Man City U18 3-1 Fulham U18

Fulham Under-18s suffered National Final defeat, losing 3-1 to northern division winners Manchester City at their Academy Stadium on Saturday.

Steve Wigley named an unchanged side after their impressive win at Chelsea to clinch the title. Defender Jay Williams was out with illness.

The hosts came out of the gates strong and found the lead within just three minutes. Sam Edozie fired home after latching onto a Juan Larios cross at the back post.

Things soon went from bad to worse for Steve Wigley’s side, when Carlos Borges converted from close range to double City’s lead seven minutes in.

The home side thought they’d grabbed a penalty soon after, with Edozie taking a tumble after sprinting down the right-hand side. The referee was quick to wave away the City appeals.

The young Cityzens were moving the ball around well and Larios fired an effort just wide of the post on the 20-minute mark, after a lovely move.

Ollie O’Neill found some space down the left a couple of minutes later, but his searching cross was bundled out for a corner before it could reach Mika Biereth.

The biggest chance for Fulham came on 36 minutes. Jay Stansfield’s low cross found O’Neill whose low, hard shot was smothered by goalkeeper Ciaran Slicker.

Alex Borto was tested up the other end immediately after, making an excellent diving catch to deny City a third.

City added that third nonetheless and on the brink of half-time, when Oscar Bobb tucked it home after a neat one-two with Borges.

The young Whites started the second half well and grabbed themselves a goal back on 48 minutes. Substitute Luke Harris was brought down in the penalty area and captain Adrion Pajaziti made no mistake, tucking his strike into the bottom corner.

Borto came to the rescue for his side straight after, making a fantastic block to deny Romeo Lavia, who was clean through.

Fulham were finding a lot of their success down the right, with Biereth and O’Neill at the forefront. The latter tried to find Harris at the back post, but defender Shea Charles stepped in to head clear.

Borto made yet another brilliant save with 10 minutes to play. Edozie got past Idris Odutayo with some tricky stepovers, but his shot was blocked by our American stopper, who was at full stretch.

Harris thought he’d grabbed a second soon after. O’Neill’s cross sailed over Slicker, but the midfielder couldn’t quite jump high enough to head home.

The young Whites pushed and pushed but soon ran out of time. An excellent season for our youngsters, who clinched back-to-back league titles. Despite the result, they can enjoy their break with their heads held high.