Matt Dibley-Dias, Luciano D’Auria-Henry and Callum McFarlane were on the scoresheet as Fulham’s under 21s inflicted Margate’s first defeat of pre-season at Hartsdown Park last night.

The friendly, scheduled following Martial Godo’s move from Margate to the Whites last year, was Steve Wigley’s side’s first outing back on these shores after a successful tour of Portugal last week. The visitors were two goals to the good inside the opening twenty minutes. Godo had a hand in the first goal, latching onto a lovely ball over the home defence from Ollie O’Neill and locating Dibley-Dias, with the Kiwi-born midfielder finding the bottom corner emphatically.

The Whites went two up when D’Auria-Henry’s drive from distance took a wicked deflection and curled in off the post. Margate were industrious and, after almost gaining a foothold in the contest through a Harvey Araujo backpass that went horribly wrong, deservedly scored just before the break. D’Auria-Henry was booked for a foul on the dangerous Josh Oliver and a wonderfully whipped in free-kick was tapped in by Kieran McCann.

The non-league side were spirited after the interval with a trialist heading against the bar, but Fulham looked much more fluent once summer signing Kristian Sekularac stepped off the bench. The Swiss midfielder went on a stunning run to set up a chance for Ollie Sanderson before the Whites made the game safe through a fine McFarlane finish from an acute angle with two minutes to play.

Fulham’s under 21s are in action again on Saturday morning against Ipswich Town’s youngsters at Playford Road.

MARGATE (4-2-3-1): Bridle-Card; Trialist, Trialist (Knight 60), Hudson (Ojemen 60), Fisher (Trialist 60); Trialist, Cole (Blackman 60), Howard (Bessey-Saldanha 60), McCann (Greenhsalgh 60), Oliver (Oluwesemo 60); Nketiah (Smith 60).

GOAL: McCann (45+1).

FULHAM UNDER 21s (4-2-3-1): Allen; D’Auria-Henry, Araujo, Bowat, C. Robinson; Williams, Okkas; Godo, O’Neill, Dibley-Dias; McFarlane. Subs: McNally, Parkes, McCoy-Splatt, Sekularac, Sanderson.

GOALS: Dibley-Dias (10), D’Auria-Henry (20), McFarlane (88).

ATTENDANCE: 592