U18s suffer FA Youth Cup defeat

Swansea City under-18s were knocked out in the fourth round of the FA Youth Cup after losing 2-0 to Fulham at Landore.

The young Swans started brightly but found themselves a goal behind when Fulham winger Nicolas Santos-Clase headed home from a corner on 20 minutes.

The winger continued to cause Swansea problems down the left-hand side throughout the half and doubled his tally before half-time, calmly slotting past goalkeeper Alex Lang.

The visitors showed no signs of backing down in the second half. Santos-Clase almost bagged his hat-trick early on but his shot from the edge of the area rattled the crossbar.

The home side strived to get back into the game with substitute Jack Fox heading wide.

Mason Jones-Thomas could have pulled one back, but the winger couldn’t get a shot away when through on goal.

Swansea continued to apply pressure to a tiring Fulham side but to no avail, with captain Brandon Cooper’s effort blocked on the edge of the area.

This was a disappointing result for the Swans, who will look to put things right on Saturday when they face Aston Villa at Bodymoor Heath in Premier League South.

Swans U18s: Alex Lang, Joe Lewis, Matthew Blake (Cameron Evans 65), Tom Price, Ben Cabango, Brandon Cooper (capt), Mason Jones-Thomas (Jack Walsh 78), Kees De Boer, Shaquille Wynter-Coles, Oliver Cooper, Finley Hazell (Marc Walsh ht).

Subs not used: Nathan Shepperd, Daniel Williams.

Fulham U18s: Luca Ashby-Hammond, Djed Spence, Joe Felix (capt), Tyrese Francois, Steven Sessegnon, Jayden Mundle-Smith, Chris Kelly, Jayden Harris, Timmy Abraham (Dan Martin 73), Sonny Hilton (Reece York 78), Nicolas Santos Clase.

Subs not used: Julian Schwarzer, Jose Garrido, Ben Davis.