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U23 Team - Season 2016/17

Discussion in 'Fulham' started by Cottager58, Jul 20, 2016.

  1. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    #21
  2. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    The Club report:


    "The home side thought they had taken the lead early on after a well worked corner was tucked in by Dominic Telford, however the forward’s effort was disallowed after he was deemed offside. Stoke continued to press and Thibaud Verlinden showed great trickery on the wing before picking out Mark Waddington whose headed effort was well saved by Marek Rodák. The visitors first real chance of the game came midway through the first half after Joshua Walker’s header from 6-yards out fell just wide of Daniel Bachman’s post.

    The Whites pushed on and got their reward on the half hour mark after Luca de la Torre’s cross was headed back across goal before it fell to Josh Walker who this time successfully managed to head past the Stoke goalkeeper. Fulham almost doubled their lead moments before half time when Elijah Adebayo drove 40 yards towards goal with his curling effort landing just wide of the upright.

    Fulham played well at the start of the second half and Josh Smile almost scored a free-kick 35 yards from goal but Bachmann was well placed to deny him. The Potters managed to get their equaliser on the hour mark when Oliver Shenton’s ball forward found Telford whose neat dribble worked its way to Waddington who struck into the left hand corner of the net. Moments later the home side were almost in front when Telford’s shot was cleared off the line. With 19 minutes left on the clock Fulham had a corner and Dennis Adeniran was there to put his side in front and give Fulham a well-deserved three points.
    "
     
    #22
  3. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    #23
  4. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Fulham 0 Norwich 1 (PL2)

    No Dennis Adeniran in the U23 squad tonight - is he on the SlaviBus to Nottingham? Frustrating game for the lads against a Norwich side who some olds hands in their team - Turner (remember him?) and Canos among them - as well as Peter Grant's son Raymond. Our side was:

    Rodák; Fossey, Sheckleford, Davies, Kavanagh; Kait, Smile, Edun (Dolan 84'), de la Torre; Adebayo (Thorsteinsson 64'), Walker (Humphrys 52')

    Unused sub: Soutter


    "Fulham flew out of the traps and a minute after Josh Smile had seen his header tipped over by City goalkeeper Ben Killip, Elijah Adebayo had a goal ruled out for offside. Marlon Fossey had made a great run and cross to put the ball on a plate for his teammate, but he was adjudged to have moved too early – perhaps harshly.
    Aron Davies then headed down into the ground and over from a Tayo Edun corner, before Adebayo’s dangerous cutback was well defended to deny Luca de la Torre or Josh Walker a tap-in. Marek Rodák was called into action for the first time midway through the half when he kept out a well hit free-kick from Grant.

    A fine Edun run that saw him skip beyond three yellow shirts ended with him firing in a strike that was expertly saved by Killip, while a minute later at the other end Rodák showed superb reflexes to get down low to his left to claw out Carlton Morris’ placed shot. There was one more decent chance either way before the half was out, as Kait headed Smile’s corner onto the roof of the net, and Joe Crowe’s follow-up from a blocked Sergi Canos effort was turned over by Rodák who saw it late.

    Whereas Fulham started the first half on top, it was vice versa after the break, and following a venomous 30-yarder from Louis Ramsey which was pushed behind by Rodák, Norwich took the lead. Jaiyesimi managed to squeeze between two defenders and got a shot away that Rodák got something to, but the Slovakian was unable to prevent it from finding the back of the net.

    Sean Kavanagh’s fizzed low ball across the face was almost put into their own net by a Canaries man, but then Rodák was called upon thrice in quick succession to keep the scoreline to 1-0. A couple of hopeful Stephen Humphrys efforts from range followed but both flew off target, before fellow substitute Jon Dagur Thorsteinsson saw a powerful strike blocked by Kait. Kait then thought he’d equalised as his drilled shot took a deflection to wrong-foot Killip, but it went fractionally wide of the post, maybe just kissing the woodwork on its way. And the Estonia Under-21 international went even closer from the subsequent corner. After Edun’s initial delivery was cleared, he sent in another ball on his right foot that Kait headed against the bar.

    With four minutes to play Thorsteinsson slipped de la Torre in with a neatly weighted pass, but his shot was beaten away by Killip, and with that the final chance for an equaliser was gone."
     
