5-2

Match Report:
Villa Under-18s secured a second successive win on Saturday, emphatically defeating Fulham 5-2 at Motspur Park in the Under-18 Premier League South.
A commanding first-half performance from Richard Beale’s Young Lions saw them take a 3-0 lead into the break, courtesy of a brace from Alfie Lynskey, either side of under-17 Oscar Johnson’s maiden goal at under-18 level.
Further goals after the break from Markie Meade and Finlay Barnard put the game out of sight with 21 minutes to go, before a late flurry from the hosts saw an entertaining affair end with seven goals.
After returning from the international break with a 3-2 victory over Leicester City in the Premier League Cup last weekend, Beale’s boys were looking to make it back-to-back victories for the third time this season.
And having soaked up a spell of early pressure from the hosts, the Villans slowly wrestled the initiative to make their presence felt in south-west London.
Their first goal came midway through the opening period courtesy of the in-form Lynskey, who hammered a fizzing effort into the bottom corner from distance.
Four minutes later, the visitors had two. Markie Meade helped a pass on into the path of Johnson, who neatly found the bottom corner to open his account at the under-18 level.
And on the stroke of half-time, the game was all but wrapped up when – from a similar position to his first goal – Lynskey received a tee-up from Jack McGrath and bent another sweet effort into the bottom corner to double his tally.
The Cottagers began the second period similarly to how they did the first, looking for a way back into the game with Nazim Benchaita going close with a pair of efforts.
But once again, Villa weathered the storm and came on stronger as the half progressed, notching the fourth just before the hour mark when Meade was released by Fletcher Boyd and finished neatly past Oliver Mayer when one-on-one with the Fulham goalkeeper.
And 10 minutes later, Villa’s ruthless attacking streak continued as they added their fifth and final goal of the afternoon. Barnard picked up a loose ball at the far post and fizzed an effort into the far corner for his second goal in as many matches.
There would still be time for a response from the hosts, who got themselves somewhat back into the affair with two goals in the final 10 minutes.
First, Aidan Evans pounced on a defensive mishap and squared for Bashil Lubega, who finished into the empty net. Then, two minutes later, Brodie Dair got hold of a sweet volley to bring the hosts back to within three goals.
And Fulham gave as good as they got in the closing stages, too, desperately throwing bodies forward in search of taking something from the game. Evans missed from close range before Junior Wilson was on hand for Villa with a goalline clearance.
But the damage had already been done by Beale’s side, who held on to put another three points on the board, taking them up to fourth in the table, three points off leaders Crystal Palace with a game in hand.

2025-26 u18 Premier League Appearance & Goal Record
GK Rhys Oakley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 7 | ✅ 7 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 19 | ⛔ 0 | 🇺1 |
CB Junior Wilson | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 10 | ✅ 10 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
LB Finlay Barnard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 9 | ✅ 9 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
LB Rodrigo Fortes | 🇵🇹 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
DM Woody Burgess | 🇩🇪 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 5 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
CM Keilan Quinn | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 4 | ✅ 4 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
W Alfie Lynskey | 🇮🇪 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 7 | ✅ 7 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 7 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
AM Fletcher Boyd | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 6 | ✅ 6 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
AM Jack McGrath | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 9 | ✅ 9 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 2 | 🔥 5 | 🇺0 |
F Oscar Johnson | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 2 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CF Markie Meade | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 7 | ✅ 7 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 6 | 🔥 2 | 🇺0 |
LB Harry Pinnell | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 4 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
AM Cole Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 6 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 5 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
F Vinnie Hayward | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 7 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 4 | ⚽ 2 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CF Elijah Briscoe | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 2 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
GK Jack Allan | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 0 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺3 |
LB Teddie Bloomfield | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 6 | ✅ 6 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Oliver Bindley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 8 | ✅ 7 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 1 | 🇺1 |
CF Rio Hammond | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Lennon Melhuish | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 7 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 4 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
RB Jacob Green | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 7 | ✅ 4 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
GK Theo Houston | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 0 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺5 |
CB Farid Addey | 🇸🇪 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 4 | ✅ 4 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺2 |
RB Clay Atkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
F Daniel Adediran | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
D Heaven Kilwa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Olly Lloyd | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
GK Owen Asemota | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 5 | ⛔ 1 | 🇺0 |
AM Max Jenner | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
AM Jahmi Kellyman | 🇬🇧 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 2 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺2 |
AM Josh Blake | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |