Charlton U18s bowed out of the FA Youth Cup with an extra-time 4-3 defeat against Gillingham at the MEMS Priestfield Stadium on Monday evening.
Ibrahim Fullah, Rueben Reid and Alan Mwamba were all on the scoresheet for the young Addicks as they faced defeat in the first round of the competition.
It was the hosts who took the lead in Medway inside eight minutes. A corner was swung in toward the front post and flicked on to Harry Webster, allowing him to convert from close range early on.
The Addicks were given a lifeline ahead of the interval as Fullah was brought down in the box having beaten the Gills’ defender. The forward made no mistake from ther spot, slotting his strike into the bottom corner to draw Charlton level.
Just moments later and the turnaround was complete for Jason Pearce’s side. Rueben Reid collected the ball on the edge of the box, curling his strike into the far corner on the cusp of the half-time whistle.
The home side came off the blocks in quick fashion in the second-half, netting their equaliser in the 49thminute. A scramble in the box saw Kacper Kot tap in from close range to draw level.
With 20 minutes remaining, Gillingham took the lead once again. A free-kick was whipped into the box, allowing Stan Sargent to head home with a well-placed effort.
The chaos continued in ME7 as the young Addicks levelled the scoring once again, this time through Mwamba. The midfielder danced his way into the box from the right-flank, beating three players, and firing his effort into the far corner.
With the two sides level after 90 minutes, they headed into extra-time with a penalty shootout looming in the FA Youth Cup…
However, in the 110th minute, Jonah Walker stood over a free-kick for the hosts on the edge of the box. The defender stepped up, firing a low effort to the keeper’s right, seeing his strike parried in to round off the scoring.
Charlton: Woodham; Brown, Elliott, Cann (Valentine 72), Tagoe; Mwamba, Safa (McMillan 117), Washington-Amoah (Ogunnowo 61); Reid (Burnham 72), Sol-Loza, Fullah
Subs (not used): Sadler, Belton, Dawkins
Goals: Fullah 43, Reid 45+1, Mwamba 78
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