Development Squad Pre-Season Match Report - Chelsea 1 Lewes 0

Chelsea 1 Lewes 0

Our development squad continued their pre-season campaign with a victory in East Sussex this afternoon (Saturday).
17-year-old striker Martell Taylor-Crossdale came off the bench to head in the only goal of the game at the Dripping Pan Stadium, home of non-league Lewes, although it was a deserved breakthrough for Joe Edwards’s side with 15 minutes remaining.
The young Blues had created all the opportunities prior to breaking the deadlock, competing physically and excelling technically on the south coast. Juan Castillo fired an early free-kick straight into the wall before Callum Hudson-Odoi was denied by an exceptional last-ditch block.
The Rooks remained level by the time the referee signalled for the interval and goalkeeper Chris Winterton was working hard to keep his clean sheet intact, racing off his line to smother the danger at the feet of Luke McCormick after Ali Suljic had found the midfielder’s run with a perfect clipped pass forward.

Luke McCormick on the ball for the Blues - picture courtesy of Graeme Reeves.

McCormick went closest to opening the scoring in the first half but he turned the ball over the crossbar from a few yards out following a left-sided corner. Several changes were made by Edwards at the break and during the second period, with three substitutes combining for the winning goal.
Jacob Maddox, a winner with England at the Under-19 European Championship this summer, cushioned a pass to the right for the advancing Charlie Wakefield and the winger stood up an inviting delivery from the byline. Taylor-Crossdale, the Under-18 Premier League’s top scorer last season, was positioned perfectly to head the ball in from six yards out.
Four of the starting 11 banked 90 minutes as the countdown begins to the new campaign, which opens in three weeks. The development squad travel to Germany in midweek for their next pre-season test against Hertha Berlin.
Earlier in the day, our youth team were beaten narrowly by Brentford’s ‘B’ team at Cobham. Charlie Brown had put Jody Morris’s side in front from the penalty spot before the Bees fought back to win 2-1. The Under-18s are also in action in midweek in Europe as they travel to Denmark to face their counterparts from FC Copenhagen.

Chelsea Jamal Blackman (c) (Jamie Cumming 61); Reece James (Cole Dasilva 61), Ali Suljic (Joseph Colley h/t), Ethan Ampadu; Harvey St Clair (Charlie Wakefield 61), Ruben Sammut, Luke McCormick (Jacob Maddox h/t), Juan Castillo Miro Muheim 61; Isaac Christie-Davies, Trialist (Martell Taylor-Crossdale h/t), Callum Hudson-Odoi