Our U18 took a chastening 5-0 loss this evening to Fulham in the rearranged FA Youth Cup tie. Sometimes you just have to acknowledge that the opposition is superior – and this evening was one of those games.
Category One side Fulham even had the luxury of leaving out last week’s star performer, winger Lemar Gordon. As it was, when he finally came on, Gordon created 4 chances for himself, scored 1 and contributed to a further goal in the limited time he was on the pitch.
We lined up 3-4-2-1: Kit Margetson; Arthur Parker (s – Jack Cooper 30m), Iestyn Jones, Jack Fanning (captain); Josh Pescatore (s – Seb Dabrowski 70m), Jacob Cook, Dan Watts, Aimar Govea; Thomas Woodward, Yori Griffith (Ramon Rees-Siso 77m); Rohan Davies. Unused subs: Thomas Searle, Ewan Griffiths, Harlan Perry, Cameron Llewellyn.
Early exchanges were fairly even – the Swans went close through Rohan Davies in the first couple of minutes. Fulham gradually exerted control and their domination of the ball increased as the half wore on. Oddly, it was a simple lofted ball over our defence that sent Callum Osmand into space to beat Margetson for the opener.
We lost Arthur Parker to what looked a significant injury on the half hour. Fulham went into the interval 2 goals to the good.
Our shape, while familiar, didn’t really get to grips with Fulham’s strengths. We had very little in the way of possession or chances and there were often big gaps between our midfield and forwards. Our substitutions were like for like and one wonders whether we might have fared better if we had matched Fulham’s 4-3-3 formation. Still, the better side won convincingly and missed additional opportunities along the way. A big learning experience for our youngsters and coaching staff.
Jack Cooper and Seb Dabrowski – who have missed most of this season through injury – were both introduced back into match action during the game. It’ll be a great pity if Arthur Parker is incapacitated for any length of time.
It’s difficult to be certain at this stage of their development, but it wouldn’t surprise me at all if several of tonight’s visitors make the grade at league level. Aside from Wales Under 17 cap and hat-trick man Osmand and the elusive Gordon, there were also impressive displays by midfielder Chibby Nwoko – who seemed to have so much time on the ball – and strong left back Jonathon Essenga, who scored once and looked totally confident both in defence and attack.
Goalscoring: Osmand 0-1 (12m), Osmand 0-2 (44m), Osmand 0-3 (65m), Essenga 0-4 (68m), Gordon 0-5 (88m).