Mason Terry played a vital role as West Ham United U18s were crowned the 2022/23 U18 Premier League South champions, following a 2-0 victory against Arsenal on Saturday.
The Hammers’ shot stopper was in inspired form at the Rush Green Stadium, making two sensational saves at the start of the second half to keep the Gunners at bay.
Divine Mukasa secured his first goal for the U18s to give the young Irons the lead before Gideon Kodua doubled the Hammers’ advantage with ten minutes remaining.
After defeat against Brighton & Hove Albion last time out, Terry was delighted with the team’s emphatic response to secure the title.
“Everyone is absolutely buzzing,” Terry told whufc.com. “Heading into the game we knew that we only needed a point to win the league but we were determined to play for the win. We were fully focused on getting across the line and we got the job done today.
“We conceded two late goals in our last league game against Brighton which was frustrating, and there was a lot of disappointment that we didn’t secure the title against them. Today was a fresh start and we did what we needed to do. Now it’s time to look ahead to what’s still to come.”
The West Ham goalkeeper was called into action on several occasions during the second half but stood strong to preserve his clean sheet.
Terry was delighted to play such a key role in the hard fought victory.
“I was able to help the team out today and those saves came at a vital moment,” Terry reflected. “I managed to pull off two worldie saves and on another day I might not have saved them. I just gave it everything to get across to both shots and fortunately I was able to get enough on the ball to keep the ball out of the net.
“It was a key point in the game, it was 0-0 at that point of the match and the saves kept us in the game. I’m really pleased that I was able to play my part in such a big win today.”
Whilst Terry is delighted to have secured the regional title, he insists that the Hammers are not done yet, with a FA Youth Cup final on the horizon.
“We want to win more. We want to push on and the Youth Cup final is another big opportunity for us. We are playing at the Emirates against Arsenal again so we will need to be ready.
“We beat them 2-0 today so they will be out for revenge, especially considering it is being played at their place. We will expect them to come for us but we will be ready and we are looking forward to it.”
