Fulham victors over Women’s Under-19s in pre-season opener

Our Women’s Under-19s put in a hard-fought performance in their pre-season opener, but Fulham ran out as 3-1 winners at Motspur Park on Wednesday evening.

Competing in the FA Women’s National League and deep into their pre-season programme, the Whites took control of proceedings in the first hour of the game, Meg Mendez converting from the penalty spot in the first half before former Spur Kayleigh Stead and Katie Dungate extended their advantage early in the second period.

Sabiha Jamal’s side grew in the final half an hour as Cruz Fuller-Fagan headed home our first goal of pre-season to cut the deficit before Nife Aramide and Cairo Evea-Antoine, who have stepped up from Under-16s to Under-19s for this summer, forced the hosts' goalkeepeer into action in the closing stages of the game.

All in all, it was a positive outing for our youngsters as all players got valuable minutes while going toe-to-toe with senior opposition.

Jade Bradley thought she had opened the scoring after just three minutes when she headed home from point-blank range, but the midfielder was adjudged to be in an offside position in the build-up. However, that set the early tempo for the hosts and after a creating a number of opportunities - Dungate firing wide in quick succession at the midway point of the first half – they broke the deadlock seven minutes before the break when Mendez slotted home from the penalty spot after Sophie Jackson was penalised for a collision inside the box.

Fulham then doubled their lead five minutes after the restart as Stead, who made her senior debut for us in December, 2022, against Southampton and spent a number of years in our Academy, picked out the bottom corner with a low strike from inside the box. Ruby Gaitely carved out our first opportunity in the contest as her effort from the edge of the box went over the bar, but Fulham added a third in the 56th-minute when Dungate converted from a low cut-back from the left.

Following wholesale changes on the hour mark, including a number of first years earning their first minutes with the Under-19s, our youngsters began to grow into the game and managed to cut the deficit in the 65th-minute as Lucy Barraclough’s cross from the right was headed home by Fuller-Fagan. Heidi Hills saw an effort cleared off the line minutes later before Antoine had the ball in the back of the net but a swift offside flag denied her as we continued to push forward in the final quarter of an hour of the contest.

The hosts’ goalkeeper was called into action in the closing stages, getting down low to her left to deny a header from Antoine before tipping over Aramide’s free-kick from 30 yards out over the bar as we couldn’t find a response in the first game, but there were plenty of positives for our youngsters to take away from the encounter.

"I’m really impressed with how we returned in the first couple of weeks in pre-season"

Head Coach Sabiha Jamal said: "I’m really impressed with how we returned in the first couple of weeks in pre-season. We’ve raised the standards and the intensity in the first few training sessions which was shown in the performance. Fulham were always going to be a difficult opposition for us and we really tested the squad with that as our first friendly.

"The character and fight we showed from start to finish speaks volumes and we’re starting to see the team come together positively so early in pre-season. Most importantly, all the players got minutes in the game and we were able to gradually welcome the first years in their first game with the group."