West Ham United U18s 3-6 Leicester City U18s
U18 Premier League South, Little Heath Training Ground, Saturday 15 February 2025, 11am GMT
Josh Landers marked his West Ham United U18s debut with a goal, but unfortunately it was not enough to help the young Hammers stave off defeat by Leicester City at Little Heath.
The Irons conceded inside 60 seconds, scored twice in quick succession to lead 2-1 inside four minutes, but ultimately could not hold back the Foxes, who went on to secure an action-packed 6-3 U18 Premier League South win in east London.
The young Hammers’ were unfortunate not to be given a foul on Chinaza Nowusu in the first minute, and Leicester took advantage to open the scoring through Lorenz Hutchinson, who tapped in after Lanre Awesu had parried an initial shot.
Despite feeling frustrated, West Ham levelled within 60 seconds through the electric Josh Ajala, whose pressing forced an error from Leicester goalkeeper Jake Donohue, with the forward pouncing to tap home from close range.
West Ham’s relentless attacking play continued, with Elisha Sowunmi surging forward and finding Jethro Medine in space out wide. Medine’s shot was parried straight into the path of Ajala and the in-form forward made no mistake, bagging his second goal in under five minutes to give West Ham a 2-1 advantage.
However, Leicester hit back in the eleventh minute, capitalising on a misplaced pass as Birmark Owusu set up Hutchinson for his second goal of the match to make it 2-2.
Despite West Ham’s attacking intent, Leicester edged ahead for a second time in the 24th minute when Jeremy Monga worked his way down the right and set up Bless Akolbire, who poked home to make it 3-2.
West Ham kept pushing, with Medine, Nwosu, and Aaron Kamara combining on numerous occasions and creating a number of dangerous chances. However, against the run of play, the visitors extended their advantage to 4-2 in the 35th minute when Owusu turned sharply and finished past the goalkeeper from close range.
The Hammers thought they had pulled one back before half-time when Riley Hargan latched onto a switched pass and slotted neatly into the far corner, but the assistant referee’s flag ruled it out for offside.
West Ham made a half-time substitution, with forward Landers, signed from Hibernian in January, replacing full-back Tomas Jonyla in an attempt to swing the momentum back in favour of the boys in Claret and Blue.
However, Leicester extended their lead to three goals within two minutes of the restart as a long free-kick into the box was met by defender Maxwell Adedeji, who headed in past Awesu. Moments later, only a magnificent save from Awesu denied Monga scoring Leicester's sixth.
Majid Balogun, Hargan and Ajala all saw efforts saved or blocked before the Hammers finally got a goal back eight minutes from time.
A well-worked move saw the ball played wide to captain Rayan Oyebade, whose pinpoint cross was met by debutant Landers with a towering header into the bottom right-hand corner.
Trailing 5-3, the Irons valiantly sought to complete a dramatic late comeback, only for Hutchinson to complete his hat-trick on 89 minutes and ensure Leicester headed back to the East Midlands with all three points.
West Ham United U18s: Awesu, Medine, Jonyla (Landers HT), Golambeckis, Oyebade ©, Nwosu, Sowunmi, Kamara (Chigwada 88), Ajala (Beckford 71), Hargan, Balogun
Subs not used: Hooper (GK), Unwin
Goals: Ajala 2, 4, Landers 82
Booked: Nwosu, Hargan, Landers
Leicester City U18s: Donohue, Toko, Adedeji, Dyke, Gray ©, Diallo, Monga (Sutherington 61), Akolbire, Hutchinson, Aideed, Owusu
Subs not used: Marson (GK), Jacklin, Fletcher, Manayumba
Goals: Hutchinson 1, 11, 89, Akolbire 24, Owusu 36, Adedeji 48
Coggin: Josh gave a brilliant account of himself
Speaking after the game at Little Heath, U18s lead coach Lauris Coggin felt his team had displayed attacking flair and determination, with Ajala’s early double and Landers’ debut goal among the standout positives.
Coggin said: “I thought Riley Hargans energy and the enthusiasm he showed was brilliant, the two centre halves did some really positive things we just showed a bit of naivety in moments.
“I’m really happy for Josh coming in, it was a tough game to make your debut but I thought he gave a brilliant account of himself, scoring his first goal and offering something a bit different so hopefully that’ll give him the confidence to kick on.”
Goalscorer Landers himself was delighted to get on the pitch and find the net on his first appearance in Claret and Blue, having settled into the squad since his move south from Scotland at the end of last month
The 17-year-old said: “It’s a great group here and the lads have been brilliant since I signed. I only got my international clearance yesterday so on a personal note I’m really happy to get on the scoresheet today and hopefully it’ll be the first of many in a long career here.”
Up Next...
West Ham United U18s return to action on Tuesday, when the young Irons travel across London for a 6pm kick-off against Fulham in U18 Premier League South at Motspur Park.
