Fulham U23 2-1 Aston Villa U23

The Fulham Under-23s are champions of the Premier League 2 Division 2 after beating Aston Villa Under-23s 2-1 on Friday evening.

Despite going a goal down, the young Whites fought back through Luke Harris and Sonny Hilton to clinch the title for their side.

Ollie O'Neill made his return to the team following a spell on the sidelines through injury and Alex Borto kept his place in between the sticks.

Villa enjoyed the majority of possession in the opening minutes of the fixture, although they did little to cause Borto any real problems.

The young Whites, however, through Jay Stansfield, came close to opening the scoring when he audaciously attempted to lob Villa shot stopper, Zych when he saw him off the line.

Stanno was unlucky again just a short while after when his powerful effort was bravely cleared off the line by a Villa defender.

The pressure from the away side soon prevailed, however, when they took the lead through Josh Feeney in the 26^th minute from six yards.

Following the goal, we looked to retain the ball better than we had been, despite Villa still asking questions of our backline on the counter-attack.

In the 37^th minute, Luke Harris picked up from where he started following his hattrick in Newcastle, when he headed home an effort from a corner to level the score before half-time.

In the second half at Motspur Park, both sides struggled to create many chances, with passages of play failing to turn into goalscoring opportunities.

It was a moment of magic though from the captain, Sonny Hilton, who scored directly from a corner kick in the 71^st minute to thrust his side into the lead and on the cusp of the title.

Steve Wigley ensured that his side did everything to hold onto the lead by directing the young Whites to sit deeper and absorb some of the pressure.

The win means that the Fulham Under-23s are champions of the Premier League 2 Division 2, with five games left to go! An impressive feat by all involved with the team.

Following the game, Tony Khan Sporting Director, expressed his pleasure at the lads' season and offered his congratulations to the group: “I want to congratulate Steve Wigley, all the staff, and this talented team of young players for this fantastic achievement. It is the result of hard work, dedication, and the desire to succeed. I’m so proud that the philosophy of our Academy has resulted in this success, long may it continue. Congratulations boys, you all deserve it!! Come on Fulham.”