Aidan Evans bagged a first half brace as Fulham’s under-18s hammered Ipswich Town 4-0 at Motspur Park this afternoon to make it two wins from two in the Under 18 Premier League.
Tarrell Cavell’s shot was deflected past a helpless Josh Bentley in the visitors’ goal by the unfortunate Archie Brown before Brodie Dair dispatched a penalty to round off the scoring. This comprehensive victory will send Ali Melloul’s side into their first Premier League Cup group match – at Blackburn Rovers on Tuesday lunchtime – in fine fettle.
The Whites started purposefully but initially struggled to break down Ipswich’s disciplined defence and test Bentley in the visitors’ goal. Ruban Khan and Macaulay Zepa struck speculative efforts wide of goal from distance before a defensive lapse allowed the hosts to hit the front in the sixteenth minute. Evans won possession high up the pitch and found an empty night from distance with goalkeeper Bentley well out of his goal.
Town hit back immediately with Nelson Eze feeding Matthew Compton, whose right-footed shot was foiled by Ollie Mayer. But two minutes later, Evans scored his second of an excellent afternoon. The Canadian under-17 international hit the bar when he connected with a devilish cross from Dair but beat Bentley at the second attempt to put clear water between the two sides.
The intelligent attacking midfielder might have completed his hat-trick early in the second half but Evans couldn’t quite take advantage of a glorious ball from the lively Zepa. Logan Cooke drove wide from long range, but eight minutes later Fulham had a third. The luckless Brown looked to try and close Cavell as the winger weighed up a cross, but the ball flew off the defender and between Bentley and his near post.
It got worse for Ipswich when Brown bought down substitute Bashil Lubega in the box and Dair drilled the spot-kick beyond Bentley. Zepa had the chance to add a fifth in added time but the winger was thwarted by Bentley, who prevailed in their one-on-one drill by saving stoutly with his feet.
**FULHAM UNDER 18s** **(4-2-3-1):** Mayer; Benchaita, Hall (Carr 30), Schutter, Cooke; Khan, White (Gommins 71); Zepa, Cavell (De-Gale 62), Evans (Lubega 62); Dair.
**BOOKED:** Dair, White.
**GOALS:** Evans (16, 27), Brown (o.g. 58), Dair (pen 76).
**IPSWICH TOWN UNDER 18s (4-2-3-1):** Bentley, Brown, Brouwers, Olawole, Mandey (Farrington 62); Wood, Sains; Unadike (Boakye-King 62), Compton (Adebayo 62), Pedder; Eze (Burton-Yurevich 77). **Subs (not used):** Wreford.