Capital Cup run comes to an for Women's Under-19s at Fulham

We gave ourselves the worst possible start at Motspur Park as Kayleigh Stead fired the home side into the lead after just two minutes and in truth, we had to weather plenty of pressure for the remainder of the first period but remained defensively strong to keep them at bay.

With the deficit still at one heading into the second half, we needed a moment of quality to find the leveller and that came just before the hour mark, Ruby Gaitely’s excellent strike from distance finding the back of the net. However, with 12 minutes left to play, we were dealt a sucker-punch when Stella Gandee Morgan reinstated Fulham’s lead and ultimately earn her side a spot in the showpiece final against AFC Wimbledon.

While it wasn’t the result our young side wanted on the afternoon, there was plenty of positives to take from the competition, overcoming two senior opponents and going toe-to-toe with a soon-to-be tier three side in Fulham, who have yet to lose a game this season in their league campaign.

It was a good turnout on a lovely sunny afternoon in west London but, just two minutes into the contest, we were punished for a lapse of concentration, Olivia Dale sending free-kick from her half down the right to Gandee Morgan whose low cross into the middle of the box was slotted home by Stead to hand us an early blow.

Leila Lister should have added a second on eight minutes as she got behind her backline, but her attempted chip was weak and routine for Eleanor Heeps, who back in between the sticks for our Under-19s. From that point onwards, there was very few opportunities for the rest of the first period, Becky Stormer heading over from a corner while we had good spells with the ball but was unable to trouble a resilient Fulham defence. Heeps was called into action, getting down low to her right to tip Stead’s low drive around the post and from the resulting corner, we were indebted to a fantastic goal-line clearance from Grace Breen.

Madi Parsonson was then denied by Heeps in the last piece of action in the first half as maintained a one-goal deficit heading into the break. The Cottagers picked up where they left off after the restart, Heeps thwarting out Parsonson and Lister before Holly-Mae Elmes produced a key block to deny Stead, who then had a golden opportunity in the 53th-minute to add a third for her side but, in acres of space just inside the area, she scuffed an effort wide of the target.

Then, with just our second shot on target in the game, we found a leveller after a fantastic strike from Gaitely as, after good footwork from Rania Oukriss on the edge of the area, she picked up the loose ball and sent a powerful, looping effort over Jacqui Goldsmith and into the back of the net. Having been patient to find the equaliser, we once again had to overcome some strong pressure from the hosts and were indebted to an oustanding save from Heeps who, at full stretch, pushed Ellie Olds’ drive from the right-hand side edge of the box onto the crossbar.

We thought we had taken the lead when Jhanaie Pierre’s cross was deflected into the side-netting and from the resulting corner, Oukriss’ delivering was punched away by Goldsmith, but two minutes later, it was Fulham who grabbed the all-important goal, Lister cutting the ball back to Gandee Morgan and she converted from close range. The home side continued to carve out opportunities, Heeps quick off her line to block Lister’s shot at the near post, while at the other end, Breen sent a free-kick from distance over the bar as our fantastic cup run came to an end at the expense of Fulham.

"There will always be disappointment around a loss, especially when we were one step away from the final, but I'm genuinely just really proud of where we've got to"

Reflecting on the narrow defeat to Fulham, coach Sabiha Jamal said: “There will always be disappointment around a loss, especially when we were one step away from the final, but I'm genuinely just really proud of where we've got to. The direct comparison, and it's the point I made before the game, was we were here, in the first game of pre-season, and if you look at some of those individuals, not even some, all of them, they’ve had to go through ups-and-downs this season but we've grown massively as a group and we can see the development. I think we competed for the most part in what we knew would be a tough game. We're disappointed to concede that goal two minutes in, but again, I speak of growth because mentality and mindset is so important, and I think on another day, or maybe earlier on in the season, we could spiral quite quickly, but we find a way to keep ourselves in the game, which is massive. 

"Ruby Gaitely scores an outstanding goal to get us on level terms, and I think at that point, we'd survived a few massive moments and with the momentum shift we could pull through. For both goals, we need to reflect on and appreciate the small margins when it comes to individual actions and how they can have immediate consequences at this level. But as far as an overall performance goes against a very good side that's just achieved two unbeaten seasons, I think we can leave with our heads held high. We can take the lessons as we approach the last few games of what's left of this season.”

Line-ups

Starting XI: Heeps, Hills, Elmes, Breen, Pierre, Mace (Aramide 73), Gaitely (Deria 85), Oukriss, Neill (Summers-Mee 73), Bellwood, Fuller-Fagan. Substitutes (not used): Shields, Bird.

Match data

Goals: Fulham - Stead 2, Gandee Morgan 78; Spurs - Gaitely 58.

Yellow cards: Fulham - Lister 34.

Referee: Ryan Hetherington.

Venue: Motspur Park.

Weather: Sunny, 16 degrees.