On a night at Kingsmeadow the Blues won’t want to dwell on for long, we faced an uphill battle right from the start, when Fulham raced into an early lead.

Two goals in the first 11 minutes put us on the back foot, the first squirming out of goalkeeper Ted Curd’s grasp and the second arriving as the visitors moved the ball from left to right quickly to create space in the box.

By half-time the hill had become a mountain, when we were twice punished with lightning-fast attacks in transition after losing the ball inside our own half. Although the Blues never gave up and maintained intensity throughout the second period, the damage had already been done and there was to be no consolation goal.

Nightmare start

The game definitely had the feel of a semi-final when it kicked off, as both teams started at a high tempo on and off the ball. It was the away side who seemed to be on the front foot in the opening stages, though, and they took full advantage by ruthlessly going into an early two-goal lead.

The first came from a quick attack down Fulham’s right, which ended with Terrell Works finding Delano McCoy-Splatt in the box and the midfielder aiming for the near post from an angle. Blues goalkeeper Curd was clearly disappointed to be beaten, as he got to the shot but it escaped his grasp on its way in.

Less than two minute later we fell further behind. This time McCoy-Splatt was the creator, picking up the ball just outside the box and spotting a wide open space on the right. He played into the path of Devan Tanton, who had time to pick his spot in the bottom corner.

Mountain to climb

Things then got worse for Chelsea midway through the first half, as Fulham’s energy and intensity continued to cause us problems. Kiano Dyer initially did well to slow Terrell Works’ progress and allow Jimi Tauriainen to make the challenge, but Dyer then lost possession in a dangerous area after turning into trouble. That allowed Callum Osmand to play in Works again, this time the winger able to slot in from close range.

That left the Blues with plenty of work to do if we were to get back into this game, and prompted head coach Mark Robinson to call his players over for a team talk while the restart was delayed for Curd to receive treatment.

Before long Fulham had another, though. This time it was Leo Castledine who lost the ball in the middle of the pitch and the Cottagers moved the ball forward quickly to take advantage. It ended with Adrian Pajaziti just in the left side of the box. He jinked in-field and struck a low shot inside the near post.

The Blues managed to control the tempo a bit more after that, but Fulham continued to shut down our attacks quickly whenever we entered the final third, and we were unable to test the keeper before half-time.

Playing for pride

That meant Chelsea had little time to waste if we were to have any chance of keeping things competitive. We nearly clawed one back inside the opening five minutes of the second half when Dujuan Richards got in behind on the right from a long crossfield ball, but when he attempted to square across the six-yard box, it was behind Jimmy-Jay Morgan and the striker couldn’t adjust his run to reach it.

It was certainly a more even tie in the second half, but we still weren’t threatening Fulham’s back line with any regularity, and Robinson opted for a triple substitution to liven up our attack after an hour, with Diego Moreira, Tyrique George and Donnell McNeilly all coming on.

They nearly combined almost instantly, when McNeilly cushioned Tauriainen’s cross into the path of George, but the winger’s powerful half-volley went over the bar. Although our effort and commitment never dropped we couldn’t find a consolation goal.

The closest we came was a fierce free-kick by Richards which was too powerful for the keeper to hold, but he was able to push it away. The Jamaican tested the goalkeeper twice more before the final whistle, but there was to be no Chelsea goal.

What is next

Next Friday brings the last league fixture of our Premier League 2 campaign, when we host Southampton in another 7pm kick-off at Kingsmeadow, hoping to hold on to fourth place in the table with our qualification for the play-offs already secured.

The teams

Chelsea (3-4-1-2): Ted Curd; Brodi Hughes, Josh Acheampong (Kaiden Wilson 78), Dylan Williams; Zain Silcott-Duberry (Diego Moreira 62), Kiano Dyer, Jimi Tauriainen (Michael Golding 72), Zak Sturge (c); Leo Castledine (Tyrique George 62); Dujuan Richards, Jimmy-Jay Morgan (Donnell McNeilly 62)
Booked: Castledine 56

Fulham (4-3-3): Alex Borto; Devan Tanton, Harvey Araujo, Luc De Fougerolles, Giorgos Okkas; Delano McCoy-Splatt (Connor McAvoy 88), Matthew Dibley-Dias (c), Joshua King (Samuel Amissah 88); Terrell Works (Lemar Gordon 73), Callum Osmand (Aaron Loupalo-Bi 69), Adrian Pajaziti
Unused sub: Alfie McNally
Scorers: McCoy-Splatt 9, Tanton 11, Works 25, Pajaziti 36