LFL: FULHAM

We certainly weren’t at our best today, relying at times on hopeful punts upfield, and if Fulham had been better at finishing this could have been a much heavier defeat.

BEFORE

Once again I'm champing at the bit after another international break and today's game will be my fist away match of the season. Fulham are on a bad run, having lost five out of their last six league games, so they'll be battling to avoid slipping into the bottom three. In contrast we're still luxuriating in the top four but there are only two points between us and Palace in tenth place so things could change dramatically if results don't go our way today. Actually, I'm confident that we'll get something out of this afternoon's game. It was great to see Mundle, Cirkin and Hjelde inching their way back to full fitness though I'm not sure if Alderete will be in contention for a place in today's squad. I wouldn't start him, anyway, as why change a successful side? It'd be great to see him coming off the bench later on if necessary. Match prediction: 2-1 to us.

I got the team-news on the way over to Craven Cottage and there were no changes in the starting eleven from the Arsenal game and only one on the bench, with Alderete replacing Rigg. I got to the ground around 2.15 and wasn’t very pleased when I couldn’t take my laptop bag in and had to store it at a local church hall round the corner. That meant that I couldn’t type this report at the game. Mind you, as I was in the away end that mightn’t have been too wise anyway. I hadn’t been to Craven Cottage for a good few years and they’d acquired a swanky new stand since my last visit. There was a steady drizzle and our fans were making all the noise as the game kicked off with us playing in all black with yellow names and numbers.

THE GAME

Fulham did most of the attacking in the early stages and had several attempts on goal with a Jimenez lob going well over in the seventh and an Iwobi overhead kick being held by Roefs a few minutes later. In the sixteenth a poorly directed header from Hume back to Roefs gifted them a corner and it promptly led to another corner on the other side but that was that. During a rare foray up the pitch we won our first corner in the twentieth but it only led to a swift break from Fulham that resulted in a shot from Wilson going narrowly past our left post. We’d looked pretty comfortable at the back during the first quarter of the match but had produced little upfront.

Next thing Roefs made a great diving save and then Mukiele was down injured for a while and after he’d left the field for a minute or so we had to continue with ten men. While he was off we survived another Fulham attempt when a Kevin header was saved by Roefs. It continued to be mainly one-way traffic towards our goal and Roefs was showing his class once more. Ballard was yellow-carded just after the half-hour mark and shortly afterwards we produced our best move so far. After a few nifty exchanges on the left touchline a ball reached Isidor on the left angle of their box but when he went down, referee Darren England wasn’t in a generous mood. A couple of minutes after that Roefs clipped King when he was making a clearance and he collapsed in a heap. Our fans serenaded him with a few choruses of, “Soft as shite!” In the thirty-ninth we had our first shot on target when Traore forced a diving save out of Leno. Kevin had been quite a handful and with a few minutes to the break he was put through with a great run on goal but under pressure he lost control of the ball and it was passed back to Roefs. There were two minutes of added-time during which we won another corner but it remained goalless as the half-time whistle went. 

During the break I was pleased to hear The Clash and The Beat played over the p.a.

As we kicked off again we were attacking our end and for a while we were showing a lot more zip than we had previously. In the first minute of the half Le Fee skipped down the left and put in a low shot that wasn’t far wide of the post. That was more like it but as the rain started to pour down Fulham pressed us back again and won a couple of corners in quick succession. In the fifty-sixth King tried a Beckhamesque goal attempt from the halfway line but it was miles wide. We won a corner just before the hour-mark and Xhaka got a header in but it was cleared. We proceeded to enjoy our best period of attack so far and the home fans were definitely sounding rattled. I sensed a goal coming… We then made a double switch bringing on Brobbey and Talbi for Isidor and Traore. Fulham made a couple of changes at the same time. The third quarter of the game had been our best but we started to lose control again. 

Our fans continued to be in great voice while the home fans only came up with, “Come on Fulham!” every now and again. We were under pressure for a lot of the final quarter and Fulham’s forwards were guilty of some poor finishing, thank God. As the end of the game loomed I was looking at my watch increasingly often and hoped we could manage to keep them at bay but about seven minutes from time a cross came over from the left and Jimenez was there to score from close range. Given our recent history I refused to believe that that was it and in the final minute, a bit late perhaps, we made another double-change, bringing on Adingra and Mayenda for Hume and Le Fee.

There were about six minutes of play after that but it was very disjointed and we didn’t manage any serious attempts on goal. It ended in a 1-0 defeat and as I was making my way out of the stand I turned to see some serious handbags occurring on the pitch so I don’t know what that was all about. I headed homewards in the pouring rain with the bitter taste of defeat in my mouth.