Men against boys will probably amongst the most popular headlines used to describe this game, and I make no apologies for using it myself.
It was the case in both a literal sense, and a way of describing the game, in particular the second half. Blues rotated heavily, but didn’t include any youngsters in the matchday squad, instead opting to give our fringe first team players a run out.
This meant a return to first team action for Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Dion Sanderson, Taylor Gardner-Hickman (in midfield), Marc Leonard and Ayumu Yokoyama. Alfons Sampsted was given his first start in royal blue, and the remaining line-up consisted of regular first teamers Christoph Klarer, Alex Cochrane, Willum Willumsson, Alfie May and Jay Stansfield.
I do like the ruthless approach from Blues towards this competition. We all want a trip to Wembley, and it’s not our fault that someone had a bright idea to include Category One academy sides in the mix.
That being said, Fulham had done fairly well so far. They lost by just the one goal to Walsall, and actually went away to beat Shrewsbury 2-1 in their first group stage fixture. I’m sure these were heavily rotated lineups, but still, they’d shown they’re not just here to make up the numbers.
First half
First half I think they showed flashes of class at St Andrews too. Blues came out in our usual intense fashion and didn’t give Fulham much of a chance, but they did show some neat footballing moves at times. Ultimately though, Blues had too much quality, and on the 17th minute Willumsson’s dinked pass put Stansfield through on goal. He obliged and slotted through the keepers legs.
A few sloppy passes from Blues gave Fulham hope, but still it took a lovely bit of build up play and a lot of individual skill from Martial Godo to pull Fulham level on the 22nd minute, with a strike that earned applause from many of the home fans in the “friendly”-esque atmosphere.
It took until the 43rd minute for Blues to re-take the lead, despite plenty of shots and opportunities. Willumsson again found Stansfield on the edge of the box, who turned and rolled the ball into the far corner.
Half time: Blues 2-1 Fulham u21 (Stansfield x2)
I could sit here and write how fantastic we were second half, but despite the fact it was great to see us take our chances and enjoy our football second half, I’d feel embarrassed to wax lyrical about much more than the goals themselves, given the opponent.
That being said, it was great to see that ruthlessness Davies talks about come to fruition, and the players needing goals get onto the scoresheet.
Yokoyama looked lively again all night, and scored his first 2 goals for Blues, first beating his man 1-on-1 and firing into the roof of the net, then latching onto a deflection to volley sweetly home from inside the box. Both Stansfield and Willumsson showed a selfless side in a move that Alfie May finished off from within the six yard box – the latter showing his appreciation to his teammates in his celebration. In additional time, Ben Davies picked out a fantastic ball in behind to Keshi Anderson who tucked away to extend his run of scoring contributions for Blues. And in the 96th minute, Lyndon Dykes finally got his well deserved goal. He came off the bench hungry to get on the scoresheet, and was fed a perfect ball across the floor from Sampsted to help him do just that – and not unalike May and Yokoyama’s goals, their teammates looked delighted for them.
That’s the part of the game I enjoyed the most. I can’t take much pride in comfortably beating an academy side, but these players seem to love playing with one another. Plenty have spoken about the togetherness in this side this year, and we saw that again last night – it’s fantastic to see.
Credit to the Fulham lads, who did look bright in moments. They pressed us well, but we’re well drilled to play through it by now. They put together some lovely passing moves of their own, but ultimately were unable to break us down often enough to cause any real jeopardy. And fair play to Martial Godo in particular, who not only scored a fantastic goal to put Fulham back on level terms in the first half, but also looked like a promising young player with plenty of creativity and talent.
We’re through to the knockout rounds in style, scoring 7 goals in one game for the first time in 30 years. Hopefully we can carry this scoring form into our FA Cup tie away to Sutton United this Sunday, and then back at St Andrews in the league against Northampton.
Full time: Blues 7-1 Fulham u21 (Stansfield x2, Yokoyama x2, May, Anderson, Dykes)