    #24
  5. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    #25
  6. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Our first game in the Premier League Cup is tomorrow afternoon against Middlesbrough at Motspur Park; kick off 4pm.

    You probably recall that this revamped competition starts with a Group Stage and sees our boys play 'Boro, Charlton and Wimbledon home and away. The top-two will then advance to the knock-out phase, while the last-16, quarter-finals, semi-finals and final will all be one-off ties.
     
    #26
  7. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Fulham 3 Middlesbrough 1 (PL Cup)

    Great start for the lads in the competition. Jimmy Husband was in the opposition side, making a comback after breaking something and ought to have given away a penalty in just the 5th minute. Meanwhile Stevie Humphrys was back in the starting lline up for us and on the goal trail. The team was:


    Rodák; Fossey, Davies, Sheckleford, Kavanagh; Kait (Kwietniewski 57'), Smile, Edun; Humphrys (Thorsteinsson 69'), Adebayo, Walker

    Unused subs: Soutter, Dolan, Jenz


    "After Alexander Pattison and Robbie Tinkler had gone close for the visitors, Mattias Kait tested goalkeeper Aynsley Pears after intercepting a loose pass from Husband. The Estonian then broke the deadlock after quarter of an hour. After Boro failed to clear a dipping Josh Smile corner, Mattias Kait reacted quickest to poke it into the back of the net.

    Decent efforts from Tayo Edun and Elijah Adebayo followed, before the Whites put the game to bed in a clinical four minute period. The second goal was a fine team move, with Edun’s perfectly weighted ball over the top freeing Marlon Fossey, whose cutback was swept into the far corner by Stevie Humphrys. Adebayo was then unfortunate to see his long ranger smack the post following some fine individual play, but it was 3-0 seconds later when Mattias Kait showed good composure in the area to take a touch and place the ball beyond Pears.

    Boro looked to pull one back before the interval, but Bryn Morris whizzed his shot just past the post, while Marek Rodák denied Jordan McGhee in stoppage time. The Teessiders caused more problems in the second half, with Rodák called into action to keep out Pattison and Thomas McAloon before the hour mark, while at the other end Adebayo’s acrobatic effort was well blocked. They did reduce the deficit in the 72nd minute in controversial circumstances. Nobody was quite sure what the referee had blown for – perhaps handball – but De Pena didn’t mind as he lashed his penalty into the corner. Middlesbrough squandered a couple more half chances through De Pena and Pattison as they chased the game, but Peter Grant’s troops held on to get off to the perfect start in the cup
    ."
     
    #27
  8. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    #28
    Last edited: Nov 4, 2016
  9. Cottager58

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    Swansea 2 Fulham 0 (PL2)

    The U23s just didn't step up to the plate tonight against table topping Swansea, who made this their 5th win in six. Bit disappointing since we looked as if we getting to the point of a settled team. Our line-up was:

    Rodák; Fossey, Davies (Harris 55'), Sheckleford, Kavanagh; De La Torre, Kait (Dolan 46'), Tayo Edun; Humphrys (Thorsteinsson 60'), Adebayo, Walker

    Unused sub: Soutter

    The Club's brevity in reporting the match possibly reflects the mood; there again, given the state of our communications lot especially on matters Academy .... !?


    "An even first 45 saw both sides create chances, with home goalkeeper Gregor Zabret called into action to deny both Josh Walker and Elijah Adebayo, but it was the Jacks who broke the deadlock when Jay Fulton converted a cross from the right.

    Oli McBurnie could have doubled the lead shortly before and after the interval only to miss the target on each occasion, but he did find his range in the 58th minute when he got on the end of a Stephen Kingsley flick following a free-kick. Marek Rodák kept the score down when he denied the Swansea striker soon after, and Fulham then almost halved the deficit at the other end when Tayo Edun let fly, but his shot came back off the upright. That was as close as Peter Grant’s side came to finding the net
    ."


     
    #29
  10. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Fulham 2 Newcastle 1 (PL2)

    Excellent win that sees us jump over the Geordies in the League. We put out the big guns tonight with the Gaffer watching

    ........................Bettinelli.....
    ..Fossey..Sheckleford..Kavanagh..Edun..
    ....LVC..Adeniran..Jozabed..De laTorre..
    ..........Humphrys..Woodrow..

