- West Ham United’s U18s comfortably beat Norwich City 5-2 away from home on Saturday
- Korrey Henry scored a hat-trick, with Tunji Akinola and Alfie Lewis adding to the scoring
- The Hammers are now up to second in the U18 Premier League South
West Ham United U18s cruised to a 5-2 victory over Norwich City with assistant manager Mark Phillips labelling it a “controlled performance”.
The Hammers went into the match after a losing 1-0 at Chelsea before the international break, and Steve Potts made two changes with Korrey Henry and Mason Barrett coming into the starting eleven.
Anthony Scully was missing through illness and Conor Coventry was away on international duty with Ireland U17s, but the changes in personnel did not affect the Hammers’ display, who won very comfortably.
“It’s a long way away from our best performance of the season but it’s still a big achievement to score five away at Norwich,” said Phillips.
“We controlled the second half. We played some really good football and the lads did themselves proud today.”
The Hammers went behind after eight minutes after Louis McIntosh pounced on a loose ball and slotted beyond Sam Howes.
But Steve Potts’ side responded in emphatic fashion. Korrey Henry, who was returning to the starting eleven, closed down a Norwich man in possession and showed great composure to slide the ball into the bottom corner.
The Hammers kicked on from their equaliser and went ahead just before the half hour mark. Ben Johnson swung a free-kick to the back post and Ben Wells squared the ball to captain Tunji Akinola to tap into the net.
Henry added his second just before the break, after the tenacious Jahmal Hector-Ingram was fouled in penalty area. The resulting spot kick was stroked home by Henry with ease.
Henry was in the thick of things just after the break for the Hammers fourth goal. He was tugged back in the penalty area and stepped up to score again from the spot and complete his hat-trick.
Alfie Lewis scored the Hammers fifth, stabbing home after great persistence from Hector-Ingram and although Norwich added a second with ten minutes to play, the Hammers held out for a comfortable win.
The victory moves Potts’ side up to second in the table, and they’re now just a point behind leaders Arsenal in the U18 Premier League South, with a home fixture against bottom side Swansea City to come next weekend.
Read more at http://www.whufc.com/News/Articles/2016/October/15-October/Henry-s-hat-trick-fire-U18s-to-victory#k0GAaL0XrAvrCYZk.99