Our young Blues were on the right side of an exciting 4-3 scoreline away at Crystal Palace. Malik Mothersille, a second-half substitute, was the difference-maker as he struck late to give our boys the victory. Leo Casteldine, Tudor Mendel-Idowu and Edwin Andersson were the other players on the scoresheet.

Excellent start

Ed Brand would have been impressed with his side's fast start as a lovely cross from Andersson found Castledine, who controlled well and fizzed a shot which the keeper could only get fingertips to as it squirmed over the line to hand us a seventh-minute lead in south London.

For our second goal soon after, Andersson was once again involved as the Swede embarked on a driving run through the middle of the park, beating a number of players. After laying it off for Mendel-Idowu, there was still work to be done. The young attacker shifted the ball to his left and powered a lovely effort into the top corner to make it 2-0 inside the opening 35 minutes.

Mini scare

With no real sign that Palace were threatening our boys, a long straight lofted pass by goalkeeper Owen Goodman landed beyond our backline to play striker Ademola Ola-Adebomi through on goal and he showed his composure by rounding Prince Adegoke and slotting home.

However, on the stroke of half-time our boys struck and grabbed a third. The impressive Andersson combined with Mendel-Idowu and smashed into the roof of the net to get a well-deserved goal to follow his two assists in the first half. It was also his fifth of the season for the Under-18s and handed us a healthy advantage going into the break.

Eagles back in it

The Blues were looking to see the game out and for the first 20 minutes of the second half it seemed a real possibility but Palace soon struck with a well-worked move. A lofted ball into the box caught out the entire backline and resulted in a simple pass into the middle for striker Victor Akinwale to prod home.

Four minutes after that, Palace were presented with the opportunity to level. After a through ball which split us open, keeper Adgeoke came charging out and was penalised for a foul on Akinwale, who had the chance to level the score from the spot. He made no mistake, sending Adegoke the wrong way and giving himn his second goal of the game.

Last-gasp winner

With the game petering out and it looking very likely that we had squandered all three points, Mendel Idowu won a free-kick in the sixth minute of injury time. Charlie Webster delivered a fantastic cross and Mothersille was on hand to bundle it home to secure a dramatic victory for the victory. It proved an exciting end to a game Brand and the coaching team will believe should never have been quite so close.

The result means we head into the international break top of the Under-18 Premier League southern section due to our superior goal difference over second-placed Southhampton. Next up is a trip to Brighton on Saturday 20 November.

Chelsea (3-4-2-1) Prince Adegoke; Billy Gee, Josh Tobin (c), Richard Olise; Zain Silcott-Duberry (Luke Badley-Morgan 64), Charlie Webster, Lewis Hall (Sam Rak-Sakyi 79), Edwin Andersson, Tudor Mendel-Idowu, Leo Casteldine, Louis Flower (Malik Mothersille 64)Unused subs Sami Tlemcani, Derrick AbuBooked Adegoke 67Scorerss Castledine 7; Mendel-Idowu 32; Andersson 45+1; Mothersille 90+6

Crystal Palace (4-2-3-1) Oliver Goodman; Kaden Rodney, David Uzoh, Joe Sheridan, Kalani Barton; Ryan Bartley (Matthew Vigor 64), Jadan Raymond; Malik Cadogan, Fionn Mooney, Ademola Ola-Adebomi (Adler Nascimento 88), Victor Akinwale (Freddie Bell 90+4).Unused subs Jackson Izquierdo, Junior Dixon.Booked Uzoh 52Scorers Ola-Adebomi 32; Akinwale 63, 67