U21s climb to third in PL2 with victory over Blackburn

West Ham United U21s 2-1 Blackburn Rovers U21s
Premier League 2, Rush Green Stadium, Friday 14 February 2025, 7pm GMT

West Ham United U21s extended their winning run in the Premier League 2 to five games with a 2-1 victory over Blackburn Rovers at Rush Green Stadium, moving provisionally into third place in the table.

Prior to kick-off, a minute’s silence was held in tribute to Academy of Football legend Ronnie Boyce, a key figure in West Ham’s 1964 FA Cup triumph and the Club’s historic 1965 European Cup Winners’ Cup victory, as well as winning the 1975 and 1980 FA Cups as part of the coaching staff.

The young Hammers started very brightly, asserting themselves early on with first-half goals from Kamarai Swyer and Lewis Orford giving them control, but Blackburn responded after the break through Joe Boggan to set up a tense second half.

Mark Robson’s side created a flurry of chances in the opening minutes, with Emeka Adiele going close with a driven effort just wide of the post before Luizão nearly capitalised on a loose ball inside the six-yard box. Swyer then tested Blackburn goalkeeper Adam Khan after a well-worked move involving Josh Briggs and Sean Moore.

The breakthrough came in the 17th minute. Preston Fearon’s tenacity in winning possession high up the pitch set the stage for Orford to drive into the box. The midfielder showed great composure to pick out Swyer, who calmly slotted home to give the young Hammers a deserved lead.

West Ham’s momentum continued as Adiele won a penalty just past the half-hour mark, drawing a foul inside the box after linking up with Dan Rigge. Orford stepped up and confidently sent Khan the wrong way to double the advantage.

Blackburn, however, grew into the game and had opportunities of their own before the interval. A crucial block from captain Kaelan Casey denied James Edmonson, while goalkeeper Fin Herrick was called into action following a misplaced back pass.

Despite West Ham's dominance in the first half, the visitors struck back shortly after the restart. A well-weighted pass from substitute Isaac Dunn found Boggan, who remained composed to finish past Herrick and halve the deficit in the 49th minute.

West Ham pressed to restore their two-goal cushion, with Orford and Moore both going close, but Blackburn carried an increasing threat. The visitors nearly drew level when Boggan latched onto a loose ball inside the area, only for his effort to sail over the bar. Moments later, the forward rattled the crossbar with a header from close range, as the young Hammers withstood late pressure.

Despite the nervy finale, Robson’s side held firm to claim all three points, moving above Manchester United into their highest league position since October.

West Ham United U21s: Herrick, Briggs, Mayers, Fearon (Akpata 80), Casey ©, Luizão, Moore, Orford, Swyer, Rigge (Ajala 63), Adiele
Subs not used: Hooper (GK), Brown, Golambeckis

Goals: Swyer 18, Orford 31 (pen)

Booked: Briggs, Herrick

Blackburn Rovers U21s: Khan (Wolsoncroft 45+3), Litherland, Powell (Harriman-Anous 79), Pratt, Gamble © (Dlamini 83), Edmonson (Farkas 83), A. Doherty (R. Doherty 72), O'Grady-Macken, Baker (Dunn HT), Stritch, Boggan

Goal: Boggan 49

Robson: There wasn't anybody that didn't stand out

Reflecting on a dominant first-half display, lead coach Mark Robson spoke about his team's control and attacking play, believing the result should have been wrapped up before the break.

He said: "I thought we were really, really good. I was really pleased with the performance from everyone really. There wasn't anybody that didn't stand out. I thought we were in really good control of the game. We opened them up at times really cleverly. Some of our passing to get in behind and some of our clever play in the wider areas was excellent. We probably should have put the game to bed by half-time. It was a really pleasing first-half performance."

While pleased with the result, Robson admitted that the second-half performance fell below the standards set in the opening 45 minutes, as Blackburn gained momentum and West Ham struggled to regain their fluency.

He continued: "I think we've been a little bit unfortunate with our finishing, their goalkeeper’s made a couple of good saves, a couple of other times we should be scoring, that's for sure. But we've had, I think, in every game during this run, we could have been three or four up, which is good because it means that we're creating opportunities.

"The lads, the work they do in training with Gerard [Prenderville], from the attacking perspective and the finishing, it's all coming to fruition on the training pitch and then into the game. So, credit to my coaching staff, obviously the defending side of it with Steve [Potts], the amount of work that he does with the boys has made us look a really solid outfit.

"We got a little bit lucky, I think, second half. We didn't play as well and nowhere near as good as we did in the first. But we saw the game out in the end and have come away with another win. I said at half-time, it's so good, really good, a great performance. But now you’ve got to go and do another second half even better. We can't be complacent and we've got to make sure that we attack the game like we've just done. If I'm being honest, I thought Blackburn did it better than us in the second half and we never found our rhythm, never found our flow and credit to them, I thought they were much better second half. But like I said, I think we could have had the game put to bed really. We just lost our rhythm in terms of our passing and our movement and ended up hanging on."

Finally, in a team full of great performers, the West Ham boss singled out Dan Rigge for praise. In his first league start since October, Robson acknowledged the attacking midfielder's patience and professionalism before delivering a strong performance when given his opportunity.

Robson added: "Dan's has been limited with his game time and that's because other players have been playing so well all season and we’ve got some of the older boys that are in his position as well. So he's had to be really patient but I thought he did really well today, both in possession and out of possession.

"I was really pleased for him. He did some really good things and he works really hard. He had a right go on the defending side, which is one of the things that we're talking about that he needs to do and I thought he did that well."

Up Next...

West Ham United U21s are back in action on Monday 24 February away to Reading, where they will have the chance to make it six league wins in a row, equalling their record set between October and January last season when they went on to finish second in the regular season standings.