The teams were locked at 2-2 after a pulsating first-leg clash at Madejski Stadium last week.

But Royals were edged out 3-2 in the second leg at Craven Cottage last night to lose 5-4 on aggregate.

It was a heroic effort by David Dodd’s youngsters who played with 10 men for almost an hour following the dismissal of Dominic Hyam before the break.

Hyam was adjudged to have been the last man in defence when he collided with Cottagers’ impressive Patrick Roberts in the box, allowing Moussa Dembele to fire the hosts ahead from the penalty spot in the 38th minute.

Yet the response from Dodds’ side was sensational and they drew level seven minutes into the second half with a penalty of their own.

Liam Kelly was tripped in the Fulham area and Tariqe Fosu made no mistake with his fourth successful penalty of the tournament.

Then six minutes later Royals stunned the hosts by taking a 2-1 lead on the night and 4-3 overall thanks to a superb long-range strike from Windsor-born winger Jack Stacey.

However, Fulham restored parity in the 63rd minute when Dembele beat the offside flag to nod home after an initial shot had struck the crossbar.

As 10-man Royals tired in the closing stages, England youth keeper Lewis Ward kept the scores level with a brilliant fingertip save to deny Roberts.

But the visitors were dealt a massive blow seven minutes from time as Fulham grabbed a lucky winner when Rob Dickie’s clearance struck Dembele and bounced past a helpless Ward and into the net.

The goal completed the Fulham striker’s hat-trick and sealed a cruel exit for the Royals after they reached the further stage of the competition in the club’s history.

Reading Academy director Eamonn Dolan said: “That’s football, it’s a cruel lesson for the boys.

“I’m never proud when we lose because this is professional football, we don’t want to be patronised because our job is to win.

“Our boys wanted to win. Fulham are a good side but I thought in both games we probably shaded it and a bit of luck was epitomised by the deflection, along with some harsh decisions.

“When we lost before at Liverpool in the FA Youth Cup a few years ago, I knew players would go on and have really good careers.

“It’s the same here – hopefully the manager will have seen some positive stuff again.”

He added: “Credit to Fulham, I’m pleased for them. I like their coaching staff and respect them, I think they do a great job and good luck to them.

“We’re all disappointed, no more so than me. I’ve known a lot of those boys since the age of nine.

“But we’re honoured to have somebody like David Dodds here, a magnificent man and magnificent coach. He’s been assisted fantastically by the likes of Michael Gilkes, Martin Kuhl and Lee Herron.”

Royals: Ward; Watson, Owusu (McLennan 74), Dickie Hyam; Kuhl (C), Fridjonsson, Stacey, Fosu, Kelly; Cardwell. Subs: Gogic, McLennan, Shaughnessy, Husin, Taylor-Crossdale.

Fulham: Rodak; Sheckleford, Donnelly, Burgess, Evans; Smile, Sambou, Hyndman, Williams; Roberts; Dembélé. Subs: Norman, Baba, O’Halloran, Leacock-McLeo, Redford.

Referee: J.Linington