Crystal Palace Under-18s made it back-to-back victories with a commanding 6-2 success at Ipswich Town in the U18 Premier League South on Saturday afternoon. Donte Martin led the way with a hat-trick as Javier Alonso’s team moved to three matches unbeaten.
Palace needed only 11 minutes to take the lead, Martin finishing after Jamar Lee sent him through with a well-weighted pass. Remi Shittu then doubled the advantage from Jacob Fasida’s delivery before Martin added his second when Daniel Owoade capitalised on an Ipswich mistake.
Ruben Carr pulled a goal back for the hosts, but Palace quickly restored their three-goal lead. Martin completed his treble after a strong attacking move involving Lamidi and Raihaan Anderson, while Hugo Bull added another before half-time to put the visitors 5-1 ahead.
Makai Bernard-Ferguson, returning from injury, came off the bench at the interval and marked his return with Palace’s sixth goal shortly before the hour. Chris Atherton scored a second for Ipswich in the 70th minute, but the Young Eagles remained the stronger side and threatened to extend their advantage late on, with Toby Williams hitting the crossbar.
The result follows Palace’s 3-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur in the U18 Premier League Cup, keeping their title defence alive. Alonso made one change to the starting XI for the Ipswich fixture, with Owoade replacing Nat Kalembo, while goalkeeper Louis Fox was included in his first U18 matchday squad and Jay Jordan returned after an injury lay-off.
Palace have climbed to 12th in the 16-team Premier League South table, level on seven points with West Bromwich Albion. Their next fixture is at home to Reading next Saturday, with the match available to watch live on Palace TV+.
