Chelsea Under-18s 4-3 West Ham United Under-18s
Academy Director Tony Carr's mantra has always been that performances matter far more than results in youth football.
That was certainly the case as West Ham United's Under-18s produced a display full of character and commitment in Saturday's 4-3 FA Premier Academy League defeat at Chelsea. However, the drama was not limited to an enthralling 90 minutes.
The Hammers' team coach was travelling around the M25 when its brakes appeared to lock, and only lightning reactions from the driver prevented the bus from making anything more than a minor impact with the crash barrier.
With no injuries reported and both players and coaching staff happy to go ahead with the fixture, Chelsea sent a minibus to collect the squad and take them to the Blues' training headquarters, where the match kicked-off 30 minutes late.
Despite their pre-match experience, Carr's youngsters produced a spirited display, taking the game to their hosts and being hugely unlucky to lose a match in which they trailed 4-1 just a minute into the second half.
Cristian Montano continued his rich vein of scoring form, netting twice to take his season's tally to nine, while Callum McNaughton was also on target.
It was Chelsea's towering No9, Marko Mitrovic, who made the difference between the two sides by scoring a hat-trick.
The striker put the Blues ahead on eleven minutes, shooting home first-time to complete a quickfire counterattack involving Gokhan Tore and Joshua McEachran.
West Ham, featuring U16s Robert Hall, Blair Turgott and Dominic Vose, refused to be deterred by the setback, though, and deservedly levelled through McNaughton's header on the half-hour mark.
Two minutes later, Chelsea re-took the lead through a Mitrovic header, and when the forward scored again with the last kick of the half, the game looked to be beyond the young Hammers.
Things got even worse for Carr's side when Milan Lalkovic headed past Sam Cowler seconds after the break, but the goal only served to inspire the visitors.
Led by the determined Montano, the elusive Vose and the lively Hall and Turgott, West Ham simply refused to lie down.
With 22 minutes remaining, Colombia-born Montano was fouled by Ben Sampayo before picking himself up and helping Vose's resulting free-kick past Sam Walker.
Moments later, it was 4-3 as the same combination saw the 18-year-old forward plant a firm header in the top corner. The game was well and truly on.
With chances being created at both ends, Aliju Djalo shot against the base of Cowler's post before Eoin Wearen, Hall and substitute Danny Subuola all went close to a late equaliser.
After the morning they had had, the Hammers' second-half performance was beyond reproach, and they will take plenty into next Saturday's visit of Charlton Athletic to Little Heath while they can also look forward to the FA Youth Cup fifth round visit of Newcastle United on Wednesday 3 February.
West Ham United U18: Cowler, Driver, McNaughton, Lampe, Brown (Sanchez 63), Vose, Moncur (Subuola 63), Wearen (Purdy 85), Turgott, Montano, Hall
Unused subs: Loveday, Craig