The under-18's put on a really fine-show to defeat Fulham Colts at Craven Cottage in a Fourth Round tie on Jan. 18. Constant ram made the pitch very heavy in mid-field, and the Cottagers had a definite age-and-weight advantage.
With the wind at their hacks in the first half Fulham had rather more chances, although we did have a number of opportunities to score in conditions that favoured attackers rather than defenders. Consequently when we went ahead through Ade Coker five minutes after the interval it appeared likely we could win comfortably, but the homesters pegged us back within two minutes. Then with 17 minutes to go on the clock, Joe Durreil took advantage of the dry ground on the wings, and although his angled shot was parried by the 'keener, the ball ran out to John Ayris for our No. 7 to make it 2-1. There was still plenty to come, and Fulham even increased their pressure. Indeed the "agony" was prolonged by the fact that the second half actually lasted for 52 minutes by the watch- and in the overtime it took three good saves to make sure of a place in the Quarter-Finals.