Fulham U21 4-0 Tottenham U21

A stunning performance saw Fulham Under-21s defeat Tottenham Hotspur 4-0 to become Premier League Cup Champions on Thursday night.

The tie was all but won by half-time at Craven Cottage, courtesy of Callum Osmand’s perfect hat-trick.

After tapping in from close range on his left foot, he drilled another in on his right, before claiming the match ball with a looping header at the end of the first 45.

George Okkas added some gloss to the scoreline in the second half, to cap a marvellous campaign for our Young Whites.

There were two changes to the XI that smashed Chelsea by the same scoreline in the Semi-Final, with Alfie McNally replacing Alex Borto in goal, while left-back Jon Esenga came in for the injured Josh King, meaning Okkas moved up the pitch into midfield.

In that Semi, the Young Whites needed just nine minutes to make the breakthrough, but managed it inside three this time around. Spurs centre-back Dante Cassanova wanted too long on the ball and had his pocket picked by Works. He then drove towards goal and waited for Osmand to time his run before picking his teammate out with a square pass for a simple finish.

It was almost 2-0 on 13 minutes when a quick Fulham break culminated in Delano McCoy-Splatt cutting the ball back from the right to Osmand, whose snapshot was well saved by the boot of goalkeeper Luca Gunter.

Osmand did not have to wait long for his second, though. Another high press, this time from Matt Dibley-Dias, saw us win possession again in the Spurs half. The Fulham skipper’s tackle broke for Osmand who turned on the burners to smoke past Cassanova before rolling a low shot across Gunter to double his tally.

Tottenham responded with their first shot of the game, but Jamie Donley’s curling effort from the edge of the box was well held by McNally.

It was a much better chance for our guests in the 27th minute when Maeson King managed to keep the ball in at the byline and clip a cross into Will Lankshear, but the free-scoring striker couldn’t control his header which sailed over.

The home fans wanted blood when King wiped out Works as he was about to burst into the area, but the referee considered Cassanova to be in close enough proximity to warrant a yellow card rather than red.

Esenga almost dished out some further punishment from the following free-kick, but his dipper was pushed over by the fingertips of the diving Gunter.

That gave Esenga a taste for goal, with the defender marauding forward to get on the end of opposite full-back Devan Tanton’s deep cross, but sent his half volley wide on his weaker right foot.

There was then a flurry of attacking activity, with the Hammy End seeing Adrion Pajaziti’s shot deflect over and Gunter deny Works, before Donley dragged a strike wide at the Putney End.

Osmand had been a menace first half, claiming his hat-trick in stoppage time. Tanton’s cross was a high one, but Osmand judged its flight impeccably and hung in the air before looping an inch-perfect header over Gunter and inside the far post.

Spurs started the second half relatively brightly but soon found themselves four down nonetheless. McCoy-Splatt fed Works who was in an acre of space to his right, and the winger put another low cross on a plate, this time for Okkas who finished emphatically.

Tanton’s deliveries had been a constant thorn in Spurs’ left side, and another wicked cross almost led to number five, but Gunter made a terrific reaction stop to keep out Osmand, with a brave block then denying substitute Lemar Gordon – who had replaced the excellent Works – on the follow-up.

Spurs were being limited to pot shots, but efforts from Jude Soonsup-Bell and Rio Kyerematen both missed the target.

At the other end, Gordon definitely found his range, but Gunter was just about able to turn his rasping strike from 20 yards around the post. From the subsequent corner, Connor McAvoy – who had come on for the injured Esenga – headed over.

McNally hadn’t had the busiest of evenings, but he adjusted his body well to keep out Max Robson’s angled shot with eight minutes remaining.

With the contest over, the remainder of the game played out with minimal incident, as Fulham secured their title as Premier League Cup winners – a feat all the more impressive when considering that Spurs U21s finished top of the PL2 this season.