Aiden Newhouse and Richard Carpenter secured a poignant win for Fulham at Bristol City this evening with the club’s new owner Mohamed Al-Fayed still mourning the death of his son Dodi in the Paris car crash that also claimed the life of Diana, the Princess of Wales.
Fulham manager Micky Adams had suggested that the Ashton Gate fixture should be postponed but after after negotiations between both clubs and the football authorities the game went ahead. The visitors began brightly with Paul Moody’s early thumping header rattling the crossbar from Robbie Herrera’s cross. Fulham hit the front just two minutes later when Herrera provided another excellent delivery from the left and Newhouse nodded home his fourth goal in six games since signing from Wimbledon over the summer.
The Cottagers controlled the rest of the contest, keeping a physical City outfit at arm’s length until they solidified their stranglehold on the three points eleven minutes from time. Moody brought a fine reflex save out of home goalkeeper Keith Welch but he could only parry it into the path of substitute Carpenter, who finished emphatically off the inside of the post.
Adams punched the air at full time celebrating a flawless away showing against one of the pre-season promotion favourites and dedicated the victory to the memory of Dodi Fayed during his post-match press conference.
BRISTOL CITY: Welch; Paterson (Locke 77), Bell, Carey, Taylor, Edwards; Tinnion, Hewlett (Barclay 68), Owers; Goater, Cramb. Subs (not used): Tisdale.
BOOKED: Hewlett.
FULHAM: Walton; Lawrence, Herrera, Cullip, Morgan, Blake; Cockerill (Carpenter 72), Smith, Hayward; Moody (Brooker 87), Newhouse (Scott 80).
BOOKED: Lawrence, Cullip, Newhouse.
GOALS: Newhouse (14), Carpenter (79).
REFEREE: Rob Harris (Oxford).
ATTENDANCE: 10,293.
