U18 Final at the cottage

[Peabody]

It's 2-0 now

[JBH]

2 - 0 get in there boys!!!! scarf

[The King]

That's surely it. Great!

[FatFreddysCat]

WhiteNoise any chance of finding out the attendance?

[FatFreddysCat]

Does this League/cup thing have all the big clubs in it at the start?

[TWFL]

Does this League/cup thing have all the big clubs in it at the start?

Yes we are just about to win the U18 premier league which would have had teams like Chelsea, Man Utd and Man Citeh, so its a great achievement.

[The King]

Does this League/cup thing have all the big clubs in it at the start?

All Prem clubs except Wigan, QPR and Swansea along with 23 clubs from the Football League. So yeah, big clubs and the best academies like Southampton.

Red card for Blackburn.

[Mr_Moon]

Does this League/cup thing have all the big clubs in it at the start?

Yep

Here's an out of date table.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011%E2%80%9312_Premier_Academy_League

[The King]

We've scored the second most goals (71) only behind Leicester (75). Then again our defence hasn't been the best with 48 goals conceded, being the sixth best in group A. Totaal sexy oranje voetbal though?

[Maidstone Al]

Champions !!  scarf

[FatFreddysCat]

Bloody hell what an achievement, very exciting times ahead if a two or three can make it through to the first team. COYWS.

[JBH]

Final score 2 - 0 great achievement by the lads and especially for Kit the future is looking bright well done FFC  scarf yee-haw! 098.gif 077.gif

[White Noise]

WhiteNoise any chance of finding out the attendance?

Initial reports suggest about 1500 but will try and get something official.

[White Noise]

Ryan Williams with The Cup -

[White Noise]

And Cauley Woodrow -

[White Noise]

And Lyle Della-Verde -

[manxman]

and the team together !  082.gif

[manxman]

You can also see the redevelopment to the stevenage road roof.

[White Noise]

Academy 2-0 Blackburn


Saturday 12th May 2012



Goals from Cauley Woodrow and Ryan Williams saw Fulham overcome a physical Blackburn Rovers outfit to be crowned 2011/12 Premier Academy League Champions at Craven Cottage.

Kit Symons made just one change from the side that defeated Leicester City by two goals to one in the Semi Final a week ago as Josh Pritchard replaced the suspended Josh Passley in the heart of defence.

Captain Ronny Minkwitz led his side in a group huddle before Blackburn kicked the game off at a sunny yet blustery Cottage.

A high-tempo opening five minutes culminated in the game's first chance as a hopeful long ball saw visiting forward Hugo Fernandez in space down the right but the Rovers man fired wide after cutting inside onto his left foot.

Fulham's neat interchanges were in stark contrast to Rovers' robust approach which was typified when Jack O'Connell was booked after 13 minutes for a two-footed lunge on Ryan Williams.

Good work from Raheem Hanley down the left on 20 minutes saw the midfielder fizz a good ball into the area for Curtis Haley, only for Josh Pritchard to get the Whites out of trouble with a great tackle.

Fulham were enjoying more of the play but Blackburn were creating better opportunities and went close after half an hour when Fernandez drilled wide from distance.

The imposing Fernandez had skill as well as power in his locker and worked space for himself five minutes later on the edge of the area but, once again, failed to test Connor Roberts in the Fulham goal.

The Blackburn fouls were racking up as they struggled to cope with Fulham's silky play – with Williams in particular causing problems down the flank. Willian Beesley was next in the book for a late challenge on the Australian.

From the resulting free-kick Cauley Woodrow rose highest to make contact with Omri Altman's bending set piece but couldn't control his header which sailed well over the bar.

In the 45th minute Sean Kavanagh went within an inch of handing the Whites the lead after his bending free-kick deflected onto the crossbar before being cleared to safety.

Stoppage time in the first-half was only a minute but it was long enough for both teams to fashion another chance each.

First, John O'Sullivan beat Alex Brister down the left-wing but couldn't find a yellow shirt with his cross, before Fulham countered with Minkwitz, Altman and Na Bangna but unfortunately it was a similar story as Woodrow failed to get on the end of Mesca's ball across the face of goal.

The first decent chance of the second period fell to Haley who found space in the Fulham box but the big striker could only head Beesley's pinpoint cross onto the top of the netting.

Fulham dealt well with an early barrage from Rovers and got back into their stride after eight minutes of the second period when Ryan Williams' goal-bound shot deflected just wide from a corner.

Rovers failed to deal with the resulting set-piece and made the mistake of leaving Woodrow unmarked ten yards from goal. That was all the invitation the striker needed to clinically turn in Na Bangna's low cross to hand the Whites the lead after 55 minutes.

The strike gave the Whites a huge confidence boost and Na Bangna and Williams both drew saves from Rovers stopper Christopher Dilo in the following 10 minutes.

The list of Blackburn names in the referee's notepad continued to grow too as O'Sullivan and Hanley were booked for dissent and a late challenge respectively.

Rovers were getting increasingly frustrated but did draw a first save of the game from Roberts after 81 minutes when the 'keeper was forced to palm away Fernandez' fierce drive.

The Whites had the result in the bag though two minutes later when Williams scored his second goal in two games. More good work down the right from Na Bangna ended with the Portuguese youth international cutting back for Williams to easily slot into the near corner to double Fulham's lead.

Kit Symons had replaced goal scorer Woodrow with Corey Gameiro and the Australian striker was denied an almost immediate goal when his shot was cleared off the line following excellent attacking play by Na Bangna once again.

The afternoon went from bad to worse for Blackburn when a late challenge by O'Sullivan on Williams saw the Rovers man shown his second yellow card before captain Ryan Edwards was also cautioned for an off the ball incident with Gameiro.

Blackburn seemed resigned to defeat so Fulham were content to keep the ball until the final whistle sounded, when they were deservedly confirmed as Champions.

 

Fulham Team: 1. Roberts, 2. Brister, 3. Kavanagh, 4. Christensen (15. Sambou 87 mins), 5. Grimmer, 6. Pritchard, 7. Williams (14. Banya 89 mins), 8. Minkwitz (c), 9. Woodrow (17. Gameiro 82 mins), 10. Altman, 11. Na Bangna

Subs: 14. Banya, 15. Sambou, 16. Tankovic, 17. Gameiro, 18. O'Reilly

Blackburn Team: 1. Dilo, 2. Wylie, 3. Beesley, 4. Hanley, 5. Edwards (c), 6. O'Connell, 7. Cotton (14. Cham 69 mins), 8. Lennahan (15. Boland 45 mins), 9. Haley, 10. O'Sullivan, 11. Fernandez (12. Payne 82 mins)

Subs: 12. Payne, 13. Urwin, 14. Cham, 15. Boland, 16. Mason
.

Read more: http://www.fulhamfc.com/Club/News/NewsArticles/2012/May/AcademyMatchReport.aspx#ixzz1uflu9RKy

[White Noise]

Jack Grimmer with Williams