A moment of magic from Michael Cole was enough to secure a precious three points for Fulham as they edged past a battling Chester City side at Craven Cottage this afternoon.
The young striker, a recent capture from Ipswich Town, crashed home an outstanding overhead kick from Gary Barnett’s deep cross in the 79th minute that left Chester goalkeeper Billy Stewart completely helpless. Stewart had earlier made a pair of stunning saves to twice deny Fulham forward Kenny Achampong as the Whites dominated the first half.
But Ray Lewington’s side looked to left frustrated by the visitors’ wonderfully well-drilled offside trap, which kept ending promising attacks, and a glaring miss from Clive Walker, who somehow skewed a simple shot wide of an open goal with his first touch after replacing Justin Skinner midway through the second half.
The visitors were determined but lacked imagination and a killer touch in the final third to test a Fulham defence that has been far from watertight over the course of this season. Their own dogged defence looked to be enough to earn an important point away from home until Cole conjured up some late acrobatics to keep Ray Lewington’s play-off dream alive.
FULHAM: Stannard; Oakes, Eckhardt, Hopkins, Elkins, Marshall, Scott, Skinner (Walker 66), Barnett, Achampong, Cole. Subs (not used): Hoddy.
GOAL: Cole (79).
CHESTER CITY: Stewart; Abel, Fazackerley, Lundon, Graham, Butler, Barrow, Lightfoot, Lowey, Croft (Houghton 76), Bennett.
ATTENDANCE: 4,131.
