Southampton U18s 2-1 West Ham United U18s
U18 Premier League South, Staplewood Training Ground, Saturday 24 January 2023, 12pm GMT
West Ham United U18s saw their 100 per cent league form come to an end with a 2-1 defeat against Southampton U18s.
The Saints took the lead through Will Merry on 23 minutes after a well worked team move left the striker with a simple tap-in.
The Irons pushed for an equaliser in the second half and their pressure was rewarded when substitute Jemiah Umolu tucked the ball into the net from close range with 15 minutes remaining.
Kevin Keen’s side looked set to push for a winner, but the hosts retook the lead on 79 minutes courtesy of Tyler Dibling, who tucked the ball into the net from 12 yards, after the Saints were controversially awarded a penalty kick.
Prior to Saturday's fixture, the young Hammers had won all 12 of their previous league outings, with only one loss in all competitions. Despite this defeat, the Hammers still hold a 13-point lead at the top of the U18s Premier League South table.
U18s lead coach Kevin Keen was disappointed with the result and claimed that his side’a first half performance was not up to their usual high standards.
“I was really disappointed with the way that we played during the first half,” Keen told whufc.com. “We didn’t play very well, we didn’t compete well enough and we didn’t represent what we’re all about during the opening 45 minutes.
“The second half was so much better, I thought we played really well at times. We deserved our equaliser and then to concede a penalty just minutes later was a tough moment for us. We’re disappointed to lose but I thought there were some really good performances during the second half.”
The Hammers were full of intent in the early stages of the match and almost took the lead inside the opening five minutes. Liam Jones swept the ball across to Gideon Kodua who was unable to find the target at full stretch.
The Irons continued to push for an opener and Favour Fawunmi’s corner caused chaos in the Southampton penalty area. Adli Mohamed’s attempt to catch the ball was unsuccessful and Kodua flicked the ball towards the goal. The Saints’ defence stood strong and eventually scrambled the ball away.
After a hard-fought opening 20 minutes, Southampton took the lead. A long ball over the top of the West Ham defence found Alfie Prescott in space and the full back unselfishly squared the ball to Merry who tucked the ball into an empty net from a few yards out.
Southampton almost doubled their lead after the interval. Dibling slid the ball through to Merry who smartly took the ball around the onrushing Herrick. The Southampton No9 was off balance and he was only able to find the side netting with his strike.
After a well contested start to the second half, the Irons started to dominate with a flurry of corners. Falase’s inswinging corner found Marshall at the back post and the striker’s headed effort called Mohamed into an impressive save.
After a period of heavy pressure, the visitors found a deserved equaliser through Umolu, who provided an instant impact for Keen’s side moments after coming on as a substitute. Jones’ low driven strike was well saved but Umolu was well positioned, and he tapped the ball into the empty net from close range.
The hosts quickly retook their lead from the penalty spot after Rigge was deemed to have committed a foul in the 18-yard-box. Dibling stepped up and calmly slotted the ball into the corner, securing the three points for the Saints.
Keen suggested that there were several positives to take from the match, including the impact of the young substitutes.
“I thought that Divine Mukasa played well during the second half and Dan Rigge made things happen too which was key for us. The substitutes came on and made an impact which is another big positive from my point of view.
“We did well to equalise and I thought that we deserved it, Jerry scored straight after coming on which was great for him. We felt that we then had the momentum so it was disappointing to lose the game from there.
“However, we’ve had some luck at points during this season and today we didn’t have that luck. A few key decisions didn’t go our way as well, so it’s disappointing to lose but we need to pick ourselves up now.”
Keen suggested that it is now important for the squad to bounce back after suffering their first league defeat of the season.
“We had a younger team out today but that doesn’t make a difference as far as I’m concerned, they’re still representing West Ham U18s and we have standards that need to be met, and we didn’t meet those standards during the first half, whereas we did in the second half.
“Southampton are a good side and they deserve credit for their performance today. After falling behind it’s hard to come back against a strong opposition.
“I’ve got no doubt that we will be able to bounce back. We’ve lost a game but we didn’t get hammered and we didn’t get played off the pitch. It was just a case of things not quite going our way today. We’ll get back to training, we’ll work hard and we’ll be ready for Stoke next week in the Youth Cup.”
West Ham United U18s: Herrick, Tarima (Mayers 73), Falase, Briggs, Fawunmi (Umolu 73), Jones, Akpata (Boothe 84), Mukasa, Rigge, Kodua © (Uwandji 45), Marshall
Sub not used: Terry (GK)
Goals: Umolu 74
Booked: Herrick
Southampton U18s: Mohamed, Prescott, Lett, Dobson-Ventura, Armitage, Squires © (Evans 83), Iwumene, Dibling, Andrews, Oyekunle, Merry (Robinson 71)
Subs not used: Jeffries (GK), Hartness, Edmondson
Goals: Merry 23, Dibling 79
Booked: Mohamed
Referee: Peter Lowe
