Lewis Smith’s injury time equaliser rescued a point for an experienced Fulham Reserve side on Tuesday evening – after they were given a scare by a youthful Aston Villa.
The Whites claimed a valuable point, with Reserve Team Manager Billy McKinlay calling on the services of Dickson Etuhu, Fredrik Stoor, Toni Kallio, Leon Andreasen, Julian Gray and Seol Ki-Hyeon.
Villa travelled to Motspur Park full of expectation, having lost just one of their six league games beating Stoke, Tottenham, Arsenal, Chelsea and West Brom.
And it was the current Barclays Premier Reserve League South champions who started the brighter with Nathan Delfouneso and Zoltan Stieber particularly lively, and both could well have put the visitors in front inside five minutes but for two instinctive blocks by Pascal Zuberbuhler.
At the other end Matt Saunders had a good chance for the Whites when he got on the end of Andreasen’s back post cross following a clever pass from Gray.
However, the majority of the first half belonged to Villa, as Delfouneso showed why he is so well thought of at Villa Park with an impressive display of forward running.
And the talented striker could well have had a hat-trick, first hitting the post with a low drive before one close range effort somehow went begging. He then robbed Adrian Leijer 25 yards out to run clean through; fortunately Zuberbuhler was all too aware with another excellent block.
Chris Herd and Dominik Hofbauer had further chances, while Fulham’s best opportunities came from the boot of Wayne Brown who went close with two rasping drives.
Just before half-time, Brown could well have sent the Whites in with a smile, but the right-midfielder lost his footing following some intelligent play from Gray and Seol.
After the break both sides struggled to get a foothold in the game, and if anything it was Fulham that began to look the more threatening as Andreasen’s free-kick fizzed wide.
However, the Whites were knocked back when Kallio upended Andreas Weimann in the Fulham box, with Barry Bannan sending Zuberbuhler the wrong way from the spot after 64 minutes.
Minutes later Seol could well have drawn his side level but he could only find the sprawling legs of Taylor having beaten Ciaran Clark on the edge of the box. The South Korea international should have levelled with 10 minutes left with Chris Smalling breaking from deep and slipping the ball into is path – somehow Fulham’s number nine fired wide.
As the hosts went in search of an equaliser, Lewis Smith capped a lively display with a well-taken close range finish following Matthew Briggs’ clever link up with Gray. His cross was despatched with pace, and when Seol’s attempted header was blocked, Smith was on hand to turn the ball past a diving Taylor with minutes on the clock.
For all their attacking fluency Villa could not find that all important second goal. Although it was not one of their finest performances, the Whites earned an important point nonetheless.
Billy McKinlay’s charges entertain Tottenham Hotspur next, with their London rivals making the trip to Motspur Park on Tuesday, December 9th, kick-off 7pm.
Fulham Reserves: Zuberbuhler; Stoor, Kallio, Leijer, Smalling; Saunders (Smith 72), Brown, Etuhu, Andreasen (Anderson 78, Briggs 87), Gray; Seol. Unused subs: Etheridge, Cumber
Aston Villa Reserves: Taylor; Herd (Dyer 87), Lowry, Roome, Clark; Hofbauer, Weimann, Bannan, Stieber; Mikaelsson (Grocott 85), Delfounseso. Unused subs: Blythe, Lichaj