West Ham United U18s 2-3 Arsenal U18s
U18 Premier League South Division, Little Heath Training Ground, Saturday 17 August 2024, 11am BST
West Ham United’s U18s were narrowly defeated by Arsenal in their U18 Premier League season opener at Little Heath on Saturday.
Despite goals from Elisha Sowunmi and Riley Hargan, the young Hammers were edged out in a closely contested match, where momentum swung between both sides throughout.
West Ham started by inviting pressure, playing out from the back to create spaces behind Arsenal's defence. This strategy was effective, though Arsenal took the lead after 20 minutes through Ceadach O’Neill, who capitalised on a counter-attack rather than West Ham’s progressive play in their own third.
The Hammers quickly responded as Andre Dike earned his side a penalty after being brought down in the box. Sowunmi calmly converted to level the score on 26 minutes.
Just after the restart, captain Preston Fearon nearly put West Ham ahead. Winning possession in midfield, he led a charge forward and unleashed a shot from outside the box that clipped the outside of the post.
After half-time, West Ham controlled possession, with their skillful wingers keeping Arsenal’s defenders on their toes. However, against the run of play, Andre Annous restored Arsenal’s lead two minutes before the hour-mark.
Former Linfield forward O'Neill then added his second of the game on 76 minutes to put the Gunners 3-1 up and seemingly on course for three opening-day points in east London.
However, just when it looked like the Gunners would comfortably close out the game, the Hammers set up a tense finale. Despite their significant height advantage in the box, Hargan put the Hammers within one as he headed home a dinked ball from Fearon.
Despite the unrelenting pressure on Arsenal’s goal, the Gunners would hold on to take all three points and leave Lauris Coggin's team hoping to get off the mark when they return to action next weekend.
West Ham United U18s: Hooper, Medine, Adiele (Kamara 62), Golambeckis, Oyebade, Nwosu, Sowunmi (Balogun 71), Fearon, Halim (Chigwada 62), Caliste (Hargan 71), Dike
Sub not used: Nightingale (GK)
Goals: Sowunmi 26 (pen), Hargan 85
Booked: Fearon
Coggin: We approached the game in a fearless way
Lauris Coggin was far from despondent after seeing his West Ham United U18s edged out by the odd goal in five by Arsenal at Little Heath on Saturday.
Taking control of the the youth team for the first time in a competitive fixture, Coggin felt his young side, featuring a number of first-year scholars, gave their all against the Gunners and could be proud of their overall performance.
"We approached the game in a fearless way, playing with quality and control, which forced a strong Arsenal side to defend for large parts of the game," the lead coach observed. "We are pleased with the amount of chances we created and how limited Arsenal to so few.
"Despite the result, we have seen that we have plenty to look forward to this season. I enjoyed watching the team play with an identity that represented excitement, togetherness and hard work.
"We will learn from Saturday and are looking forward to continuing our progress next week back at Chadwell Heath."
Up Next...
West Ham return to U18 Premier League action next Saturday 24 August, travelling to the Amex Elite Performance Centre to face Brighton & Hove Albion.
