Fulham Youth 2-0 Chelsea Youth

By The Kid
August 15 2005

The Academy lost their final pre-season game to local rivals Fulham 2-0 on Saturday to spoil what has been an extraordinary pre-season.

The Academy reached the final of the Milk Cup tournament in Northern Ireland, before being beaten by Barcalona and the game against Fulham was perhaps one game too many for the youngsters as it was discovered that Chelsea could have taken a much stronger and older squad for the competition in Ireland.

Coach Brendan Rodgers said " We were lucklustre. Watching it, I think the players could have done with a training session instead."

Nevertheless, Brendan was pleased to have the opportunity to give several players 45 minutes, and to change from a midfield diamond to 4-3-3 at half-time. "It was useful to look at two systems," he said. "We might need to use that in the next few weeks."

Fulham scored in both halves and also hit woodwork. Chelsea made five half-time substitutions. The first Academy Under 19s game is next Saturday away to Wolves.

Midfielder Lewis McGugan, and England Schoolboys international, is a triallist. Team Russell; Hutchinson, Worley, Cork (c), Bertrand; Bridcutt (Ismail); McGugan, Furman (Fernandes); Saarlema (Saha); Cummings (Ferreira), Sinclair (Watkins).