Lemar Gordon and Seth Ridgeon scored the goals as Fulham’s under 21s cruised to a comfortable 2-0 victory over ten-man Middlesbrough at Motspur Park this evening.
The young Whites moved level on points with Manchester City at the top of the PL2 table as Gordon finished a flowing length of the pitch move to give Hayden Mullins’ men the lead in the first minute of first half stoppage time before Seth Ridgeon capped an impressive under-21s debut with a splendid strike to seal all three points at the death. Middlesbrough’s hopes of picking up anything from the trip to London evaporated as centre half Luke Woolston was booked twice in the space of ten minutes.
Boro had made the stronger start with attacking midfielder Sonny Finch bringing the best of Michael Allen, who was making his first start since September in place of the injured Alex Borto. The attacking midfielder then saw a shot bravely blocked by Ollie Gofford before Fulham’s first chance fell to Chris Donnell but the all action midfielder paid for a poor touch as Shea Connor smothered his run after a smart banll from false nine Imani Lanquecoc.
The visitors had chances with Afonso Lindo having a header blocked and Frankie Coulson volleying into the hands of Allen. An end-to-end spell gave way to a more pensive, scrappy period and Fulham’s only opportunities fell to Lanquedoc and White until the home side hit the front in stoppage time. Gordon, a threat throughout the half, finished off a flowing length of the field passing move by prodding past Shea after accelerating onto a pass from Works.
Middlesbrough’s hopes of getting back into the contest were dealt a serious blow five minutes into the second half when Woolston was dismissed for his second bookable offence after trjpping Ridgeon. Boro reverted to a more defensive system with ten men and kept Fulham fairly quiet. Gordon did test Shea’s reflexes with a rasping riposte, but it actually took until added time for the home side to clinch all three points.
The precocious Ridgeon rattled home a shot off the post in added time after Gordon had played a smart inside ball. This hard-fought victory puts the Whites on the same number of points at the top of the table. Mullins’ men aren’t back in league action until they travel to Leigh to take on Manchester United on Monday 17 February.
FULHAM UNDER 21s (4-2-3-1): Allen; Gofford, de Jesus, Nsasi, Park; Nwoko, Donnell; Gordon, Works (Olyott 64), Ridgeon; Lanquedoc. Subs (not used): Underwood, Picotto, Wingate, Ali Wahid.
GOALS: Gordon (45+1), Ridgeon (90).
MIDDLESBROUGH UNDER 21s (4-2-3-1): Connor; Agyemang, McCormick, Woolston, Lindo; Johnson, Stott; Coulson (Samuels 52), Lennon (Patterson-Powell 67), Finch; Nkrumah (Cartwright 87). Subs (not used): Simpson, Fisher.
BOOKED: Woolston.
SENT OFF: Woolston (49).
REFEREE: Matthew Russell.
