West Ham United U18s were held to a 0-0 draw in an enthralling encounter against Southampton in a top-of-the-table clash in U18 Premier League South.
The Saints were reduced to ten men with just over half an hour to play but, despite persistent pressure, the young Hammers were unable to find a winner.
The result saw Kevin Keen’s side maintain their place at the top of the division, with second placed Southampton having played two games less than the Hammers.
Both sides had chances to win the match, with both goalkeepers making outstanding saves to preserve their clean sheets. Jacob Knightbridge kept his side level in the first half, whilst Eddie Beach remarkably kept out Divin Mubama with just seconds remaining in a close encounter.
“We played some good football and created some good chances,” U18s assistant coach Mark Phillips explained. “I thought we could have created more with the situations we had.
“It shows how far we’ve come when we are disappointed with a 0-0 away draw against a team that’s second in the league. On the whole, when you take a back seat and look at it, it’s not a bad performance at all.”
Southampton had the first promising opportunity of the fixture on 15 minutes. After a scramble in the box, the ball fell to Jimmy Jay Morgan, who struck the ball towards the target.
The ball looked destined to find the bottom corner, but Knightbridge was on hand to make a fantastic save and tipped the ball beyond the post for a corner.
Southampton continued to grow into the game and looked the more dangerous of the two sides in the opening proceedings. Morgan had another opportunity - this time a volley from the edge of the box - but was denied once again by the West Ham shot-stopper.
As half time approached, the visitors began to grow in confidence. Junior Robinson found space after some cool build up play but the wing back’s shot was charged down and put behind for a corner.
Just moments later, Callum Marshall held the ball up to good effect and slid the ball wide to Regan Clayton. This time the goalkeeper was tested, although the strike was at a good height for him, and he was left relatively untroubled.
The Hammers had their first big chance after the break. Clayton clipped a clever ball down the left flank towards Marshall and he was able to square the ball to his strike partner. Mubama had space in the 18-yard box but was unable to find the target, striking the ball over the crossbar.
Mubama found himself in on goal ten minutes later after a great through ball from Marshall. Mubama took a brilliant touch across the Southampton defender and was about to unleash a strike on goal when he was brought down, leaving the referee with no choice but to produce a red card.
Keen’s side looked to take advantage of their extra man as the game drew to a close. Despite a number of chances from range, Beach was never put under any real pressure until additional time.
Mubama and Gideon Kodua linked up brilliantly, creating an opening for Mubama. The striker dug a shot out with his left foot, and it was heading for the bottom left corner but for a brilliant save from the Southampton goalkeeper.
There looked set to be even more late drama as the Hammers won a corner as a result of the save. Michael Forbes kept the attack alive after a deep out swinger and the ball fell to Robinson who was only able to fire over the bar.
Phillips suggested that his side didn’t start as they would have liked but he was pleased with how the youthful team improved as the match went on.
“They started the game better than we did but we grew into it,” Phillips explained. “We created some opportunities, but I feel like we were a bit anxious at times. It seems a ridiculous thing to say but maybe at times we were trying too hard.
“The game was very even when they went down to ten men. I don’t think it influenced the game that much in the last 30 minutes, but we lost our patience. Although we had some good chances still, the red card didn’t really help us because we started to force it a bit more.”
Phillips was full of praise for U18 goalkeeper Jacob Knightbridge who played his part in keeping a vital clean sheet for his side.
Phillips evaluated: “Clean sheets are really important for any team that wants to win games and compete at the top of the league. Jacob made a really good save in the first half; I was right in line with the shot and I thought it was going in.
I thought Jacob’s all-round goalkeeping was good today, his kicking was good, he commanded his area, and he obviously made a few big saves for us too.”
The U18s have had three games over the last eight days and have picked up seven points in this run, winning two and drawing one, and Phillips was delighted with the results his side have picked up recently.
He said: “To get seven points out of a possible nine is unbelievable, especially when you look at the quality of the teams we faced. We’re getting results against teams that are in and around the top, Crystal Palace and Southampton are rivals at the top and Brighton caused us some problems last week too.
“The three teams we’ve faced over the last eight days are all good teams and if you’d said to me before that we’d get seven points, I would have been delighted. I’m just slightly disappointed that we couldn’t get over the line and make it nine points out of nine!”
West Ham United: Knightbridge, Robinson, Clayton (Scarles 90), Falase, Casey, Forbes, Woods, Earthy (Coddington 83), Mubama, Marshall (Kodua 74), Orford
Subs not used: Terry (GK)