Fulham’s under 21s were knocked out of the PL2 play-offs after suffering a 2-0 home defeat by Nottingham Forest in the round of sixteen at Motspur Park this evening.
The Whites were considered to be one of the leading contenders to win the competition after a finishing third in the league phase of the revamped under-21 competition, but Hayden Mullins’ men were totally outplayed in their first knockout fixture by an enterprising Forest outfit.
The visitors made the early running and could have taken the lead through Jack Nadin after Ateef Konate had seized upon a sloppy pass from Delano McCoy-Splatt, but the midfielder drove his shot wide of goal. Callum Osmand passed up a very presentable opportunity a couple of minutes later at the other end firing well over the bar having found himself in a one-on-one with Forest keeper Aaron Bott.
Warren Joyce’s side got the reward their bright start merited after seven minutes. Nadin dissected the Fulham defence with a well-weighted through ball and striker Detlef Esapa Osong kept his cool to emphatically beat Alfie McNally. The hosts sought an immediate response and midfielder Adrion Pajaziti was unfortunate to see his free-kick come back off the post and bounce away to safety.
But Forest’s fluent passing always carried a threat and the young Whites were indebted to goalkeeper McNally for keeping the deficit at just one when he made an important save to thwart Konate from an acute angle just before half time. The away side continued to ask most of the questions in the second period, retaining possession with admirable poise, and Fulham were restricted to odd half-chances, with the clearest opening fashioned by Osmand himself at a set play. The Welsh international diverted a corner wide of the far post with an instinctive flick.
In truth, Forest should have made sure of their progression into the quarter finals well before Konate finished Fulham off in stoppage time. McNally dashed from his goalline and spread himself well to deny the forward in a one-on-one midway through the second half and, from the ensuing corner, Konate struck the post from Kyle McAdam’s cross. But he finally got his name on the scoresheet in added time when he calmly completed a fantastic Forest counter-attack by converting a ball from Osong.
The young Whites will look to bounce back from this defeat and finish the season by lifting some silverware when they take on Tottenham Hotspur in the Premier League Cup final at Craven Cottage on Thursday 16 May.
FULHAM UNDER 21s (4-2-3-1): McNally; Tanton, Amissah (Esenga 74), McAvoy, de Fougerolles; Dibley-Dias, McCoy-Splatt; Works, Gordon, Pajaziti; Osmand (Loupalo Bi 65). Subs (not used): Underwood, Nwoko, Olyott.
NOTTINGHAM FOREST UNDER 21s (3-4-1-2): Bott; Thompson, Hanks (Powell 45), McDonnell; Sinclair, McAdam, Perry, Perkins; Nadin; Osong, Konate (Gardner 90+5). Subs (not used): Houston, Whitehall, Thompson.
BOOKED: Nadin.
GOALS: Osong (17), Konate (90+4).
REFEREE: Alan Dale.
