Mark Robson has heaped praise on his West Ham United U21s for their ‘brilliant’ showing in the 1-0 win at Walsall.
Kamarai Swyer’s second-half finish was the difference as the development side claimed a huge win in the Papa Johns Trophy group stages away to EFL League Two Walsall, putting on a mature and composed performance at the Poundland Bescot Stadium.
“It was a brilliant performance,” lead coach Robson reflected. “I thought we were excellent. We stood up to a real test in a really physical and strong Walsall team.
“Full credit to our boys, we were really good in possession at times and we were brave and confident with it. We did all the things we wanted to do before the game. Out of possession, we stood up like young men today and we put in a fantastic performance.
“This was a test against league players, who are making their living in the game. Some of our boys come out with flying colours from this game and it showed that there are a few for us that could happily come and play at this level.”
Swyer notched his second goal of the season in all competitions when he latched onto Divin Mubama’s knock-down, expertly controlling before clinically striking at the near post.
Robson was full of praise for his goalscorer as well as his team’s resolute defensive effort in keeping a clean-sheet against the Saddlers.
“It was a great goal from Kam. It was a great ball from Hegyi to start with, and he’s recognised we needed to go a bit longer and Divin has been able to get something on it, and Kam has pounced on it. It was a really tight angle but he’s scored another goal. He scores goals, the boy, and he’s done it again with another terrific finish.
“The clean-sheet was big. When you look at the opposition, they threw everything at us. They had set-piece after set-piece, and they were sending in crosses. We knew it was going to happen and we knew it was going to be a hard test, but we just really stood up to it and I’m so pleased and proud of the boys. I thought we stood up like men.”
Having endured a tough start to the 2022/23 Premier League 2 season, Robson is hopeful the confidence gained from Tuesday evening’s win can remain with the U21s for the coming weeks.
He added: “We’re all disappointed with the start we’ve had but I have to say we’ve played well in all the games in parts. We’ve just not quite clicked, but I said to the boys today about being brave on the ball and finding their mojo.
“It was a tough order but we did it really well in this game, and the dressing room is buzzing for it. Hopefully we can continue this form now.”
