West Ham United U18s 3-1 Brighton & Hove Albion U18s
U18 Premier League South Division, Little Heath training ground, Saturday 16 March, 11am GMT
West Ham United U18s remained in the U18 Premier League South Division title race following a 3-1 win over Brighton & Hove Albion on Saturday.
A sun-soaked Little Heath training ground was the stage as two top youth sides went toe-to-toe in an even fixture, the Hammers ultimately edged thanks to goals from Mehmet Halim, Josh Briggs, and Tyron Akpata.
Found by a neat pass from Akpata, Hailm tucked the ball into the bottom right corner with his left foot – scoring for the third straight game - with 42 minutes played.
Chances had come and gone for the Hammers before Halim capped his first start of the season with a goal, as Ryan Battrum was denied by goalkeeper Lorenz Ferdinand, while wing-backs Emeka Adiele and Jethro Medine led the charge and Josh Ajala later dragged a left-footed drive wide of the goal from 20 yards out.
Brighton, to their credit, also threatened throughout an even first half, as Layth Gulzar hit the post from 25 yards out, and Sahil Bashir saw his header ruled out for offside.
The Hammers pushed for a second after break, and after Josh Ajala hit the woodwork, Briggs peeled to the back post to head home the resulting corner in style.
West Ham had to quickly return to the front foot to secure the three points after Brighton halved the deficit through Remiero Moulton, however.
Elisha Sowumni fired over from close range and Ryan Battrum forced a good save as West Ham pushed for a third goal, which eventually arrived when Akpata finished a superb counter-attack late on.
The midfielder timed his run perfectly and saw his first-time finish nestle in the roof of the net to secure the Hammers’ 14th league win of the season.
West Ham United U18s: Herrick, Medine, Briggs, Trialist (Dike 65) Mayers, Adiele, Akpata, Battrum ©, Ajala, Halim (Sowumni 46), Rigge (Caliste 65)
Subs not used: Owesu, Nwosu
Goals: Halim 42 Briggs 49 Akpata 90+3
Booked: Mayers, Caliste
Keen credits Brighton for a high-level contest
Lead coach Kevin Keen praised both sides for their part in an entertaining contest at Little Heath.
Brighton dominated possession in East London, although West Ham more than held their own and had chances to score more than the three goals that secured the points.
Keen explained: “Brighton were outstanding in the first half and it was one of the best performances I have seen from an U18s team this season, but we dug in and rode our luck a bit, before Mehmet [Halim] popped up with a superb finish as he does.
“There have been times where we have played well and not led and we decided to make a couple of adjustments and went from a back three to a back four - and in the second half, if I'm being picky we could have scored more.”
Keen also reflected on the host of young Hammers heading away over the international break and added: “We want international players, and opportunities for our group to play for their country but if I am honest, we are disappointed we don’t have more [involved over the March international break].
“We won the league and the FA Youth Cup last year and we are up there again this year. I think we have some of the best players at the age groups who sometimes get overlooked.”
Briggs caps winning display with a goal
Defender Josh Briggs echoed the thoughts of his manager and admitted his side had to stand tall in the second half, before Akpata secured the points with a late West Ham third.
The Northern Ireland U19 International also found himself on the scoresheet, showcasing his aerial strength and awareness to lose his man with a neat dummy run and powerful header early on in the second half.
Briggs explained: “It was a very tough game but we stuck together, kept fighting for each other, and got the result.
“We planned the move that led to my goal and Ezra blocked the man trying to block me and I headed it into the ground to beat the goalkeeper with the bounce.
“We worked on it all week, and it just shows that you have to trust what the manager and coaches are saying because it will work!”
Up Next
West Ham United U18s will return to league action against Chelsea on Saturday 6 April.
Kick off is set for 11am at Cobham Training Centre.
