WEST Ham United Under-18s eased past London rivals Millwall at
Little Heath with an emphatic 6-2 victory in the Premier Academy
Under-18 League.
In what turned out to be a very tough examination the Hammers held
their nerve on numerous occasions throughout this encounter to
claim the points.
West Ham United opened the scoring on just six minutes when David
Cowley weaved his way inside the Millwall penalty area to chip the
ball over the Lions goalkeeper Tommy Crowther to make it 1-0.
Just a few moments earlier, Joe Widdowson's miss-timed back
pass left Erem Kemal in the lurch as a Millwall winger nipped in,
but to save the Hammers full-back any further embarrassment his
shot went wide of the far post.
On 15 minutes, Hogan Ephraim was sent away inside the Millwall
penalty area only to shoot over the crossbar, but a minute later
the striker did get on the score-sheet.
A short corner from Kyel Reid to David Cowley, a little mazy run
and cross was gloved away by Tommy Crowther into the path of
Ephraim. Hogan then rose to plant a header into the net and extend
Hammers lead to 2-0.
The only blip on the West Ham copybook was close on half-time as
they committed themselves forward following a corner. Crowther sent
the ball downfield and with only Jemel Henry between Erem Kemal and
the goal, Millwall's Marvin Williams sped away and shot low to
pull a goal back.
The second-half was just a minute old when Hogan Ephraim got
away and passed to Densal Davidson, who used his pace to connect
with the ball, only for Tommy Crowther to save at his near post.
On 49 minutes, a Kyel Reid corner was met by Liam White, which was
hastily cleared, and Hogan Ephraim on the turn fired powerfully
which Tommy Crowther palmed over the crossbar.
West Ham should have gone further ahead, after Jack Jeffery sent
Kyel Reid on a run but the resulting shot was comfortably saved by
Crowther.
Shortly after from a long punt downfield by Hammers keeper Erem Kemal, Hogan Ephraim sprinted away and went past a defender before lashing the ball home from 10 yards out, a super strike to give the Hammers a 3-1 lead.
After some good passing, Jack Jeffery thought he added Hammers fourth, but the goal was disallowed as the linesman had been flagging for an earlier infringement from the half-way line.
The fourth West Ham goal came on 64 minutes. Kyel Reid romped into the Millwall area leaving Tommy Crowther little chance to prevent with a magnificent strike.
On 71 minutes Zavon Hines shot wide over the cross-bar after some fine work between Ishmael Welsh and Joe Widdowson on the left flank.
On 78 minutes the Hammers went into a 5-1 lead when Ishmael Welsh fired the ball home past Crowther after a good cross field ball from Densal Davidson to Hogan Ephraim set up Ishmael.
Zavon Hines had come on as a substitute for the last half an
hour and his tireless effort was rewarded 10 minutes from time, the
hat-trick seeking Hogan Ephraim had his shot blocked by Tommy
Crowther but Zavon picked up the loose ball to score give the
Hammers a resounding 6-1 lead against a side who in the
corresponding fixture last season had beaten the Hammers 4-0.
Millwall added a late consolation, but by then the game was over,
and the unbeaten sequence for Tony Carr's team had stretched to
six games.
WHU: Kemal, Henry (Andrews 85), Widdowson, White, Tomkins, Cowley,
Davidson, Hales, Jeffery (Hines 61), Ephraim, Reid (Welsh 67). Subs
unused: Blackmore (GK).
By Tony Fowles, Ironworks Gazette