George Earthy said that West Ham United U19s regretted not managing the game when they went ahead against Stellenbosch in the final Premier League Next Generation Cup group stage fixture on Tuesday.
After a back-and-forward game that eventually saw the Hammers pull the game back to 2-2, Earthy tucked home another goal on 55 minutes that would have seen his side top the group if they’d hung on to a win.
However, South African side Stellenbosch hit back again a couple of minutes later and managed to seal a 3-3 draw at Corporate Reliance Park, meaning that the Irons finished up in second place.
The game was marred by questionable refereeing decisions, but Earthy believes his side could have done more to make sure that they came out on top.
“It’s really frustrating to not qualify for the final,” Earthy told whufc.com. "I thought in the first half I don’t think we did as much as we could, we could have dominated the play more, moved it round quicker and played with more intensity. The heat was a factor again today with us playing slightly earlier, so it was tough.
“In the second half we managed to get ahead in the game for the first time, but then they managed to pull it back. It’s probably our fault for drawing the game, obviously some decisions haven’t gone our way throughout the game – but I think we have to do better to prevent the goals that we conceded.
“It must have been 35 degrees when we kicked off and it’s so hard to play at the intensity that we want to play at in these conditions. I think the game did become end to end because of that. I think our regret is that we weren’t able to manage the game when we did eventually get in front. We needed to try and take the sting out of it, but we didn’t do that quickly enough.”
Earthy has played a lot of football this season with both Kevin Keen’s U18s and Mark Robson’s U21s as he continues to develop as a footballer.
He was a key part of the side that went all the way in the FA Youth Cup this summer, a squad which included a lot of the players out in India for the Next Gen tournament.
The midfielder says that the team need to learn from their experience of losing in this competition and go again in their final outing in India.
“This group have had a lot of good moments throughout the season, and we’ve had a lot of success, so this is difficult to take – we’re not really used to feeling this way at the end of the game. It’s one of the things we’re going to have to learn from and get used to.
“Now we have to focus and prepare for the next game, where we’re going to face Everton in another big game. We’ve got a job to do and we need to bounce back.”
Away from the pitch, the 18-year-old has enjoyed the many different experiences that the young Hammers have had the opportunity to see here in India, particularly their trip to Dharavi, Mumbai, which is one of the largest slums in the world.
“Being out here in India has been a very humbling experience for me personally, Earthy explained. “A couple of days ago we went to the slums, which was incredibly eye-opening and a reality check.
“We’re incredibly lucky and it shows how grateful we should be to be able to do what we do, especially with a Club like West Ham. It showed me what a brilliant opportunity we have in life and how we should make sure that we take that opportunity every day,” he said.
Having subsequently finished 2nd in Group A, the Hammers will now face Everton in their remaining fixture of the Next Gen Cup. That match will take place at 8pm local time (3:30pm BST) on Thursday 25 May.