    Subs not used: Rodak, Walker, Adebayo and Smile

    It was a decent game of football. We struggled to get out of our own half for the first 20 minutes against a tall Newcastle side, then a long pass split their CBs and Cauley Woodrow took the ball through only to be pulled down be their keeper. He scored from resulting penalty (well taken, hard and low to the left). From that point we dominated the half, playing good attacking stuff. A few bad crosses/wayward shots were the only reason we didn't increase the lead.

    Two minutes after the restart sloppy defending let a Newcastle guy toe poke home the equaliser. Nonetheless we stuck to it an stayed on top. The winner came 10 minutes from the end when Stevie Humphrys latched onto a poor pass, held off two players and thumped it home. If there's a criticism it's for us reverting to 'first team' football in that final ten minutes - you know it well, shuffling the ball around in front of our own penalty box/back to the keeper and so on. Nearly cost us but for a good save by Bettinelli.

    The pick of the bunch tonight weren't those 'Big Guns'. Young Marlon Fossey stood out with solid defending and strong runs for the whole 90 (if a few of his first half crosses had been better he'd have been 5*). Sean Kavanagh had a great game at CB cum LB and really read the game well. Bit unfair picking those two out since, apart from the slip up for their goal we defended extremely well so could throw in Sheckleford and Edun as well.

    The other stand out was Stevie Humphrys. Sure there was a mix of the bad in among the good (sloppy passes) but he ran all night, took up some really good positions and was unlucky not to get a second goal when he hit the post in the final minutes.
    Some of the not so good I'd put down to him playing mostly out of position - wide left in the first, wide right in the second.

    Bettinelli made a couple of great saves in the first 20 when we were under the cosh and that one late on. Fair to say he looked sharp when called on to make saves, which wasn't often. His distribution however was at best average and all too often he seemed uncertain whether to kick long or pass short, consequently dithering/taking too long and any advantage was lost. Would question his communication with the back line as well and there was one classic nearly mix up when he failed to come off his line forcing Kavanagh to hoof the ball away.

    Good game though and we played some very attractive, positive football. As did Newcastle; we were just better at it.
     
    #30

  11. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    #31
  12. Cottager58

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    Wolves 4 Fulham 3 (PL2)

    We started 4-3-3 and were three down by half time. Then changed to 4-4-2 in for the second half and nearly pulled it off. Strange also that we had so few names on the bench - and none of the (let's call them 'over age') first team fringe lot. The team was:


    Joronen; Fossey (Jenz 68'), Kavanagh, Schekleford, Edun; De La Torre, Adeniran, Vigen Christensen, Humphrys; Woodrow, Walker (Smile 46')

    Unused subs: Rodak, Thorsteinsson


    "Five minutes into the encounter Randall struck the bar with a fizzing drive from distance, which had Jesse Joronen beaten in the Fulham net. After the early scare the Whites bounced back and were unlucky not to take the lead after some positive play. Tayo Edun, deployed on the left whipped in a sumptuous cross which was laid off into the path of Josh Walker by Luca De La Torre. The young striker fired on target but saw his drive well saved by Harry Burgoyne. The deadlock was broken in the 23rd minute when Enobakhare slotted home from 6 yards out following a tidy one two and things went from bad to worse when Randall slipped one under the advancing Joronen after a mix up on the edge of the Fulham box.

    Despite the quick double salvo the Whites continued to press and probe and were unlucky not to pull one back when Marlon Fossey had his whipped cross hooked just over his own bar by Regan Upton. Wolves went further in front just before the break when Deslandes headed home from a corner to round off a Halloween half of horror from Fulham.

    In a quintessential tale of two halves the Whites came out the traps fastest in the second period and pulled one back just over 20 minutes from the final whistle. After a mistake from Burgoyne, Lasse Vigen Christensen was the fastest to react and slip a pass to Dennis Adeniran. The young midfielder kept his composure to swivel and slot home from 8 yards out. A mere 3 minutes later the lead was cut to one when Stevie Humphrys headed home from a sublime Sean Kavanagh cross and Stevie struck again for the comeback after side footing one home from a Rhyheem Sheckleford cross in the 80th minute.

