Fulham U23 2-1 Forest U23

Fulham Under-23s fought from behind to beat an in-form Nottingham Forest side on Friday evening.

A Ziyad Larkeche strike followed by a late Sonny Hilton penalty meant our boys grabbed another three points.

We named a side featuring two senior players, with Terence Kongolo starting at the back and Domingos Quina making his Under-23s debut. Usual captain Connor McAvoy was an absentee, having recently joined Wealdstone FC on a month-long loan.

Midfielder Adrion Pajaziti made his first start since the international break after recovering from illness.

The visitors created a couple of chances just seconds in, with Will Swan heading straight at Taye Ashby-Hammond, before Ateef Konate fired a shot just wide. It was an impressive start made by Forest.

After a slightly shaky start, the young Whites began to grow into the game. Pajaziti had a go from range but there were no big chances for our lads in the opening 20 minutes.

Pajaziti was showing positive signs, charging through midfield and having a stinging effort blocked by a defender on 24 minutes.

Unfortunately, the away side took the lead on 26 minutes, and there was very little Ashby-Hammond could do about it. Ollie Hammond blasted a right-footed shot into the far-left corner from range.

Forest threatened 10 minutes before the break when Konate’s corner fell to Josh Barnes at the back stick, whose effort was lofted over.

After a fairly uneventful opening 45, the young Whites went in at the break behind.

Taye Ashby-Hammond was on hand to keep the score at 1-0 a couple of minutes after the break. Our stopper did well to parry Swan’s shot wide of his left-hand post.

A couple of chances fell our way soon after, however. Sonny Hilton’s long-range drive was well saved by Nicky Hogarth, who was at full stretch.

Then, Quina played a brilliant cross onto the head of Jean-Pierre Tiehi, but he couldn’t get a clean connection on the ball.

Substitute Kieron Bowie very nearly made an instant impact 10 minutes into the second period. The Scot used his power to muscle through before pinging a low, left-footed shot just past the far post. It looked to be heading in until the very last second.

Our 23s continued to push and got their reward on 65 minutes. Larkeche, who was looking lively down the left, took aim and watched as his strike found its way in at the far post. There might have been a slight deflection on its way in.

The goal gave our lads a lift, with Bowie’s powerful effort from the edge of the box being kept out by the legs of the Forest stopper.

With just seven minutes remaining, we took the lead through Hilton. Bowie played a superb ball over the top to Terry Ablade, who was clearly wiped out by the Forest ‘keeper. Hilton calmly slotted his penalty into the bottom left corner.

Another great home win for our boys.