Having succumbed to Bristol City in the FA Youth Cup last season, the Whites were looking to make amends at Motspur Park last Saturday. Gary Brazil was able to name an unchanged line-up from the side that defeated Cardiff City the previous week.
For all of Fulham’s running in the opening stages, they were evenly matched by the endeavour and work rate of the Bristol City side. The front pairing for City was keeping Ashley Thompson and Matthew Briggs on their toes throughout the first period but the maturity shown by the central defensive pairing was first rate. It was no surprise when the whistle blew for half-time with the scores deadlocked at 0-0.
As the second-half got underway, Matt Saunders and Luca Moscatiello increasingly tried to make their presence felt, moving play around and brining the pace and skill of Jordan Wilson and Max Noble on the wings to the fore. As the game wore on it was obvious to see that Fulham were on the ascendancy as they began to pose a more attacking threat on the City goal.
With time running out, a long ball pumped forward by Fulham’s defence was chased down by Michael Uwezu and as he charged into the box, a combination of goalkeeper and defender scythed him down, giving the referee a much easier decision than a similar penalty call five minutes earlier. Max Noble stepped up and sent his penalty left-footed low to the goalkeeper’s left. The Welsh youth international showed good courage to step up having been denied from the spot against Ipswich Town earlier in the season.
Although late in the day, the goal was nothing less than the Whites deserved after increasing the pressure on the Bristol backline in the closing stages. Speaking after the match, Head of Youth, John Murtough was delighted to see his side keep up their 100% league record. “The lads were really fired up going into the game,” said Murtough. “Bristol is always a tough team to break down, but we had a good percentage of the possession and kept going all the way to the end. Although the goal came via a penalty I think we were well worth the three points on the day.”
Fulham: Etheridge; Cumber, Thompson, Briggs, Anderson; Wilson (Bichard 70), Moscatiello (Jackson 75), Saunders, Noble; Smith, Uwezu