Fulham U23 4-0 Southend U23

Three late goals helped our Under-23s seal a convincing win over Southend United on Wednesday evening in the Premier League Cup.

Steve Wigley named a pretty powerful starting eleven, with Alfie Mawson coming in at centre-back and Tyrese Francois starting in midfield.

Jean-Pierre Tiehi replaced Terry Ablade at the top end of the pitch, with our Finnish striker starting on the bench.

The young Whites started quickly and threatened within seconds. Steven Sessegnon played the ball down the line to Kieron Bowie, who covered good ground before being wiped out by goalkeeper Collin Andeng-Ndi. The resulting free-kick was deflected before going out for a corner.

After a fast start, our 23s took the lead through Kieron Bowie, and it was some strike. Marlon Fossey linked up well with Sonny Hilton, who played the ball across to the Scot. He made no mistake, smashing his effort into the roof of the net from an acute angle.

Ollie O’Neill tried his luck a few minutes later, Mawson started the move with an excellent long-range pass, before Ollie O’Neill blazed his effort over from the edge of the box. The visitors were struggling to get a foothold under the Motspur Park lights.

Fossey was running the show down the right-hand side and after making a powerful run, his low cross fell to O’Neill, whose low shot was well saved before rolling just wide.

Idris Odutayo thought he had doubled his team’s lead on 32 minutes after pouncing on a loose ball, but unfortunately the linesman quickly raised his flag for offside.

Four minutes later, Fossey took advantage of a poor touch at the back, before watching as his strike was palmed away by Andeng-Ndi

Southend’s ‘keeper came to the rescue again just before the break, excellently denying Hilton, whose powerful shot looked to be heading in at the far post.

After enjoying a quiet half, Damian Las needed to be on his toes to block a long-range strike from Cameron Brown.

A controlled opening half was brought to an end with our lads one goal to the good.

Las was given a busy few minutes after the break. After producing a diving save to deny a long-range strike, he got down after a scramble in the penalty area to clear the danger once more.

The away side were looking much better in the second half, but the young Whites looked as dangerous as ever going forward. On 56 minutes, substitute Luciano D’Auria-Henry cut in from the left before unleashing an effort, which was well stopped by Andeng-Ndi.

Next to find themselves on the end of a good chance was Bowie, who should have added a second on 58 minutes. Hilton found the forward with a perfect lobbed through ball, but once again the Southend goalkeeper came rushing off his line to block the right-footed effort.

Our 23s were pushing for a cushion in the game and had another chance with just under 15 minutes to play. O’Neill glided past a defender with some stepovers before pulling the ball back to Adrion Pajaziti, who fired over.

O’Neill gave his team some breathing space on 85 minutes, tucking a shot into the bottom corner after some great link up play between D’Auria-Henry and Hilton.

A third goal was added less than a minute later, when Sessegnon slotted home to put the game to bed.

The floodgates well and truly opened, with Jean-Pierre Tiehi adding a fourth in the final minute. The Southend ‘keeper made a good initial save but the ball rolled away from him and into the path of our French striker.

A brilliant final 10 minutes meant it was a comfortable victory for our lads.