Honours were shared at Motspur Park as Derby County’s Under 18s fought back to earn a hard-earned 2-2 draw with Fulham.

On a sunny day in West London, Max Bird broke the deadlock by converting Jayden Mitchell-Lawson’s left-sided cross with nine minutes of the first half remaining.Just before half-time, though, the Cottagers managed to find an equaliser through Isaac Pearce, before the same man scored again to edge the hosts in front, but Cameron Cresswell’s immediate reply ensured that the Rams earned a deserved point on the road against a Fulham side who were unbeaten in nine prior to this fixture.In what was a battle between second and third in Merit Group 2, the latter, Derby, began the contest brightly and on six minutes, they were awarded a penalty after a foul was committed on Cresswell.Mitchell-Lawson stepped up but was unable to make the most of the opportunity as he rattled the post – ensuring the contest remained goalless for the time being.It wasn’t long before the hosts sought to imprint their mark on the game, and up until the half-an-hour-mark, possession was very much dominated by the Cottagers.With 13 minutes played, Fulham had the ball in the back of the net after Hilton got on the end of Dan Martin’s threatening cross – however, the goal was ruled out with the offside flag raised on the far side.As the first-half progressed, the hosts continued to find joy playing balls over the top of the Rams’ midfield, but a resilience in defence was clear as every shot on target was met by the body of a Derby player.After sitting deep to soak up Fulham’s attack, it was time for Justin Walker’s and Rory Delap’s side to launch one of their own attacks and they did so impeccably on 36 minutes after Bird, the midfielder, impressively converted a cross from the left to give his side the lead.A goal to the good, it was all about seeing the game out until half-time and it almost looked a job well done until instinctiveness from Pearce allowed him to make the most of a loose ball inside Derby’s box and beat Matt Yates.With neither side able to take clear control of the contest in the early stages of the second half, chances naturally dried up and it wasn’t until the final ten minutes of the game that both sides went up a gear, with Fulham doing so first through Pearce once again as he weaved his way into the box to convert.Despite conceding, the Rams were undeterred and they responded in the best possible fashion by hitting back immediately.An excellently delivered cross from the right was out-shone only by a superbly taken header by Cresswell. It seemed a fitting way to end what was an exciting and end-to-end fixture.Ashby-Hammond, Fossey, Mundle-Smith, O’Riley, Sessegnon, Jenz (C), Pearce, Harris, Elstone, Hilton, MartinGarrido, Schwarzer, Thompson, Kelly, Santos-ClaseYates, Bogle, Mills, Bird, Bateman (C), Thomas, Jibodu, Dixon, Davie, Mitchell-Lawson, CresswellRashid, Fryatt, Whittaker, Magno, BrownTweets by @ dcfcofficial