U18 Report: Saints 1-3 Fulham

The Cottagers maintained their position at the top of the South section standings with an impressive display as they applied plenty of pressure throughout.

They came close to breaking the deadlock midway through the first half, only for Will Tizzard to make a fine block from the dangerous Jay Stansfield, as he was picked out by a Sylvester Jasper cutback.

But it was only a temporary reprieve for Saints, as, shortly after, an Idris Odutayo cross from deep on the left flicked off the head of a home defender and fell into the path of Stansfield, who controlled and prodded past home keeper Oliver Wright.

Fulham had a chance to make it 2-0 almost immediately, as Lewis Payne was harshly judged to have tripped Fabio Carvalho just inside the area, but Wright guessed correctly from Stansfield’s penalty and held on to make the stop.

In the 58th minute, though, he couldn’t deny the striker his second goal, as a slick move saw Jasper chip a ball through for Carvalho to square into Stansfield’s path for a tap-in.

Oliver O’Neill then made it 3-0 to the visitors on 65 minutes, as he finished after being played in by Jasper, and, although Jack Turner pulled one back when he flicked in substitute James Morris’s late free-kick, the points were claimed by the visitors.