West Ham United U18s v Chelsea U18s
U18 Premier League South, Little Heath, Saturday 28 September 2024, 11am BST
West Ham United U18s return to action on Saturday morning with a derby as they host London rivals Chelsea at Little Heath.
It has been a challenging start to life as full-time footballers for Lauris Coggin’s young scholars, results-wise. Although the Hammers are unbeaten in their last three fixtures on the road, having drawn all three, they are still searching for their first win of the U18 Premier League South campaign after an opening-day defeat by Arsenal.
With two exciting London derbies ahead, against Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur at Little Heath, Coggin and Zavon Hines’ budding Hammers will be eager to secure that elusive first victory of the league season.
How To Follow…
A match report, highlights and reaction will also follow shortly after the full-time whistle.
Opposition…
Chelsea’s U18s have also endured somewhat of a mixed start to their league campaign. Despite a convincing win last time out against early pace setters Aston Villa, the Blues sit behind West Ham in the standings on goal difference.
In their first four league outings of the season, Chelsea have faced three of the same opponents as West Ham. While Coggin’s Hammers secured one-all draws against Leicester and Brighton & Hove Albion, Chelsea shipped ten goals in defeats against the Foxes and the Seagulls.
However, Chelsea’s recent 6-2 win over Aston Villa could be an indicator of the challenge West Ham will face, with the Blues looking to carry that momentum into Saturday’s game.
Ones to watch…
West Ham fans who tuned into the U21s' midweek clash against SL Benfica B in the Premier League International Cup may have noticed two new faces in Mark Robson’s squad.
U18s captain Preston Fearon made his full debut for the development side, while Airidas Golambeckis came on for the final half-hour as the Hammers came from two goals down to earn a draw against their Portuguese opponents.
While Fearon set up Dan Rigge who then excellently teed up Luis Guilherme for the goal that sparked the comeback, U18s top goalscorer Golambeckis played a key part in the equaliser, winning possession back for his team in the move that saw Brad Dolaghan score the equaliser.
Unsurprisingly, the young scholars earnt high praise from coach Robson following the game.
"Across the board, there were excellent performances," Robson said. "Preston, for example, has been doing brilliantly with coach Lauris in the U18s, and it was great to give him an opportunity tonight - he played a key role in our first goal. Airidas also defended superbly when he came on for the last 30 minutes. It really shows that we have the talent to step up to this level.”
The Story So Far…
Several unfortunate injuries and commitments from last year’s standout performers with the U21s has meant a bit of a reshuffle coming into the 2024/25 season.
Embracing these challenges, Coggin and Hines’ young Hammers have put in some commendable performances on their travels, securing draws against Brighton, Leicester and West Bromwich Albion, with numerous U16s players getting the opportunity to play up the age groups. Despite going unbeaten over the last three weeks, they only have three points to show for their efforts.
On a brighter note, in their last game at Little Heath, West Ham were 2-0 winners over Nottingham Forest in the U18 Premier League Cup thanks to goals from Golambeckis and Chinaza Nwosu.
