Fulham U18 4-3 Crystal Palace U18

Fulham Under-18s fought back from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 4-3 on Saturday in a thrilling local derby.

After Zach Marsh grabbed a first half brace for the hosts, Tom Olyott got us one back on the stroke of half-time before Callum Osmand, Chibby Nwoko and Seth Ridgeon netted for us in the second half. Marsh grabbed his third late on to make it a tense finish for Ali Melloul's side.

Most of the changes to the side that picked up a great win at Chelsea last weekend were made in defence. Dino Kaiser returned to the starting line-up in goal and Eddy Nsasi came in at centre-back, with captain Ollie Gofford starting this one in his favoured midfield position.  

The first opportunity presented itself five minutes in, when Palace’s Marsh got on the end of a deflected cross from the left, but thankfully he couldn’t convert.

Josh King threatened for us straight after, slaloming through midfield before unleashing a powerful low effort, which fizzed across the wet surface before rolling just wide.

The visitors were perhaps lucky not to be reduced to 10 men, when Cormac Austin had the ball nicked off him by Aaron Loupalo-Bi before pulling him down as the last defender.

We found ourselves behind a few minutes later, when Palace captain Marsh used neat footwork in a crowded area before tucking home from an acute angle.

Marsh was on hand for the young Eagles again on 26 minutes to make it 2-0. This time, he nudged the ball onto his left before slotting an effort across goal and in. Plenty of work to do for our boys.

We were struggling to settle after the setbacks, with Kaiser making a strong save for us to block Jesse Derry’s decent header.

The lads grew into the game and managed to grab one back just before half-time. Following a push in the area, Olyott stepped up and fired home from the spot. Game on.

Olyott's strike meant our lads went in at the break 2-1 down.

Callum Osmand was introduced at half-time in place of goalscorer Olyott and almost made an instant impact. The in-form striker charged towards goal before having his left-footed effort from close range well saved by William Eastwood.

The young Whites had their opponents pinned back as they searched for the all-important equaliser. Chibby Nwoko had a deflected effort curl just wide of the far post as we headed past the hour mark.

The pressure soon told, when we were awarded a penalty for a hand ball in the area. This time Osmand stepped up, but his low penalty was well saved by Eastwood who stuck out a strong hand.

Osmand didn’t let the penalty miss phase him, though, latching onto a King through-ball before calmly slotting home to get us level with 15 minutes still to play.

Our boys put in a real shift and Nwoko completed the comeback on 78 minutes, when his low, first time strike found the back of the net. An unbelievable turnaround at Motspur Park and back-to-back goals for the young midfielder.

Things got even better for us in additional time, when young Seth Ridgeon latched onto a neat pass and finished coolly. A first goal for the 15-year-old at Under-18s level.

Palace grabbed one back a minute later from the spot after a trip in the area. Marsh stroked home to complete his hat-trick.

The Eagles pushed for the late equaliser, but we held out to take all three points up for grabs.