Exeter City Under-18s’ memorable FA Youth Cup campaign drew to a close on Thursday night after spirited defeat to Category One academy Fulham at Dorchester’s Avenue Stadium.
Playing away from St James Park due to vital remedial pitch works, the young Grecians looked to have made their temporary venue a home away from home with a bright start, though they trailed 2-1 at the half time interval. Santino Ohanaka scored City’s goal in the first half, which sandwiched two Tom Wingate strikes, before Farhaan Ali Wahid’s double after the break secured the win for the Whites.
Under the guidance of new Lead Coach, David Oldfield, for the first time, City lined up with a strong XI, though prolific striker Theo Cutler missed out through injury leaving Kieran Wilson as the lone forward up top.
First Half
City can be proud of their start against the category one opponents, and they could have taken the lead with two fantastic chances in the opening ten minutes of the game. First, Ohanaka picked up the long cross-field ball on the right hand side and dropped the shoulder before finding Wilson in space in the area, who saw his half-volley saved by the keeper.
From the next attack was an even better chance for the Grecians, as Ohanaka again picked up the defence splitter before playing the ball in-field to Liam Oakes, who fired just over from the edge of the box.
It would be Wingate for the visitors who would hit the headlines with his double, but not before goalkeeper Dylan Shanahan saved his first effort of the game with a strong claim. Until Wingate’s opener, there was little to suggest this was a category three academy against category one side and the Grecians would have felt unfortunate to go behind.
He picked up a through ball on the left of the box and beat Shanahan with a low strike into the bottom corner to put the hosts ahead, but they would lead for only two minutes.
From kick-off, City burst forward and won a corner, which would provide the groundwork for the leveller. After the corner was played short to Ohanaka, the initial ball in was blocked, but Ohanaka recycled the ball and turned on the edge of the box before cutting infield and lashing an effort through a mass of bodies to put things all square in Dorchester.
From the restart, City could have gone in the lead as both Oakes and George Birch had great chances to score. Oakes fired wide from distance before a Fulham boot denied Birch a tap-in after another piece of magic on the right from Ohanaka.
Fulham’s second goal would come against the run of play but in some style, as Wingate again showed his class as the ball fell to him in the area from a delightful Seth Ridgeon lay-off and he hit it first time with finesse to send the ball looping over a helpless Shanahan to make it 2-1 to the visitors just moments for the break.
City will have felt hard done by to be behind at the break after a spirited first 45.
Second Half
Both teams returned to the field unchanged, though just eight minutes into the half the Grecians were forced into a switch as Birch took a knock, meaning Harry Appleton came into the action.
Fulham would show their gulf in the second period, but not before the Grecians made life difficult for their Londoners. In contrast to the first 45, Fulham retained most of the possession but were struggling to break down a resolute Grecians back-line who felt that the counter-attack was the best threat to find a leveller.
The aggressive City press was finally broken with a fine individual goal from Ali Wahid as he dispossessed Liam Cartwright on the left hand side and drove forward under pressure from Jacca Cavendish before unleashing a low effort past Shanahan.
Up the other end, and with just enough time to mount a two goal comeback, Wilson had an effort blocked from the edge of the box. City kept going for it, but were again caught out by Ali Wahid, who saw his long range effort deflect past the keeper to put the game out of side for Fulham.
The game petered out to a 4-1 victory for Fulham and City’s cup run came to an end in the fourth round. Fine victories over Bridgwater, Dunstable and Stevenage got the Grecians this far, and they will certainly take heart going into the second half of their league season, for which large parts of this performance can be used as a catalyst.
Out the cup, but plenty to be proud of.
Exeter City XI: Shanahan (GK), Cartwright, Cavendish ©, Cayless, Anthony, Oakes, Ohanaka, Crees, Wilson, Birch, Cooper.
Subs: Aston, Down (GK), Graham, Hodgetts, Appleton, Williams, Alsop.
Fulham XI: Kaiser (GK), Nsasi, Picotto, Cooke, Esenga, White, Zepa, Ridgeon, Lubega, Wingate, Ali Wahid.
Subs: Varney (GK), Faux, Schutter, Khan, Cavell, Degale.
Referee: Steven Swan