u21 v Everton

[cmg]

U21s starting XI: Joronen; Passley, Grimmer, Arthurworrey, Richards; Minkwitz, Christensen, Plumain, Della Verde; Tankovic, Williams.

Obviously Dembele is in Wednesday's squad.

Williams up from u18s with Rodak, Roberts and Sambou on the bench (with Buatu and David) so some changes afoot already.

Can't make it tonight, myself. Any updates welcomed.

[simplyfulham]

I thought the same thing myself from seeing the line up, it is a very young u21 side. The changes are interesting indeed, but what does that mean for us on Wednesday night?

Sadly, I fear Dembele not being part of this team may have more to do with him tweaking his hamstring then him being saved for the Spurs game. Time will tell I guess.

[Riversider]

Everton one up, with 30 mins to go. !

[cmg]

Fulham 2 Everton 1

Grimmer half-volley from Passley cross
Tankovic injury time winner

[Rudolph]

Happy days!

[HatterDon]

I'd like to see Grimmer on the bench. He impressed me more than anyone in the Dr. Pepper cup.

[cmg]

I'd like to see Grimmer on the bench. He impressed me more than anyone in the Dr. Pepper cup.

Not much not to like about this one. Our friends in the North still moan occasionally about us taking him (they have a very small point, in that, if he had stayed at Aberdeen, he would almost certainly be playing SPL first team).
Intelligent, reasonably quick, good range of skills for a centre-half, he is also something of a leader. Captained Scotland u19 (for whom he often played right-back) and presently in their u21 squad at 19). Not a giant, but in the Aaron Hughes mould, physically and in style. Must be close.

Another of our gilded youth, Pat Roberts, claims an assist on the winner in his first u21 outing.

In the distance you can hear the trumpets of the cavalry. Will they arrive in time?

[Banjax]

But according to Kit Symons ... "After the game, I saw how much this result meant to the boys," explained Under-21 Manager Kit Symons to fulhamfc.com. "They're a proud group and they wanted to keep their good run going.

"It probably wasn't a game for the purist, but what they showed was a great desire and determination to do well. We set specific targets at the start of the season and we really wanted to instil a winning mentality – and I think we're seeing that now.

"They've gone 11 games without defeat if you include last week's Barclays Under-21 Premier League Cup win against Aston Villa and tonight they continued where they left off.

"We conceded an awful goal on the hour, but we stuck to our game and the boys knew what they had to do. Everton were very dogged, and they were difficult to break down at times, but I think we got the result we deserved.

"I'm very pleased for the team because everyone played their part tonight. But we turn our focus to the next game now, because we're not a team that rests on its laurels. The players are developing every day, and I can't speak highly enough of them – they're a fantastic group."

Would that he was talking about the First Team.

[Fulham1959]

Great to read about this continuing success !

[SKSW6]

Pat Roberts is only 16 (!) and he's already getting on and doing well for the U21s.

[the nutflush]

U21s starting XI: Joronen; Passley, Grimmer, Arthurworrey, Richards; Minkwitz, Christensen, Plumain, Della Verde; Tankovic, Williams.

Obviously Dembele is in Wednesday's squad.

Williams up from u18s with Rodak, Roberts and Sambou on the bench (with Buatu and David) so some changes afoot already.

Can't make it tonight, myself. Any updates welcomed.

Didn't Dembele do his hamstring 30 secs after coming on vs West Ham according to Jol?

[cmg]

Highlights now up on club website:

http://www.fulhamfc.com/news/2013/december/03/everton-u21s-video

Pity there isn't more.

Two points of immediate interest:
Everton's goal is a horror show of defending. Shows how tough things can be for young defenders. Grimmer goes with his man (who is a decoy) but poor Stephen Arthurworrey is left looking like a man waiting at the wrong bus stop. Learning is a hard process.

Our winner is a 100% last year's u18s job. Richard's bit of trickery on the left, Robert's makes himself some room and provides a blinding through ball for Tankovic's intelligent bit of running and confident finish. Lovely stuff.

[PokerMatt]

That winner is an absolute beaut.

Would love to see that kind of movement and confidence from the first team.

[callumc513]

Trying not to be too hasty, Roberts looks like he has some potential for sure.

[Jamie88]

That ball Roberts played through to Tank was unbelievably good! Incredible little player for someone so young.