Fulham’s Reserves were beaten by West Ham’s second string on Wednesday evening. Two late second half goals, one in the 83rd minute and an injury-time strike, guaranteed the points for the Hammers.
In an even encounter with few clear-cut chances, the odds on a goal coming from open play looked slim. Indeed, it was of little surprise that the opening goal of the game came via the penalty spot.
With both sides effectively cancelling each other out following the break, Ian Pearce was harshly adjudged to have brought down Sears in the area when a routine piece of defending was somewhat misconstrued by the referee.
Sears made no mistake from the spot and with Fulham pushing hard for an equaliser; the home side were able to take advantage of some loose defending to give the scoreline some padding.
Set-piece expert Michael Timlin forced a fine save out of Richard Wright in the first half and the Whites missed two further opportunities to open the scoring when Ismael Ehui struck the post with a header and Toni Kallio saw his headed effort go close. The Finnish international had an almost identical effort in the second half smuggled away.
Simon Elliott continued his rehabilitation, successfully coming through the full 90 minutes whilst Eddie Johnson was replaced, as planned on the hour mark.
Fulham: Batista (Etheridge HT); Omozusi, Pearce, Kallio, Ashton; Timlin, Brown, Anderson, Elliott; Ehui, Johnson (Smith 60)