Fulham U18 0-2 Crystal Palace U18

Fulham Under-18s were defeated 2-0 by Crystal Palace in a cagey encounter at Motspur Park.

The clash saw third come up against first in the U18s Premier League South, but Ali Melloul’s side missed the opportunity to leapfrog our opponents.

Benjamin Casey gave Palace an early lead, and the visitors were comfortable from that moment, with Jerome Osei Kyremeh adding another goal in the second-half.

It was a promising start from our Young Whites as Aidan Evans flicked Farhaan Ali Wahid’s corner into the side netting, but that wasn’t a sign of things to come as far as home chances were concerned.

Casey put the table-toppers ahead after 16 minutes, meeting a cross from the right with a stooping header.

If Casey had been stood in the same spot when Jasper Judd whipped a dangerous ball across the face of goal 20 minutes later, then Palace would have doubled their lead, but there was nobody on the end of the defender’s cross.

Seb Williams failed to hit the target when found by Tyler Whyte on the stroke of half-time, skewing a shot wide of Dino Kaiser’s far post.

He did test Kaiser just seven minutes after the restart, with the Bosnia youth international getting down low to tip a shot past the post.

Palace’s dominance in the game continued, with neat passing sequences a feature of their game. That resulted in a goal 20 minutes from time as Osei Kyremeh played a quick one-two, receiving the ball in the right half space and lashing the ball beyond Kaiser.

Our Young Whites hadn’t threatened since that early Evans chance, but he was presented with another opportunity late on. The forward was picked out at the back post by a delicious, chipped Ali Wahid cross, but he couldn’t poke the ball into his desired location.

Evans was left frustrated by Sean Somade, with his shot destined for the bottom corner, only for the Palace centre-back to make a vital block.

Motspur Park hosts another U18s game next Saturday, with Aston Villa the visitors, 12pn kick-off.