U18 Team - Season 2017/18

The lads have drawn Everton in the quarter finals of the PL Cup.

https://www.premierleague.com/news/538312

 

Huddersfield 1 Fulham 1 (AET) (U18s) (FA Cup 3rd Round)

Fulham go through on penalties 3-4

Get the record books out - Chris Kelly opened the scoring for us after 15 seconds. The lights at the John Smith Stadium are a bit blinding for the 'mole's eye view' but you can still see how composed Chris was in this clip:


Pretty end to end from then on, with us missing the better of the chances and we really ought to have been more than one up at half time. Second half it was Huddersfield who did the pressing and indeed they got the equaliser 10 minutes from the end of normal time. The lads fought back but just couldn't quite get the winner and this being a game where there had to be result on the night, it went into extra time.

Fulham started extra time where they'd left off, creating chance after chance but the score stayed even. So .. to penalties! And drama! Felix scores, Ashby-Hammond saves, Sessegnon misses, Ashby-Hammond saves, York hits the post, Huddersfield score, De Havilland scores, Huddersfield score (now 2-2), Francois scores, Huddersfield score, Ashby-Hammond .. the goalie .. scores, (now 3-4 in our favour), Ashby-Hammond SAVES. And Fulham go through to the 4th round.

What a fantastic win for the lads. They were certainly 'Up for the Cup' tonight and everyone played their part, not least Djed Spence and captain Joe Felix who had blinders. The standout has to be keeper Luca Ashby-Hammond though. He had some fine saves during the game but 3 penalty saves and scoring 1 in the shoot out is unbelievable. So there you have it, we started with one for the record books from Chris Kelly and ended with another from Luca Ashby-Hammond. Bring on Swansea City !!

The team was :

L. Ashby-Hammond, Spence, Felix, Harris, S. Sessegnon, Mundle-Smith, Kelly (Martin 72'), Francois, Abraham (York 45'), Hilton, Santos-Clase (De Havilland 105')

Unused Subs: J. Schwarzer and Asare

 

How's this for the winning penalty .... from our goalie -

 

Fulham 1 Swansea 2 (U18s)

First defeat in seven matches for the lads. Six changes were made to the team who had the thundering win over Huddersfield in the Cup the other night and in more ways than one that probably affected the outcome of this game. Our regular penalty taker, Nicolas Santos-Clase, wasn't on the pitch when we had a spot kick awarded in the first half. Unfortunately, their goalie stood his ground and saved when Joe Felix banged it down the middle of the goal. To kind of prove the point, young Nicolas came on in the second half and scored our goal ... from the penalty spot!

The team was:

Wickens; Felix, Asare, Mundle-Smith, Martin; Harris, Francois; Frei (Santos-Clase 46'), De Havilland, Kelly; Tahir

Unused subs: J. Schwarzer, Davis, Armsworth and Carvahlo

 

After that great penalty shoot out win over Huddersfield, the youngsters have drawn Swansea away in the FA cup.

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Going to be tough as you'll see from the post immediately above. However, back in August we did hold the 1-1 at theirs. The tie is scheduled for 17th January.

 

Arsenal 2 Fulham 2 (U18s)

The youngsters let a half time 2-0 lead go but held on for a very decent point. The team was:

L. Ashby-Hammond; Felix, Mundle-Smith, Garrido, Martin; Harris, Davis (Asare 70'); Kelly (Carvahlo 56'), Hilton, Santos-Clase; Abraham

Unused subs: Tahir, J. Schwarzer, York

Our first goal came from from a corner and looked as though the big centre half Jose Garrido had scored but it was ultimately give as an OG. A pity Timmy Abraham let a few chances slip away but his goal and our second was a beauty on the turn -

 

Swansea 0 Fulham 2 (FA Cup) (U18s)

What a win ! And what a night for Nicolas Santos-Clase. Not only did he get both of our goals but he was on fire throughout.

Not that he was alone in having an outstanding game. The back four were so competent and Djed Spence caused havoc down their left side. In the middle Tyrese Francois was as cool as. We went ahead after 22 minutes when a corner which he won was met with a thumping header from Nicolas Santos-Clase. And just before halftime he made it two with a great run and left foot shot.

We could easily have added more in the second half, as could Nicolas! Indeed it was only in the last 15 minutes or so when we began to tire - not helped by typical Welsh Wales torrential rain - that Swansea came anywhere near threatening. So a great display and onwards into the 5th round against Plymouth Argyle.

The team was:

L. Ashby-Hammond, Spence, Felix (C), S. Sessegnon, Mundle-Smith, Fancois, Kelly, Harris, Abraham (Martin 75’), Hilton (York 80’), Santos-Clase

Unused Subs: J. Schwarzer, Garrido and Davis

 

Southampton 1 Fulham 0 (U18s)

The youngsters are obviously concentrating on the FA Youth Cup. Disappointing defeat really. The team was:

L, Ashby-Hammond; Felix, Asare (Garrido 45'), Mundle-Smith, Martin; Kelly, Hilton, Davis; York, Abraham (Tahir 45'), Santos-Clase

Unused subs: Jasper, frei and Mac

 

Refreshingly honest assessment of the youngster's performance by boss Colin Omogbehin -

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2018/january/23/omogbehin-a-few-changes

 

Apologies - posted the U23 game here in error.

 

Everton 2 Fulham 0 (PL Cup) (U18s)

Hard fought game and an especially good second half by the youngsters. However, a couple of dodgy ref decisions and a deflection off Jaydn Mundle-Smith (given as an OG) half an hour from the end for their second put to bed our hopes. Not helped by Nicolas Santos-Clase getting sent off with 10 minutes to go. The team was:

L. Ashby-Hammond, Spence, Felix, York, Mundle-Smith, Garrido (Asare 78'), Hilton (Martin 78'), Abraham (Tahir 78'), Harris, Santos-Clase.

