Southampton U18s 2-2 West Ham United U18s
U18 Premier League South Division, Saturday 23 September, 11:30am BST
West Ham United U18s extended their unbeaten run to six matches in all competitions as the young Hammers drew 2-2 against Southampton on Saturday.
Despite Josh Briggs’ early goal for the Hammers, Southampton led at the break after two quick goals midway through the first half.
Still, Keen’s side responded well after the break and equalised through Jerry Umolu but, in the end, had to settle for one point, even after a dominant second-half display.
The Hammers started on the front foot on the south coast and took a deserved lead after eleven minutes. Liam Jones’ dangerous corner found Briggs at the back post and the centre back directed the ball into the roof of the net.
But the Saints responded immediately and Alejandro Gomes unselfishly squared the ball to Nicholas Oyekunle, who tapped the ball into the bottom left corner from close range.
The hosts then took the lead after 26 minutes. Jay Robinson pounced on a misplaced pass and slid the ball through to Oyekunle who secured his brace, slotting the ball pass Herrick and into the bottom corner.
But Kevin Keen’s side flew out of the blocks in the second half and almost found an equaliser just minutes after the interval. Umolu curled a free kick over the wall but saw his effort rebound off the outside of the post.
And the Irons found an equaliser midway through the second half after Umolu raced onto a poor back pass before calmly placing the ball into the bottom left corner.
Both sides pushed to retake the lead and Favour Fawunmi saw his strike fly into the side netting before Herrick was forced into an outstanding save to deny Joe Andrews.
Elisha Sowunmi almost made an immediate impact from the bench, but the substitute saw his effort bounce off the post after a superb run and the Hammers were forced to settle for a point.
West Ham United: Herrick, Battrum, Mayers, Briggs, Jones (Adeile 45), Medine (Fawunmi 45), Caliste (Fearon 45), Akpata, Rigge (Sowunmi 73), Umolu, Ajala
Subs not used: Abraham (GK)
Goals: Briggs 11, Umolu 65
Booked: Akpata, Briggs, Fearon
Keen: We weren’t at our best against Southampton
It was a frustrating morning for U18s lead coach Kevin Keen.
A disappointing first half saw the Hammers fall 2-1 behind despite making a dominant start.
“It’s a hugely frustrating day,” Keen began. “I have to give credit to Southampton, they’re a young team and played some good football. We went 1-0 up but quickly found ourselves 2-1 down and that was tough.
“We sorted a few things out at half-time and changed formation and we were the better team in the second half. We created several opportunities and we should have scored more with the quality of players that we have. We spoke about that after the game and we feel that we should’ve done better today.”
Whilst Keen was disappointed to fall behind after taking an early lead, the lead coach was full of praise for the mentality demonstrated by the side.
He continued: “We’ve found ourselves behind a few times this year but we found a way to come back again today.
“We wanted to win the second half and we’ve come away with a draw against a good team, but we’re disappointed that we’ve not come away with more.
"There’s a lot to learn from today which is really good as a group and as an Academy so we’ll push to keep improving.”
Mayers disappointed not to come away with three points
Defender Ezra Mayers suggested that the young Hammers dipped below their usual high standards this weekend.
Keen’s side dominated the match for large periods but a difficult period in the first half saw the Irons fall behind despite taking the lead in the opening eleven minutes.
“Our press wasn’t as good as it could have been in the first half,” Mayers said. “We weren’t always locked onto players and we gave them too much possession.
“We should have won the game comfortably but today was a bit of a drop off in performance and we need to bounce back next time.”
The centre back was disappointed to concede two goals in a short period of time and suggested that falling behind was avoidable.
He added: “We should’ve done a lot better than we did for the goals. We knew that at half time and the message at half time was to win the second half as we knew that would allow us to draw the game at the minimum.
"We managed to do that and we played with more excitement and conviction in the second half.”
Up Next
West Ham United U18s are in next in action in the U18 Premier League Cup.
The Hammers host Derby County at Little Heath. Kick-off is set for 12.30pm.
