West Ham United U18s 6-3 Aston Villa U18s
West Ham United U18s continued their sensational start to the 2022/23 season with a thrilling 6-3 victory over Aston Villa.
The young Hammers’ big win means the side have claimed victories in all five of their competitive matches so far this season, netting 22 goals.
Kevin Keen’s side had to come from behind, however, with Aston Villa taking an early 2-0 lead at Little Heath.
The hosts hit back immediately after a disappointing start to the match and were level heading into the interval, thanks to goals from Lewis Orford and Kaelan Casey.
Orford secured his brace minutes into the second half, and goals from Billy Bates, Gideon Kodua and Blaise Uwandji put the result beyond all doubt.
Despite the young side finding free flowing goals, U18s lead coach Keen says that his side have a lot of work still to do defensively if they are to continue their current form,
“It was obviously a very positive result for us,” Keen told whufc.com. “Having said that, we were nowhere near good enough defensively again. We haven’t been starting games well enough and it was the same again today.
“The lads once again showed fantastic character to come back and win the match, but we want to be in a position where we don’t have to constantly have to show that grit and character to have to come back from behind. So we are disappointed with the way we defended as a team, but to score six goals, with two or three of them being such good goals, it has turned into a good morning for us.”
Aston Villa took the lead on seven minutes against the run of play. Jayden Barber’s corner was not dealt with, and Rory Wilson reacted quickest to the bouncing ball. The Aston Villa No9 made no mistake, smashing the ball into the roof of the net.
The visitors doubled their lead just moments later. The Hammers were robbed of possession on the edge of the 18-yard box and that proved to be costly. Ben Broggio raced onto the ball, dribbled around Mason Terry, and passed the ball into the back of the net.
West Ham responded immediately to half the deficit. Ryan Battrum’s low cross from the right wing picked out Orford. The midfielder controlled the ball and swivelled before striking the ball into the bottom left corner.
After a scrappy 20 minute spell, West Ham produced a moment of quality to draw level. Patrick Kelly shifted the ball out of his feet and delivered a superb cross into the box. Casey met the ball superbly with his head, leaving James Wright with no chance in the Villa net.
West Ham continued to press in search of a third and Orford came closest to giving the Irons the lead just before half-time. Asher Falase’s cross was fantastic, and Orford flicked the ball towards the bottom left corner with his head, but Wright was down well to make a smart save.
West Ham took the lead on 47 minutes as Orford grabbed his second. The Hammers pounced on a defensive error and Orford powerfully struck the ball into the net after a nice interchange between the midfielder and Kodua.
After fourteen months on the sidelines due to an ACL injury, Bates topped off his return to the starting XI with a goal. Orford’s deep corner was knocked down by Casey and Bates cleverly poked the ball into the corner, sparking jubilant scenes as the hosts took a 4-2 lead.
Kodua put the result beyond any doubt on 67 minutes. The West Ham striker raced onto a ball over the top of the Villa defence, before taking the ball around the goalkeeper and precisely curling the ball into the far corner with his left foot.
Aston Villa scored a late consolation goal with Wilson securing his brace from the penalty spot, slotting the ball beyond the fingertips of Terry into the bottom left corner.
West Ham secured their sixth - and the ninth goal of the match in added time - and it was arguably the best of the lot. The Irons worked the ball nicely from left to right and Uwandji smashed the ball into the top left corner from the edge of the box.
“Keen, further reflecting on his side’s goalscoring form, continued: “I think any manager would be happy with the number of goals that we have scored. It bodes well for the rest of the season.
“However, we have lots of work still to do, scoring goals is great but we need to start keeping clean sheets too. If we want to achieve things this year, if we want to get to finals, if we want to stay at the top of the league, we have lots of work to do defensively. That isn’t just our defence too, that is collectively as a whole team.”
Keen evaluated the importance of drawing level before the break and also discussed the improvements his side made in the second half.
He said: “It was really important that we responded quickly after going 2-0 down and Orford scored a really good goal more or less straight away for us. We then drew level after Kelly’s fantastic cross for Casey who finished it like a centre forward, so it was nice to go in at half time at 2-2.
“We talked things through at half time and we made a couple of small tweaks and I thought that we were really good in the second half. Aston Villa controlled possession throughout the game, but we created several really good chances in the second half, whereas Villa didn’t create much. We were much better in the second half.”
Finally, Keen wanted to praise the efforts of Bates, with the centre half marking his first start for the U18s in fourteen months with a goal.
“It was absolutely amazing for him to score today,” Keen smiled. “I have been in football for a long time, and I don’t often get goosebumps, but when the ball hit the back of the net it really was a goosebumps moment.
“He has worked his socks off, and credit to the physios, the doctors and the sports scientist staff that have worked with him every day. You could see what the goal meant for him and also what it meant to his teammates, especially in the changing room after the match. He is a great kid and hopefully he can kick on and play many more games for us this season.”