Unused Subs: Chisolm and Davis

 

Fulham 4 Reading 0 (U18s)

Good to see the youngsters back on track in the League. And I really do mean youngsters. With so many of the normal squad being drafted into the U23s, a fair few from the lower age group teams had to step up today. Not sure exactly how many were making debuts but anyway, the team was:


Wickens; Drameh, Macavoy, Armsworth, Cover; De Havilland (Frei 46'), Page; Elliott, Carvahlo, Jasper; Williams

Unused substitutes: Chisolm, Antwi, Biereth and Bakrin

One up at half time through Fabio Carvahlo, the lads completed the rout in the second. With Fabio completing his hat trick and Harvey Elliot getting the other, thanks to an assist from Fabio.

 

He scores with his left, he scores with his right and is pretty cool with it !! Here's a clip of Fabio Carvalho's hat trick -

 

Plymouth 1 Fulham 3 (FA Youth Cup) (U18s)

What a win, what a performance! Plymouth showed exactly why they had been 'Giant Killers' in previous rounds - beating Man City and Burnley - by dominating the first half and going in 1-0 up. The youngsters completely turned it round in the second though, equalising through Nicolas Santos-Clase in the 69th minute with a cracking shot from just inside the right hand side of the box. Not a bad way to celebrate your 18th birthday.

We could have won it on two occasions in the 5 minutes of injury time but extra time it was. The dominance was now all Fulham and the new goal machine, Fabio Carvalho put the side ahead 10 minutes in. Just 5 minute later Jayden Harris got our third and that was that. Well nearly - Plymouth got a penalty 10 minutes from the end. That man Luca Ashby-Hammond, whose penalty saves had seen the lads knock out Huddersfield, did it again with a stupendous save.

Having rested players at the weekend, we had a strong team out there tonight:

L. Ashby-Hammond, Spence, Mundle-Smith, Felix, S. Sessegnon, Harris, Francois, Hilton (Carvalho 68'), Kelly (York 118'), Abraham (De Haviland 45'), Santos-Clase.

Unused subs: J. Schwarzer and Martin.


Big derby in the Quarter Final against Spurs or the Dark Side. Bring them on !!!!

 

I believe hat trick hero Fabio is only 15, is that true.
Another JH ?

 

He is rosc, born August 2002.

Could he be another JH? Well, he's an attacking midfielder and has a grand left foot. Has played at U15 level for both Portugal and England.

 

Brighton 1 Fulham 1 (U18s)

Decent result for the youngsters in difficult conditions but a lot of what might have beens, especially in the second half. The first half was pretty feisty. Brighton went ahead on 25 minutes after a sloppy pass across our box let their man in to hit a firm shot home. Ten minutes later the team were level after Carvahlo was pushed over in the box and Ryan De Havilland thumped the penalty into the net. The foul also saw the Brighton lad being sent off.

Against 10 men the team really took charge. As said, the second half was all theirs but the shooting boots weren't quite on today .... blame the windy conditions!

Not surprisingly after the epic Cup win over Plymouth in extra time mid-week, the team saw a number of changes:

Wickens, Asare, Armsworth, Mundle-Smith, Martin, De Havilland, Davis (Santos-Clase 74'), Carvalho, Jasper (Frei 68'), Abraham, Tahir (Elliott 56').

Unused subs: Chison, and Rodriguez.

 

Fulham 0 The Dark Side 1 (U18s)

Narrow defeat for the lads, from a goal half way through the second half. Both sides had a fair few chances in the first and if anything we edged them. They were the stronger in the second however and although the youngsters gave their everything to get an equaliser, in fairness they controlled the game after going ahead.

Yet again it was a very young side we fielded, no doubt with an eye on the Youth Cup quarter-final game against the same opposition on Tuesday.


Wickens; Asare, Armsworth, Garrido, Martin; York, Davis; Frei, De Havilland (Page 46'), Tahir (Elliott 68'); Abraham (Jasper 58')

Unused subs: J. Schwarzer and Draimeh

 

Another big game at the Cottage tomorrow night (Tuesday 27th Feb). The U18s take on the Dark Side in the Quarter Finals of the FA Youth Cup.

We'll be pulling out the stops, fielding a strong side and after epic wins over Huddersfield, Swansea and Plymouth in the earlier rounds, anything goes. Get along if you can for a night under the lights, to cheer the lads on.




Kick off is 7:05. For some weird reason, FA rules prevent Season Tickets Holders from attending Youth Cup fixtures free of charge. Still cheap at the price though with tickets priced at only £4 for adults and £1 for golden oldies and kids.

 

The Gaffer on tonight’s game:

"It's a great challenge for our youth team, it's going to be interesting and I'm going to watch and try enjoy it, but I expect we are going to win the game."


Huw Jennings however, was a tad more pragmatic:

“These days, I find the youth cup as one of those competitions that is great when you do well but you shouldn’t beat yourself up too much if you get eliminated. And yet it still does represent, often the key target for most youth players and youth coaches.

A few years ago [2014] we got to the final against Chelsea and the journey was a fantastic experience for all those involved. I think it launched the careers of a number of players in that group, Patrick Roberts, Moussa Dembele, Emerson Hyndman, even guys like Cam Burgess who is now at Scunthorpe.

Those guys got noticed on the back of that and what pleased me the most about that experience is that we played some fantastic football and I think the Fulham fans acknowledged that. We had a terrific turnout for the game at Chelsea, there was a tube strike for the game at Fulham unfortunately but the one at Chelsea was a great turnout for Fulham fans.

Ultimately, we lost out but I take great pride in the run that we had but I wouldn’t want anyone to think our season is defined by the Youth Cup.”