Lewis Orford has called on West Ham United U18s to take lessons from their 4-3 home defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion U18s.
A draw in Saturday’s U18 Premier League South fixture at Little Heath would have been enough to secure the league title for the Hammers, who looked like at least taking a share of the spoils for long portions of the game.
Callum Marshall and Gideon Kodua had put the Irons two goals ahead before the hour mark, but Brighton struck back with a pair of quick-fire finishes via Bailey Smith and Remeiro Moulton.
Orford thought he had secured all three points on 87 minutes with a smart finish from around 12 yards, but two more late goals for the visitors inflicted a painful defeat on the Irons.
The midfielder admitted he allowed himself to believe the game was won when he scored his tenth goal of the season at U18s level, and the manner of the loss was particularly frustrating for him and his teammates.
The most important thing now is to learn from the loss and grow as players.
“When I scored that goal, I was so happy,” Orford told whufc.com. “I thought we had done it and got the game over the line. We had 87 minutes played and, to be completely honest, I never thought we would concede two goals.
“But that’s how football can be. It throws things like that at you and it’s important we learn from it.
“We’re all absolutely gutted. It was a really awful feeling to lose a game that we were 3-2 up in, particularly when we went ahead so late. It was two late goals that did us. We lost our concentration a bit, and that’s down to all of us. But it’s a horrible way to lose the match.”
West Ham’s fate is still in their own hands. With three league games left to play, at home to Arsenal and Fulham with an away fixture at Leicester City sandwiched between, the Irons need one point to mathematically secure top spot in U18 Premier League South.
A quick turnaround will also see Kevin Keen’s young side step out at London Stadium for an FA Youth Cup semi-final tie against Southampton on Thursday.
Orford continued: “We now need one point from our remaining three league games to win the league. We really wanted to have it done on Saturday, to give us a real boost going into the FA Youth Cup semi-final, but we must turn our attention to our games to come.
“It’s important we don’t dwell on this too much. We know what we could have done by winning, but we haven’t and we know need to put it behind us. Thursday is a huge match, and we need to be prepared for it.”
The midweek match will provide Orford his first opportunity to play at London Stadium and the 17-year-old is eager to make the most of the opportunity to reach the FA Youth Cup final.
An intense few days of training awaits Orford and his teammates, something the midfielder is ready to put everything into.
“I’ve never played at London Stadium before so Thursday will be a big game for me, and for all of us,” he added. “It’ll be a wonderful experience for all of us and we’re looking forward to it.
“But we really need to put the work in on the training pitch over the coming days first to make sure we’ve prepared properly.”
