Monday 6th May 2024 ko 19:00

Premier League 2 Play-offs Round of 16

FULHAM U21 0

NOTTINGHAM FOREST U21 2 (Osong 16 Konate 90+4)

Att 116 at Motspur Park

Entry & Team Sheet £3

After the soaking at Cuckfield we were in something of a quandary. We’d watched our choice of second game at Peckham Town quickly fall to the weather and ended up at a hideously overpriced Starbucks on the South Circular pondering our plans. It proved to be an easy choice, I may have done Motspur Park before but neither Chris Garner nor Robyn had, and Chris is a Fulham fan too! In fact there was only one small issue.

The issue was one of time, we arrived at Motspur Park with well over 3 hours to spare before kick-off. We did the obvious and call in at the ground to check the game was on, but then the beneficiaries of the day’s lousy weather was the Ecklee (Lebanese) Grill nearby. We spent a happy hour or so there, and the Tablouleh was sublime.

If you’d like the storied history of Fulham’s training ground I wrote about it 9 years ago and I’m pleased to report that the prices haven’t changed since then. I was asked by security about both my camera and this site, and since neither seemed to worry them, I’m assuming I’m sufficiently amateurish to not require a press pass! The only two obvious changes since I last visited seemed to be the cover behind one goal, and the coffee van. That did get used, not least because the owner was both skilled and infectiously engaging!

I find watching youth games requires a different style of viewing than an adult game. For one do see who else is watching with you, and yes, I do wonder who Jamie Redknapp was scouting for! On the playing side you look less for what is there in front of you, but who has the potential to do well in the future.

Inevitably my gaze was drawn to Forest’s Ateef Konate. I’d seen him at my club Oxford United on a rest-of-the season loan in January 2023, a soul lost as a failing manager’s last throw of the dice failed, with the new manager sending him home with indecent haste. He’d showed nothing at League 1 level, but he’d argue with some justification that he hadn’t stood a chance.

He had a good game here, scoring the winner but this proved to be almost his last hurrah for Forest. They went out in the next round, and he was released straight afterwards. I’ve heard Derby County are looking at him, which would produce hilarity in Oxford circles, but he’s clearly a talent, just one that needs nurturing.

We headed for home, still damp from the day’s exploits, but sometimes the ends justify the means. We’d not expected what we’d got, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable.