Chelsea Under-18s 2-3 West Ham United Under-18s
Jack Powell hit a last-gasp winner to help the Academy side prepare for Wednesday night's FA Youth Cup fourth-round tie against Brighton & Hove Albion in perfect fashion.
The midfielder gave the Hammers a hard-fought victory in west London, with the Academy side twice having been pegged back in the contest. Blair Turgott and Taylor Miles had put the visitors in front, only for Chelsea to find equalisers each time that meant it was honours even at the break.
Chelsea had dominated the first half in terms of possession but the Hammers changed things around after the interval in the hope of finding a winner. They had to be patient but, with the game seemingly destined to finish honours even, Powell came up with a winner. Substitute Matthias Fanimo had forced a free-kick in the Chelsea box when the keeper picked up a back-pass.
The Blues had begun the brighter and Turgott's opener on ten minutes was against the run of play. The England U17 international cut in from the right flank before firing into the net with a left-footed drive.
Chelsea were soon level, though, with a fine free-kick beating Dave Wootton in goal. The Hammers restored their advantage when Pelly Ruddock latched on to a long ball forward from Fraser Shaw. Ruddock wrestled his way through on goal before cutting back for Miles to lash in the second.
Controversy then ensured with the second Chelsea equaliser of the day. The Hammers disputed the award of a corner in the home side's favour but were over-ruled. Then, when the ball was played into the box, the Chelsea scorer appeared to head in from an offside position.
It looked like there would be no scoring after the break with both teams having tightened up defensively until Fanimo harried a Chelsea defender into playing the ball back to his keeper, who promptly picked it up under pressure. The referee awarded a free-kick eight yards out which meant the Chelsea defence had to retreat on the line.
Dominic Vose stepped up and touched the ball to Powell, who found the space in the Chelsea net to give the Hammers a great away win. It was the perfect boost for them as they look forward to their big date at the Boleyn Ground this Wednesday night. Tickets will be available on the door, priced at £3 for adults and £1 for concessions.
"We rode our luck a bit in the first half, they missed some good chances and we did too," said Academy Director Tony Carr. "They dominated in terms of possession and we found it hard to get out of our half at times but we managed to score first.
"Eventually we turned around at 2-2 at half-time against a strong Chelsea side as you always expect.We changed the system slightly and that helped us get a better foothold in the game.
"We had a couple of good chances and we have pinched it in the last minute with Jack sneaking the ball in. It was a great finish to the game."
The coaching staff had one eye on Wednesday's tie and were keen to get as many minutes into the players as possible. "Everybody needed some part in the game because we hadn't played for a month.
"We play Brighton in the cup now when Chelsea play Norwich, and if we can come through we would play the winners of that tie in the fifth round. We will back in on Monday for a couple of days' preparation and we hope that we may have Dan Potts and Rob Hall back after first-team duty."
West Ham United: Wootton, Young, K Lee, Chambers, Shaw, Powell, Miles (Fanimo 46), Vose, Turgott, E Lee (McCallum 60), Ruddock (Hurley 46)