts of the game, especially in the later stages of the first-half,” said Brazil. “We were a bit tentative to start with and I think that was perhaps due to not winning in the previous few games. We grew into the game a lot, gained confidence and realised it was there for the taking. It is always a good scalp to take, as rivals, and we’re now looking for this result to kick us on again with another run of good results and lead us nicely into our Youth Cup game at the beginning of December.”
Fulham: Etheridge (Foderingham 46); Cumber, Thompson, Briggs, Anderson; Jackson (Bichard 78), Hall (Moscatiello 65), Saunders, Goncalves; Smith, Uwezu
Subs Not Used: Laribi, Cameron