Rochdale U18 3-4 Fulham U18

Fulham Under-18s scored two dramatic late goals against Rochdale to come back from behind and book themselves a place in the FA Youth Cup Fourth Round.

Loupalo-Bi and Callum Osmand both scored two each to give us a narrow 4-3 win. Our lads will face Sunderland away from home in the next round.

We named a slightly different team to the one we’ve been used to seeing in recent league fixtures. Regular Under-21s Charlie Robinson and Harvey Araujo stepped in to offer a helping hand in defence while attacker Ollie Gofford gave left-back a go, with Luc De Fougerolles and Bradley De Jesus (international duty) absent.

Delano McCoy-Splatt made his first start since returning from an injury which has seen him miss most of the season, and he paired up with promising youngster Josh King in the middle of the park.

With Terrell Works still unavailable, winger Tom Olyott started once more at right-wing, where he has impressed of late. In-form number nine Loupalo-Bi led the line.

We got off to a dream start at The Crown Oil Arena and were given an early Christmas present just three minutes in. Rochdale goalkeeper Ellis Craven was too calm on the ball and found himself quickly closed down. Loupalo-Bi stole the ball and happily tucked it into an empty goal.

We were looking dangerous going forward in the early stages. Ollie Gofford drove down the right, but his decent delivery was headed clear. Osmand tried his luck soon after from range and his effort was blocked and went out for a corner.

We almost returned the gift on 16 minutes. Robinson’s risky pass fell straight to Darren Ehimamiegho, who set up John Dunlop just inside our area. To our centre-back’s relief, his strike flew over.

Ehimamiegho decided to try for a goal himself a few minutes later and found an equaliser for his side. After latching onto a cross, he turned onto his strong right foot and fired it low and hard across goal and in.

The hosts took the lead 10 minutes before the break, with Ehimamiegho scoring his second. Right-back Joe Cunningham played an inch-perfect ball through to the forward, who slotted underneath Alfie McNally.

Things continued to swing, with Callum Osmand getting us back level just before half-time. The number 10 reacted quickly to prod home King's initial effort from the right side of the area. Credit to Araujo, who swung in a great cross prior.

After a highly entertaining first half, the two sides went in level at the break.

Rochdale’s Anisio Jesus was presented with the first decent chance of the second half. Substitute Chibby Nwoko failed to deal with a cross-field ball, but Robinson was across quickly to intercept just as the winger looked to shoot.

Lemar Gordon tried his luck up the other end, but his decent effort was straight at the ‘keeper.

The game began to slow the later it got, with proceedings becoming tense as the two sides looked to edge in front. Neither side was able to find any real control, with the game being stopped on several occasions due to injuries on both sides.

The fifth goal was put away on 76 minutes, but it went the way of the home side. Jesus got on the end of a low cross before spinning on the ball and finishing coolly. Late work to do for the young Whites.

We kept on pushing and found an equaliser once more with just a few minutes remaining. Loupalo-Bi cleverly shifted the ball past a defender before calmly slotting into the bottom corner.

And then, just moments later we went ahead! Osmand did excellently to again react quickly and prod a poor attempted clearance past the goalkeeper at his near post.

An incredible end in Rochdale. Our lads held on to record a famous Academy victory and progress into the FA Youth Cup Fourth Round.