    With alarm bells ringing for the hosts a deflection ended up proving to be critical in the encounter. Enbokhare saw his speculative drive from 18 yards out take a wicked deflection and beat Joronen.
    "
     
    #32
  13. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Having won the first group game, 3-1 against 'Boro, the second due for this Sunday v AFC Wimbledon has been postponed. The Club haven't given a reason but I'm assuming it's because we've got so many U23 players off on International stints.
     
    #33
  14. Cottager58

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    Middlesbrough 1 Fulham 4 (PL2)

    Fantastic win for the lads, repeating their dominance in the Cup over 'Boro, with hat trick Humphrys the hero. The team was:


    Rodák; Fossey, Davies, Kavanagh, Tayo Edun; Adeniran, Smile; De La Torre, Humphrys, Thorsteinsson; Walker

    Unused subs: Soutter, Jenz and Dolan


    Things didn’t start well for the Whites as Tayo Edun was penalised for bringing Alex Pattison down in the box early on, with captain Callum Cooke successfully dispatching the subsequent spot-kick. The respective goalkeepers were then called into action as Aynsley Pears caught a Humphrys header, before Marek Rodák denied Carlos de Pena at the other end.

    Two goals in six minutes at the end of the first half then proved to be the turning point in the game. First, Stevie Humphrys made no mistake after getting on the end of Edun’s delivery from the left, and then Sean Kavanagh put his side in front with a fantastic effort from long range.

    The next goal was always likely to prove crucial, and after both sides had chances after the restart, thankfully it was Fulham who grabbed it when Stevie Humphrys confidently headed in a Dennis Adeniran cross. And there was still time for the Stevie to claim the match ball when he demonstrated his clinical finishing once again in the 84th minute to cap a fine afternoon’s work for Peter Grant’s side.
     
    #34
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  15. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Stevie Humphrys getting noticed at the "top" today - a couple of decent photos in this link and a further link inside to the 'Boro report on the game (and a fair play to them gives us the credit we obviously deserved).

    https://www.premierleague.com/news/140070?
     
    #35
  16. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Worth putting the achievement of our U23 team into some perspective. Look at the ages of the lads who played last night -

    Rodak (19), Fossey (18), Davies (19), Kavanagh (22), Edun (18); Smile (20), Adeniran (17), De LaTorre (18), Humphrys (19), Thorsteinsson (17), Walker (18)


    Makes the left foot smoothy Sean Kavanagh appear an 'old man'.
     
    #36
  17. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    This link is a FulhamTV thing so apologies if it doesn't work for you. Hope it does 'cos some really good stuff being played and even better touchline banter.

    http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2016/november/21/pl2-match-action-middlesbrough


    And by way of an aside, Stevie Humphrys is the top scorer in the PL2 with 8 goals - not at all bad since he missed out on our early U23 games. He's also got at total tally of 37 in 74 games at all youth levels.

    please log in to view this image



    As you might have guessed I'm a bit of a fan. Let's trust the Club get their finger out since his current contract runs out next summer.
     
    #37
  18. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    For anybody who can make it, the U23 game tonight v West Ham is at The Cottage kick off 7pm.
     
    #38
  19. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Fulham 4 West Ham 1 (PL2)

    That win takes the lads up to 3rd place.


    A fair few big guns in the starting line-up tonight, although only Bettinelli and Jozabed were over age. The team was:

    Bettinelli, Fossey, Davies, Kavanagh, Edun, Adeniran (Smile 50’), Tunnicliffe, Christensen, Jozabed (De La Torre 80’), Woodrow and Humphrys

    Unused subs: Rodak, Walker and Dolan


    A competent and well organised West Ham had the best of the first 20 minutes; our midfield names just couldn’t get into the game. Fortunately the back four and the effervescent Adeniran were in fine form. Then we made a wee change with Woodrow going wide and Humphrys moving into the centre and the game changed. Within minutes Stevie Humphrys brought down a through ball and slammed the ball home from 20 yards.

    Five minutes later Dennis Adeniran headed the ball in from close range following a Kavanagh corner. And five minutes from the break it was Stevie Humphrys again with a poachers goal from a great cut back by Fossey.

