U18s: Aston Villa 1-6 Fulham

Aston Villa suffered a 6-1 defeat to Fulham in the Under-18 Premier League South on Saturday.

The Young Lions found themselves three goals down inside the opening 20 minutes at Bodymoor Heath, with the visitors carrying a 4-0 lead into the half-time break.

Triston Rowe added a second-half consolation for Villa but it was second-placed Fulham who ran out comfortable winners.

Luke Softley came to Villa’s rescue early on as he twice cleared off the line, while Alex Hammond was also called upon to make a smart save.

But two goals in two minutes put the home side on the back foot.

Firstly, Samuel Amissah headed in a 12^th-minute opener from a corner, before Terrell Works slotted home a second to put the Cottagers in the driving seat.

Chibby Nwoko then converted a third following a flowing move from the visitors to leave Villa 3-0 down inside the opening quarter.

Delano McCoy-Splatt clipped the outside of a post but made no mistake shortly afterwards with an expertly-taken 25-yard free-kick which found the top corner.

Lemar Gordon pounced to race through and add a fifth for Fulham in the 55^th minute, before Hammond got down low to make a superb one-handed save to deny McCoy-Splatt.

The Young Lions got on the scoresheet courtesy of Rowe’s header just after the hour mark.

Yet Fulham immediately responded and added a sixth, completing the scoring, almost straight from kick-off, Works sweeping into the net to grab his second of the afternoon.