Fulham U23 5-3 Burnley U23

Fulham Under-23s beat Burnley 5-3 in what was a thrilling final league game of the season on Friday.

Luke Harris recorded an incredible four goals before Idris Odutayo added a fifth later on in the game.

Steve Wigley gave midfielder Matt Dibley-Dias a start, while Terence Kongolo featured for a second time in a row, having played 90 minutes away at Reading on Monday.

Burnley’s Max Thompson found himself in a decent position just a couple of minutes in, but he was rapidly closed down and the danger was quickly cleared.

The visitors went on to take the lead soon after, through Joe McGlynn. The forward was cleverly played through before dinking the ball over the onrushing Alex Borto.

The young Whites instantly looked for a response and Luke Harris tested goalkeeper Lukas Jenson from the edge of the box. His low effort was fairly comfortable for the stopper in the end.

The Fulham attackers were seeing a good amount of the ball, but they were struggling to break down what was a solid, and fully packed, Burnley back line.

Nevertheless, we found the equaliser on 36 minutes and it was a wonderful finish from Harris, who stroked the ball into the bottom corner after latching onto a perfect Luciano D’Auria-Henry cross.

Sonny Hilton almost gave us the lead just before the break, when Harris’ cross from the left found our captain. His powerful effort from close range was well blocked.

The two sides went in level, and with Burnley needing at least a point to make the playoffs, we were sure to see an exciting second period.

The young Clarets made a dream start to the second half. Ne Jai Tucker’s strike was saved by Borto but he could only push the ball towards Thompson, who poked home to give his side the lead for a second time.

We got ourselves level again on 52 minutes and it was that man Harris again. He leapt highest before nodding the ball into the net at the back post.

Unfortunately for Wigley’s side, that equaliser lasted a matter of seconds. McGlynn slotted home up the other end just seconds later.

Stansfield nearly grabbed us our third equaliser not long after, but his low effort was excellently saved by Jensen.

Luke Harris completed his hat-trick with yet another great finish soon after, swiping the ball towards goal from the centre of the penalty area. The Welshman was on fire and the Burnley defence just couldn’t handle him.

We took the lead for the first time on 73 minutes, and you guessed it, Harris was on the scoresheet for a fourth time! He rose above everyone else to prod home his second header of the evening.

Burnley’s Benn Ward almost scored in what was becoming a wild game of football. The substitute lined up a left-footed effort and watched on as his curling strike struck the post.

Idris Odutayo put the icing on the cake soon after, calmly slotting home after finding himself in the perfect position.

We saved one of our most entertaining games for the end and went on to lift the Division Two trophy!