Late loss at Chelsea ends winning run for Under-18s

An 86th-minute Leo Castledine header snatched victory for Chelsea after our Under-18s twice came back from behind and looked good value to claim all three points at Cobham on Tuesday.

Trailing in less than a minute to Ronnie Stutter, we levelled soon afterwards through Max McKnight’s second goal in three games, with Jamie Donley subsequently cancelling out Edwin Andersson’s goal – getting on the scoresheet for the fourth consecutive league match in the process – as we showed good character to go in level at the break.

In the ascendancy after the restart, we dominated the play and kept the hosts pinned inside their defensive third for long spells, but after Kyerematen spurned a couple of chances to put us in front, it was Castledine who stole the points for his side with a header from a corner four minutes from time, putting an end to our recent winning run at this level.

It was a harsh outcome after a spirited performance from our players, especially after going behind with barely 30 seconds on the clock, Louis Flower capitalising on Kyerematen’s slip mid-way inside our half and setting up Stutter to blast past Adam Hayton. Crucially, we responded quickly with Donley’s shot well blocked in the box by Alfie Gilchrist, shortly before McKnight latched onto a wayward clearance from Chelsea goalkeeper Max Merrick, who was making his first Under-18s appearance for them, to fire home and restore parity in only the fifth minute.

Kyerematen shot straight at Merrick after a good move involving Jaden Williams and McKnight while Hayton saved from Stutter and Flower as both sides traded opportunities, before Chelsea restored their lead on 21 minutes when Sam Rak-Sakyi sent Andersson bursting into space down the left channel, our defenders couldn’t get across to him quickly enough and he fired past Hayton at his near post. Billy Heaps almost scored with a terrific strike from 35 yards moments later, only to be denied by a flying save from Merrick, but when the same player’s corner was flicked on to Donley at the back post, he didn’t need a second invitation to hit the back of the net and bring us level once more.

Kyerematen went close with a couple of attempts at the start of the second half but while we controlled much of the game thereafter, Hayton still needed to be alert at the other end as Chelsea looked dangerous with their pace on the break, Malik Mothersille and Flower both denied by the keeper and Castledine putting a good chance wide, all with shots from inside the box.

Our best chance to take the lead came and went on 73 minutes as McKnight found Williams in the area, his path to goal was blocked and he ended up working the ball short to Kyerematen, but he couldn’t scramble his low shot from eight yards beyond the last defender. As we entered the final 10 minutes, Chelsea began to find their way forward more consistently and after Castledine fizzed another attempt over the bar, the substitute rose highest in the box to head home Andersson’s corner and make it 3-2. We still looked to play forward in spite of the setback, driven by the confident running of Jez Davies through the centre of midfield, but we couldn’t find another clear opportunity and the spoils went to the Blues.

‘In the pivotal moments, we didn’t take our chances’

Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis said: “It was a difficult one to take after our dominance in the second half but in the pivotal moments, we didn’t take our chances in the box and in games like this where they’re really tight, those moments are vital. We could’ve been 3-2 up, we weren’t and then to concede from a set-piece late on was disappointing after our performance for a large part of the game. We speak regularly about the importance of both boxes and that was probably the story of this game. Our performance levels in comparison to Friday against Norwich were a lot higher, our dominance showed in possession but then that possession has to equate to goals, so it’s important for the boys to reflect and continue to understand what we work on regularly with their final third habits.”