Fifteen year-old Seth Ridgeon settled a seven-goal thriller as Fulham’s under-18s roared back from two goals down to beat Crystal Palace 4-3 at Motspur Park this morning.
Two first-half strikes from Zach Marsh gave the visitors a commanding cushion before Tom Olyott halved Fulham’s arrears from penalty spot. Ali Melloul’s men produced a sensational second half display that saw the in-form Callum Osmand level matters and England under-19 international Chibby Nwoko put the Whites ahead with his second goal in as many as games. Young midfielder Ridgeon, capped at under-15 level by England, marked his first appearance for Fulham’s under 18s by coolly converting a pass from Aaron Lupalo-Bi in added time and, although the Palace captain completed his hat-trick with a penalty a minute later, the hosts held on to move top of table.
Marsh, a thorn in the side of Fulham’s rejigged defence from the outset, almost gave the Eagles a perfect start in the fifth minute but he failed to turn home a deflected cross. Fulham threatened through Josh King with midfield’s marauding run culminating in a low shot that skidded wide and George King somehow survived hauling Loupalo-Bi down after the striker had seized on a mistake from the visitors’ centre half. Referee Harrison Blair opted to only caution the defender despite him cynically preventing a goalscoring opportunity.
Palace made the most of their good fortune by hitting the front two minutes later. Marsh seized on a mistake from Eddy Nsasi to saunter into the penalty area with flashy footwork and beat Dino Kaiser from the narrowest of angles. The centre forward made it two eight minutes later, shielding the ball brilliantly from Sam Tabares, spinning away from the Fulham centre half and finding the far corner with a lovely left-footed finish into the far corner.
Kaiser made a smart save from Jesse Derry’s header preventing things for getting even worse for the hosts, who looked shell-shocked before Olyott took matters into his own hands. The winger was denied by a fine fingertip save from Palace goalkeeper Billy Eastwood and it looked as if the Whites would go in 2-0 down at the interval. But substitute Leon Elliott shoved Lemar Gordon over in the area and Olyott sent Eastwood the wrong way from twelve yards to give Melloul’s side something to build on.
Olyott nearly made it 2-2 before the break only for his powerful effort to be bravely blocked by young Eagles’ central defender Jake Grante. The goalscorer made way for Osmand at the start of the second half and the Welshman almost equalised immediately with Eastwood required to get his angles right to repel a left-footed drive. Fulham continued to push forward with Nwoko seeing a drive deflected wide.
Fulham had the chance to draw level midway through the second period when Elliott was harshly adjudged to have handled a Gordon cross, but Osmand’s low penalty was superbly saved by Eastwood. The substitute didn’t let his head drop, however, and kept his head when Josh King threaded a lovely ball through the away defence to beat Eastwood in a one-on-one. The Eagles responded well with Tabares taking a yellow card for pulling back Marsh as the Palace striker looked to be heading through on goal.
An end-to-end encounter tilted towards Fulham for the first time with twelve minutes to play. A lovely move along the left flank involving Osmand and Gordon finished with Nwoko lashing through a crowded penalty area from eleven yards after timing his run from the engine room masterfully. The game remained in the balance well after twelve minutes of added time were indicated but Palace paid the penalty for searching for a leveller. Loupalo-Bi’s lovely weighted ball released Ridgeon six minutes after he had stepped off the bench and the schoolboy slotted home impressively from close range.
Marsh wasn’t finished, however. He looked favourite to grab his third goal when he followed up after Kaiser had saved a long-range effort from full back Rio Cardines but was fouled by Nsasi. The Palace number nine emphatically dispatched the ensuing penalty to set up a frantic finale but the home side were able to survive late pressure to move top of the U18 Premier League South table after an incredible comeback.
FULHAM UNDER 18s (4-2-3-1): Kaiser; de Jesus, Amissah, Tabares, Nsasi (Ridgeon 90); Nwoko, Gofford; Olyott (Osmand 45), Gordon (Ali Wahid 79), J. King; Loupalo-Bi. Subs (not used): Bogle-Campbell, Park.
BOOKED: de Jesus, Tabares.
GOALS: Olyott (pen 44), Osmand (74), Nwoko (78), Ridgeon (90+6).
CRYSTAL PALACE (4-1-4-1): Eastwood; Adams-Collman, Cardines, Grante, G. King; Austin; Williams, Dashi (Omobolaji 64), Whyte (Elliott 40), Derry (Smith 73); Marsh. Subs (not used): Hill, Lusale.
BOOKED: G. King.
GOALS: Marsh (18, 26, 90+8).
REFEREE: Harrison Blair.
