Fulham Under-21s fell to a 2-0 defeat at Maidenhead United in our National League Cup opener.
Our Young Whites were left with a mountain to climb at the break, with the hosts two goals ahead thanks to strikes from Shawn McCoulsky and Sam Barratt.
Maidenhead started on the front foot and should have led when Soul Hale fizzed a ball across the box into McCoulsky’s path, but the striker missed the target from just six yards out.
Another cross from the left created a headed opportunity for Kevin Lokko a few minutes later, with Alex Borto gratefully keeping hold of his effort.
The hosts were looking to make their early dominance count – and Barratt’s fizzed strike from 25 yards certainly had Borto worried, but the shot whistled past the near post.
Borto had to scramble across his line to keep out his next effort, as Tariq Uwakwe’s free-kick took a wicked deflection off the head of Chibby Nwoko.
We sprung into life on 20 minutes as Lemar Gordon won the ball back high up the pitch. He attempted to play in Jayden Quashie, but the ball bounced straight back to him, allowing Gordon to take a shot at goal, but Harvey Collins made a big save with his feet.
Borto continued his brilliance at the other end as he denied McCoulsky in a one-on-one, before Callum Osmand couldn’t sort his feet out after being picked out by a teasing Bradley De Jesus ball.
McCoulsky wasn’t to be denied again as he put the Magpies ahead 10 minutes before the interval, scrambling home Barratt’s low delivery from the left.
The striker was getting plenty of chances as he flashed a hopeful long-ranger across Borto’s far post just a couple of moments later.
Barratt doubled Maidenhead’s lead on the stroke of half-time, capitalising on a slip at the back and calmly slotting the ball past Borto.
Aaron Loupalo-Bi thought he’d brought his side back into it with an intelligent flick from a Quashie corner, only for Alan Massey to clear his effort from the line.
With 20 minutes to play, Jon Esenga, a half-time substitute, almost picked out the top corner with a mishit cross that had Collins worried.
Some quick feet and smart hold up play then brought around another chance for Loupalo-Bi, who shot straight at Collins from the edge of the box.
It’s a West London derby next up for our U21s as Chelsea visit Motspur Park on Friday, 7pm kick-off.
Maidenhead: Collins; Cochrane, Lokko (de Havilland 46’), Massey, Hale; Uwakwe, Ferguson (Pettit 46’), Carvalho; Ajose, McCoulsky (Abrahams 46’), Barratt.
Fulham: Borto; De Jesus; Nsasi, Park, Slade (Esenga 46’); Donnell (Šekularac 46’), Nwoko, Quashie; Olyott (Works 65’), Osmand (Loupalo-Bi 46’), Gordon (Ali Wahid 65’).