    [Pause for observation 1: Woodrow’s only first half contribution was picking up a yellow card for kicking the ball away after being pulled up for a foul and Tunnicliffe looked slow, rusty and couldn’t pass to save himself.]

    The second half was only five minutes old when Adeniran had to off after (another) knock and Josh Smile came on.

    [Pause for observation 2: A real pity since Adeniran was a class above everybody else on the pitch. It wasn’t just his skill, his passing or his running it was the way he covered on the right and the middle when others were out of position. Words can’t explain his performance; you had to see him to understand how phenomenal he was.]

    Back at the game – and on the hour the Hammers got a really weird penalty. Bettinelli was adjudged to have brought down one of theirs when in fact was making a save. They scored. By this time, though the game was still competitive (ergo Tunnicliffe) it was going through the motions and Fulham looked extremely comfortable. A lovely run and cut back by Edun on 70 minutes to LVC saw him hammer the ball into the top right hand corner of the net. Jozabed was subbed after 80 minutes with Luca De La Torre coming on.

    [Pause for observation 3: Jozabed ambled through the game and while he made a number of decent passes in the second half, he can’t tackle for the love of Mike.]

    We could have added at least one more before the end; and especially in injury time when Humphrys put Tunnicliffe through but he squared the ball to nobody with three of ours standing unmarked inside the 6 yard box. All in all an excellent win with praise to our back four, especially the two full backs Edun and Fossey. Top marks to Humphrys – he only needs a sniff at goal to score. But, despite effectively only playing one half, the MOTM was Dennis Adeniran.
     
    #39
    Last edited: Nov 28, 2016
  20. Cottager58

    Cottager58 Well-Known Member

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    Charlton 3 Fulham 1 (PL Cup - Group Stage)

    Without the goal machine Stevie Humphrys, who called off due to illness, a very disappointing performance from the lads. The result demotes the team from top spot in the group and there really was more than enough experience on the pitch to expect better -

    Rodák; Fossey, Davies, Kavanagh, Edun; Adeniran, Tunnicliffe; Christensen, Jozabed (Smile 54'), Walker; Woodrow

    Unused subs: de la Torre, Dolan, T. Ashby-Hammond

    "It took just three minutes for Fulham to create their first chance of the game when Sean Kavanagh stepped up to take a free-kick from 40 yards out, but unfortunately his whipped effort eluded his teammates. Minutes later Charlton came close to scoring when Regan Charles-Cook ran cleverly with the ball in to the box before making a smart short pass to Mikhail Kennedy. He found Archie Edwards but his curling effort missed the post by inches.

    Charlton continued to attack and came close to breaking the deadlock 15 minutes in when Umerah found El-Hadji Ba in the six-yard box, but his first time shot was expertly saved by Marek Rodák. With just over half an hour played the home side opened the scoring. Kennedy played a carefully placed through ball in to the path of Umerah who slotted past Rodák. Minutes later Joshua Walker found himself running through at goal with only the Charlton goalkeeper to beat but was unlucky to blaze his shot over the bar.

    Just minutes before half-time the Addicks’ lead was doubled when Charles-Cook found Aribo who neatly cut through the Fulham defence and coolly slotted his side footed shot past Rodák, leaving the home side two goals to the good going in to the break.

    Fulham had the first chance of the second half when Jozabed was fouled just outside of the area. Kavanagh stepped up to take the free-kick and whipped it into the box but the ball hit Woodrow on his shoulder and was easily picked up by Mitov. Immediately after that Charlton attacked and won themselves a penalty after Edun was adjudged to have fouled Brandon Hanlan. Up stepped Umerah who bagged his second goal of the game.

    With just over 20 minutes to go Fulham were awarded a spot-kick after Marlon Fossey tried to find Walker with a well-executed lofted through ball, but before the forward could head his chance at goal Mitov collided with him. Cauley Woodrow then stepped up and sent the Charlton goalkeeper the wrong way from the spot.


    With one minute to go the home side came close to scoring their fourth when Umerah went through on goal and tried to round Rodák but a great reaction save stood in the way of his hat-trick."
     
    #40

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