Fulham U23 3-0 Southampton U23

Fulham Under-23s jumped to the top of the table after an emphatic 3-0 win over Southampton on Friday.

Kieron Bowie's strike followed by an impressive Jay Stansfield brace ensured that our youngsters took all three points.

We named a strong side for our PL2 clash, with Stansfield, Tyrese Francois and Steven Sessegnon all added to the mix.

The young Whites immediately stamped their authority, winning a free-kick in a dangerous position. Adrion Pajaziti’s attempted cross was slightly overhit and rolled out for a goal kick.

Kieron Bowie tried his luck a minute later from range. A clean, powerful strike but right down the throat of ‘keeper Jack Bycroft.

The boys were feeling confident and it was showing in the early stages. Sonny Hilton linked up excellently with Marlon Fossey down the right before the ball found its way back to the former. Unfortunately, his good cross had no takers at the back post.

Our biggest opportunity came on the 19-minute mark, with Idris Odutayo rising and heading just wide from a Pajaziti delivery.

The young Saints began to enjoy spells of possession and came close a few minutes later. After a nicely worked move, Jayden Smith found himself charging through on goal. The attacker charged up his shot but was denied thanks to an excellently timed slide tackle by Marlon Fossey.

Taye Ashby-Hammond was then called into action, diving to his left to keep out a brilliant Kazeem Olaigbe free-kick.

Somehow, the young Whites didn’t take the lead 27 minutes in. After a sloppy pass in the Saints defence, Ollie O’Neill nipped in and intercepted before taking the ball around the goalkeeper. Despite aiming towards an open goal, his effort rolled agonisingly wide of the far post.

O’Neill nearly redeemed himself 10 minutes before the break. Fossey’s powerful low cross was met by our number 11, whose driven strike was well taken by the goalkeeper.

Hilton had the crowd on their feet a couple of minutes later. The agile winger prodded the ball through the legs of a Southampton midfielder before finding Kieron Bowie with the outside of his boot. The forward was intercepted before who could get a shot off.

The young Whites got their goal a few minutes before the break, courtesy of Bowie. Stansfield put in some good work down the right-hand side before squaring the ball to our Scot, who tapped home.

Ashby-Hammond denied Olaigbe for a second time just before the break, making himself nice and big to deny the number 11 from a tight angle.

Chances fell for both sides, but it was the boys in white who went into the break ahead.

We doubled our lead seven minutes into the second period and with a great move. Fossey made one of his trademark runs down the right before finding Stansfield in the middle. The striker, who was implemented as a number 10, finished coolly.

Most in the stands would have experienced a moment of Déjà vu immediately after, as the two linked up again to put us three ahead. Fossey’s delivery was on point and Stansfield, once again, tucked his shot away.

The game saw its quietest spell after the third goal, with the next opportunity coming on 70 minutes. Sessegnon decided to have a crack himself, curling a shot from the left-hand side against the far post. The left-back opened his body up and got plenty of movement on the ball.

Odutayo came close on 78 minutes, getting his second header of the match on target, only this time to be denied by an excellent diving save.

The final whistle put an end to another impressive Fulham display, which took us to the top of the league table.