Birmingham U23 1-3 Fulham U23

Fulham Under-23s added to their impressive away record, with a 3-1 win over Birmingham City on Sunday.

Ziyad Larkeche and Ollie O'Neill helped us go in 2-1 ahead at the break, before an own goal soon after the restart sealed the victory.

Head Coach Steve Wigley was able to utilise Tyrese Francois in the middle of the park, while left-back Larkeche made a return after a short stint out.

Jay Stansfield led the line with Sonny Hilton and Kieron Bowie on either side of him.

The young Whites came flying out the traps in the early stages. Bowie tested goalkeeper Zachary Jeacock almost immediately, before drilling wide from a Stansfield cross a couple of minutes later.

Our 23s continued to control proceedings. Nine minutes in, Luciano D’Auria-Henry played a neat one-two with Stansfield before drilling a low ball across the six-yard box. Larkeche sprinted towards it to finish but was just beaten to it by a Blues man.

Our early dominance was soon rewarded on 17 minutes. A scuffed Birmingham clearance fell perfectly for Larkeche who drilled a first time shot into the bottom corner.

O’Neill nearly added a second soon after, but his right-footed shot from a tight angle was well blocked.

Our lads added a deserved second not too long after. Hilton played a brilliant bouncing cross towards O’Neill, whose strike smashed the crossbar before bouncing over the line.

The two-goal cushion lasted a matter of seconds, though, with Birmingham’s Leonardo Dos Reis calmly slotting the ball past Luca Ashby-Hammond. Game very quickly back on.

Larkeche was in the mood and tried his luck from range 10 minutes before the break. His powerful effort whizzed just wide of the far post. Bowie found the Frenchman with a lovely little flick.

Despite most of the play taking place in the host’s half, the young Blues very nearly levelled the scoring just before half-time. Oriol Soldevila was played through, but his low effort was blocked by the legs of Ashby-Hammond. A smart save by our stopper.

We went in narrowly ahead at the break. 

Ibane Bowat came to the rescue for his side soon after the interval, blocking a fierce Soldevila strike from close range to keep his team ahead.

Our 23s restored their two-goal cushion a few minutes later. Hilton’s inswinging corner was bundled over the line by Birmingham defender Tommy Fogarty.

Stansfield, who had looked lively all game, tested the ‘keeper with a driven strike on the turn. Jeacock got down quickly to parry.

Both sides were struggling to create any clearcut chances on what was a difficult surface. Larkeche took aim once again after being laid off by O’Neill, but his stinging volley was straight at Jeacock.

With 15 minutes remaining, Stansfield had another go but was denied courtesy of some good goalkeeping.

The boys saw the game out well and secured another three points on the road.