West Ham United Women U21s 0-4 Chelsea U21s
FA WSL Academy League, Little Heath, Wednesday 26 April 2023
West Ham United Women U21s closed out the 2022/23 campaign with a 4-0 defeat to Chelsea on Wednesday afternoon.
After a competitive first half, Chelsea started the better of the two sides in the second half. Katie Dungate fired in three goals for the away side as they moved through the gears.
Aimee Claypole scored a thunderous effort on 70 minutes as the Blues proved too strong for the Irons in their final outing of the season.
Three first team players were involved in the match at Little Heath, with Anouk Denton, Amber Tysiak and Izzy Atkinson all starting from the off.
With no first team fixture this weekend, the U21s fixture offered a chance for the trio to get much needed match fitness ahead of the final four matches of the Barclays Women’s Super League season.
Chelsea travelled to east London knowing that second place in the Southern Division was already secured, whilst West Ham knew that a win could see them move up to fifth position.
The game was hotly contested in the opening fifteen minutes, with Chelsea looking threatening from set pieces, without actually testing Katie O’Hanlon in the Hammers goal.
Princess Ademiluyi was engaged in a tough battle with Chelsea central defenders Cerys Brown and Izzy Milne, as she battled to drive her side up the pitch in the first twenty minutes.
As time went on, the Irons grew into the contest, with Denton providing pace and endeavour on the left, forcing the issues alongside Atkinson. On the opposite side, Soraya Walsh looked to cause similar issues and forced a corner when Hannah Plumb played a lofted pass inside the channel.
Milly Boughton was industrious at the heart of the midfield, battling for her side and almost helped to create the opening goal. After winning two challenges in the middle of the park, a loose ball fell to Atkinson. The Irish winger looked to slip Ademiluyi in behind the Blues backline, but she was adjudged to have been offside by the assistant referee.
Chelsea had a chance just before the half time whistle blew, with Dungate seizing on a missed interception from Hammers captain Chloe Brand, but her effort from an acute angle went narrowly wide.
The Blues then threatened again, this time with O’Hanlon tipping a good shot behind as the half time whistle sounded.
In the second half, the away side started on the back foot, Reanna Blades almost caught out O’Hanlon at her near post, but the goalkeeper reacted well, diving down low to keep the wayward cross out.
Chelsea had made a very good start to the second half and made their early pressure pay. Claypole found space out wide and found Dungate at the back post to tap home and open the scoring on 50 minutes.
It was 2-0 five minutes later, with Dungate again floating off the left flank and getting to a loose ball in the area, which she scrambled into the net for her second.
Dungate fired in her hattrick after West Ham conceded possession on their left, with the winger punishing the backline.
Claypole had been at the heart of Chelsea’s attacking play in the second half, and she found the back of the net herself with 70 minutes on the clock. The forward received the ball on the half-turn and fired a ferocious shot beyond O’Hanlon.
West Ham struggled for possession as Chelsea looked to add more goals in the closing stage. However, they were a threat on the counter attack, with Atkinson driving down the left-hand side on a number of occasions. The final pass was all that was missing as Ikram Mohamed and Ademiluyi almost latched onto through balls from the Irish winger.
But there would be no further goals in the contest, with the defeat meaning that the Hammers finish in 6th place in the FA WSL Academy Southern Division, picking up a total of 20 points throughout the season.
West Ham United U21s: O’Hanlon, Brand ©, Plumb (Fearns 81), Tysiak, Denton, Postelwaite (Mohamed 60), Boughton (Heath 75), Walsh (Huseyin 81), Atkinson, Ademiluyi.
Unused Sub: Raam.
