Jay Stansfield’s Hat-trick Makes it 13 for the Season – South Matchday 8 Round-up

Swansea 1 | 5 Fulham

A second half hat-trick from leading scorer Jay Stansfield ensured all three points for Fulham as they ran out 5-1 winners at Swansea. The striker took just thirteen minutes to hit his treble after the Swans had led at half time through a Charlie Clancy goal. Fulham flew into action after the break and their first goal came courtesy of a swift counter-attack, resulting in Sylvester Jasper putting Stansfield in to level the scores. The young striker, who now has seven goals in his last two games, then put one on a plate for Jean-Pierre Tiehi to give Fulham the lead. Stansfield then got his second of the game after converting a penalty and completed his hat-trick with a well-taken goal, once again laid on by Jasper. Terry Ablade completed the rout with a great strike from the edge of the box, meaning Fulham stay top and remain unbeaten.

Arsenal 2 | 2 Spurs

The ‘mini’ North London Derby finished honours even as Spurs fought back from 2-0 down to earn a hard-fought draw. Nathan Butler-Oyedeji got Arsenal’s first just before half time, collecting the ball on the edge of the box before cutting inside and curling one into the top corner. Twenty minutes after the break Butler-Oyedeji got his second, heading in from a Miguel Azeez cross. Not long after though, J’Neil Bennett, making his first start of the season after injury, got Spurs back in the game with a long-range strike. Spurs then had to weather a storm from Arsenal who were looking to kill the game, with goalkeeper Thimothee Lo-Tutala making some important saves to keep his side in contention. Then in the fourth minute of added time, Spurs got their reward. Substitute Chay Cooper crossed for Kion Etete to slot home, sparking jubilant scenes from the away side.

Chelsea 3 | 2 Norwich

Over on the West of the city, Chelsea kept up their unbeaten run with a 3-2 defeat of Norwich City. The Blues took the lead inside two minutes after George Nunn’s head met with the cross of Dion Rankine, and further tightened their grip on the game after Pierre Ekwah slipped a sweet free-kick under the wall from the edge of the box. Ekwah-Elimby then scored an equally impressive second, striking the ball into the top corner from 20 yards after receiving a pass from Joe Haigh. The game looked to be over as Chelsea dominated proceedings, however with seven minutes remaining, Norwich looked to stage a late comeback. Jon Rowe scored twice for the Canaries, with both goals put on by Tyrese Omotoye, but neither he nor Norwich could find a third.

West Ham 1 | 1 Brighton

Brighton completed the trio of the league’s unbeaten teams after their 1-1 draw with West Ham. Sebastian Nebyla netted in the first half for the Hammers, rounding off a wonderful team move after the final pass from Veron Parkes. The Seagulls however, found an equaliser in the second half and got their rewards through Stefan Vukoje, who, after seeing his initial shot blocked by a defender, rounded West Ham ‘keeper Serine Sanneh to finish into an empty net.

Southampton 2 | 3 Leicester

Leicester City came back from two goals down to beat Southampton, keeping them in fifth place and a point behind West Ham. Jayden Smith put the Saints 1-0 up after good work from Kazeem Olaigbe saw Sam Bellis tee him up for the opener. Jack Turner then increased their lead with his third goal in his last two games. Fifteen minutes after the restart though, Leicester scored two in as many minutes through Kasey McAteer’s header and Connor Barrett’s deflected effort. McAteer then rounded off the comeback with his second goal, but failed to complete his hat-trick after his last minute penalty was saved by Matt Hall.

Aston Villa 1 | 2 Reading

After losing their last two games Reading got back to winning ways with a 2-1 win at Aston Villa. Brad Young had put the Villains in-front from the penalty spot, however midway through the second half Dejan Tetek assisted Claudio Osorio for the equaliser. With just ten minutes remaining substitute Jeriel Dorsett got the winner, capping off a wonderful week for the defender who had just put pen to paper with the Royals on his first professional contract, having also recently made his debut for England U18s in their 5-2 win over Poland.

U18 Premier League South

Pos	Club	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	Pts
1	Fulham	17	12	4	1	53	24	29	40
2	West Ham United	17	11	4	2	51	28	23	37
3	Chelsea	16	11	3	2	44	21	23	36
4	Leicester City	18	8	3	7	44	35	9	27
5	Tottenham Hotspur	17	8	2	7	43	33	10	26
6	Brighton and Hove Albion	17	7	3	7	30	33	-3	24
7	Aston Villa	17	6	4	7	33	37	-4	22
8	Southampton	18	6	1	11	27	40	-13	19
9	Arsenal	16	4	5	7	28	34	-6	17
10	Reading	16	4	3	9	25	34	-9	15
11	Norwich City	16	1	8	7	32	48	-16	11
12	Swansea City	15	1	2	12	20	63	-43	5