Managed to post this on wrong thread Anyone seen this? CHELSEA 1 SOUTHAMPTON 3 Posted on: Sat 18 Feb 2012 Chelsea's Under 18s were beaten 3-1 at home by Southampton at Cobham in a game which saw us fail to recover from a devastating opening ten minute spell in which we conceded three times, and while our performance improved as the game wore on, we had given ourselves too much of a mountain to climb. Following 120 minutes of action against West Ham United in the midweek FA Youth Cup clash, and with one eye on Wednesday's quarter-final tie against Nottingham Forest, Adi Viveash made ten changes to the side which started the victory against the Hammers, with only Anjur Osmanovic retaining his place. Southampton took the lead in the fifth minute when an inswinging free-kick from the right-hand side was headed home following some sloppy defensive play. Two minutes later and the visitors doubled their advantage when we conceded a free-kick on the edge of our own box. Luke Shaw stepped up and, to his credit, bent a sublime strike beyond the despairing dive of Beeney to leave the home side stunned. A dreadful start by the Blues turned into a nightmare a minute later when the Saints poured forward looking to put the game out of reach, and as the ball broke to Calum Chambers inside the box he fired past Beeney to send the visiting supporters into dreamland. It was a time for cool Chelsea heads as we looked to recompose and steady the ship, and gradually we began to get a foothold in the match. Ismail Seremba had what looked like a legitimate penalty appeal waved away, while Archange Nkumu blazed over from the just outside the penalty area when he should really have at least tested Will Britt in the Saints' goal. The Blues dominated the remainder of the first half in terms of possession without looking like scoring, although Seremba wasted our best chance shortly before the break when he shot straight at Britt when clean through on goal. Osmanovic was replaced at half time by Fankaty Dabo, while both George Cole and Walter Figueira were given a taste of the action with over half-an-hour remaining, at the expense of Nortey Nortei and Seremba respectively. We were handed a lifeline in the 74th minute when Reece Mitchell worked his way into the Southampton penalty area with some neat footwork before being brought down by Britt, leaving the referee with no option but to point to the spot. Tom Howard was the man entrusted with taking the kick, and he confidently sent the keeper the wrong way to set up a tense finish. After such a disappointing start to the game, Viveash's side, to their credit, responded well, particularly given the change in personnel, and their attitude and desire certainly couldn't be called into question. As we pressed forward in the closing stages looking to score a second, there were inevitably gaps left open at the back, and Joe Curtis almost put the game to bed for the visitors but he could only direct his header straight into the arms of Beeney, before the referee sounded the final whistle to cap a disappointing day. Chelsea (4-3-3): Mitchel Beeney; Samuel Bangura, Jordan Houghton, Dion Conroy, Nortei Nortey (George Cole 50); Tom Howard, Alistair Gordon, Archange Nkumu (c); Anjur Osmanovic (Fankaty Dabo h/t), Ismail Seremba (Walter Figueira 60), Reece Mitchell
maybe incorrect, but going by some of the boys names in chelsea side, it looks like they have bought in youngsters from africa and europe. makes what we have more impressive as we mainly have local lads, not having the pulling power of super clubs
