Fulham U18 1-0 Chelsea U18

Fulham Under-18s claimed a deserved 1-0 victory over Chelsea at Motspur Park on Tuesday evening.

Countless chances fell to our Young Whites, who had to be patient in their search for a goal, but Tom Wingate scored from the spot with 18 minutes to play to give us the bragging rights on derby day.

The visitors were reduced to 10-men late on as Lewi Richards put in a reckless high boot when going in for a challenge with Seth Chingwaro in the middle of the pitch.

The rain at Motspur Park was biblical during the opening 20 minutes, which added an extra edge to this derby.

It was something our Young Whites thrived off though, as Aidan Evans nodded a header onto the crossbar early on.

There was a real attacking intent about Ali Melloul’s side in the first-half. Alfie White and Macaulay Zepa couldn’t make the most of shots from promising areas, while Tom Wingate saw an effort fall into the arms of Freddy Bernal.

Even after the restart, it was our youngsters pushing for the opener. A bending Zepa strike whistled narrowly past the far post – and there was a controversial offside call against Wingate just as goalkeeper Bernal clattered into our striker.

With 20 minutes to play, Bernal came charging out again to claim a high ball, this time going through the back of Evans, but the offside flag couldn’t save the Chelsea shot-stopper this time.

Wingate stepped up from the spot to score his sixth goal in five matches, emphatically striking the ball beyond Bernal, who had guessed the right way.

We were made to work for the three points as Logan Cooke hooked an effort off the line, before centre-back partner Jon Esenga put his body on the line to block a driven Richards shot.

Chelsea were reduced to 10-men in stoppage-time as Richards went into a challenge with Chingwaro with a high boot, catching our mid-season signing in the face.

Our U18s are next in action away at Brighton on Saturday 26^th April, 11am kick-off.