West Ham United U18s v Grimsby Town U18s
FA Youth Cup Third Round, Blundell Park, Friday 6 December 2024, 7pm GMT
West Ham United U18s start their FA Youth Cup campaign with a third-round away trip to Grimsby Town.
Lauris Coggin’s young Hammers enter the fixture in fine form, unbeaten in six matches, and will aim to emulate the 2023 generation, who lifted the prestigious trophy for the first time in 24 years.
Standing in their way, a not to be underestimated Grimsby Town, eager to make the fourth round for the second successive season. The young Mariners have experience pulling off an upset, having defeated Premier League opposition Nottingham Forest in extra-time at Blundell Park exactly one year ago.
Tickets...
Only the Main Stand will be open at Blundell Park and tickets for the game are priced at £5 for Adults and £2.50 for all Concessions. Groups of ten tickets can be bought for £20.
Tickets can be purchased online via Grimsby Town’s Ticketing Portal or by visiting the Main Stand turnstiles ahead of the game.
How To Follow…
A live stream of the fixture will be available across the Club’s website and YouTube channel. A match report and reaction will also follow shortly after the full-time whistle. Highlights will be available the following day.
What Happened Last Season…
Last season, West Ham United U18s put up a brave defence of their FA Youth Cup title.
In the third round, they beat fellow U18 Premier League South opponents Southampton on penalties. Despite the inclusion of Saints development squad regulars such as Tyler Dibling and Sam Amo-Ameyaw, West Ham came from behind thanks to an early second-half goal from Favour Fawunmi and took the game to penalties where Lewis Orford, Ollie Scarles, Liam Jones and Josh Briggs made no mistake in sending the young Hammers to the foruth round.
In the next round, Kevin Keen’s side also took the game to extra-time, but fell to eventual winners Manchester City by 2-0.
Of the players involved in the two matchday squads of West Ham’s 2023/24 FA Youth Cup campaign, Airidas Golambeckis, Ezra Mayers, Emeka Adiele, Josh Ajala, Elisha Sowunmi, Gabriel Caliste, Rayan Oyebade, Chinaza Nwosu and Jethro Medine remain eligible for this year’s edition.
Opposition...
Friday evening’s opposition Grimsby Town compete in the EFL Northern Youth Alliance League, which comprises of the Under-18 sides from the Category 3 and Category 4 Academy Clubs of the EFL, along with selected National League Clubs. Although the young Mariners sit in a modest 16th place out of the 25 competing teams, they have only lost three times this season and are unbeaten in six in a run stretching back to early October.
For the second year running, the northeast Lincolnshire side have reached the third round and are no strangers to an FA Youth Cup upset, having beaten Premier League opposition Nottingham Forest at this stage last season. Once again hosting another Premier League Academy at their first-team ground, Blundell Park, Grimsby’s U18s will be eager to show that last year’s heroics were no fluke. If last season’s cup ties are anything to go by, the young Hammers can expect a sizeable Grimsby crowd in Cleethorpes which will push their team to the final whistle.
Ones To Watch…
When speaking of ones to watch, it’s hard to look past Elisha Sowunmi. In the second year of his scholarship, the 17-year-old has already trebled his goalscoring tally from last season. Twelve goals in 12 appearances in all competitions for the U18s, Sowunmi was once again on target in our last game, a 3-1 win over Southampton, with yet another trademark left-footed curling effort into the far corner.
At right-back, Jethro Medine has also been a very consistent figure for Lauris Coggin’s side. One of only two players to have played every minute in all 12 of the U18s fixtures this season, Medine has been equally as impressive going forward as he has in his defensive duties. In our last game against Southampton, Medine’s eagerness to get forward saw the Hammers take the lead inside 33 seconds, as he set up Josh Ajala who tapped into an empty net.
For the home side, local talent Henry Brown is celebrating his tenth year with Grimsby Town. Coming through the ranks since joining as an Under-9, Brown is described as a technically sound attacking midfielder that manipulates the ball well in tight areas. The second-year scholar made his first-team debut a few weeks ago in the EFL Trophy against Chesterfield. The 17-year-old has Youth Cup pedigree having scored in the first two rounds this season, as well as the only goal in Grimsby’s 1-0 win over Forest in the third round last year.
In goal, Lauris Coggin’s free-scoring young Hammers will have to find their way past Seb Auton. The young Grimsby shot stopper kept a clean sheet in the young Mariners’ memorable third round win against Forest last year. This season, Auton has featured eleven times on the first team bench for promotion-chasing Grimsby and also made his League Two debut in a 3-2 win over Carlisle United in August.
