Fulham's Reserve Team lost their final match of the season at Fratton Park in unfortunate circumstances. The Whites, who had largely dominated possession albeit without creating too many goalscoring chances, succumbed to a stoppage time winning goal from Danijel Subotic.
The Whites certainly started the match the brighter side. Jari Litmanen, returning to the side from injury, had Fulham's first attempt on goal with just over five minutes on the clock. The Finnish international tried his luck from 30 yards but home goalkeeper Asmir Begovic was able to deal with the effort easily.
The Whites continued to press forward and further chances fell to Eddie Johnson, who saw his shot smothered, and Ismael Ehui whose mazy run ultimately culminated in a blocked shot.
Portsmouth's most likely goal source was Swiss striker Danijel Subotic. The attacker came close to breaking the deadlock towards the end of the first half with a header which flew narrowly over. The home side's first registered attempt on target came in the second half when Subotic saw his close range effort saved by Ricardo Batista.
The chances continued to come for Fulham, but unfortunately Billy McKinlay's men were unable to apply the decisive finish. Eddie Johnson was once again denied by Begovic whilst Fulham's best chance of the second half fell to substitute Lewis Smith. The young striker latched onto Tony Kallio's pass in the penalty area but he was unable to direct his effort on goal.
The home side snatched all three points seconds later when Fulham failed to clear their lines and Subotic was on hand to finish from close range.
Speaking after the match, Reserve Team Manager, Billy McKinlay, gave his assessment of the performance.
"Our inability to close the game out, whether it's for a victory or a draw, has been our Achilles heel over the course of this season," he said. “From our point of view the result is disappointing because we played quite well in the first half, albeit without the cutting edge in the final third.
"We defended really well for the whole game and although Portsmouth were the better side in the second half in terms of possession there were very few chances either way. We could have won it through Lewis Smith but we ended up losing, so fine were the margins."
Jari Litmanen also made his return to action and he was replaced, as planned, on the 76 minute mark.
"Jari did well," McKinlay said. "His class was there for all to see in terms of his retention of the ball and his ability to get on the ball and dictate the game. He's not played a lot of football so the appearance kept him ticking over."
Fulham: Batista; Moncur, Pearce, Kallio, Anderson; Volz, Elliott, Ashton (Smith 87), Litmanen (Wilson 76); Johnson, Ehui (Laribi 87)
