Norwich City U18s 1-4 West Ham United U18s
U18 Premier League South, The Lotus Training Centre, Saturday 11 March 2023
A superb second-half display saw West Ham United U18s defeat Norwich City U18s 4-1, inching the Irons closer to claiming the U18 Premier League South division title.
George Earthy gave the young Hammers an early lead in Saturday's fixture, but Elliot Myles equalised on 40 minutes at the Lotus Training Centre.
The Hammers turned on the style in the second half and goals from Divin Mubama, Kaelan Casey and Lewis Orford sealed an important victory for Kevin Keen’s side.
The U18s are now 15 points clear at the summit of the U18 Premier League South table. Four points would see the side guarantee the title, and favourable results elsewhere could see the side win the league as early as next weekend.
U18s coach Gerard Prenderville was delighted with the three points.
“It was a really positive result for us,” Prenderville told whufc.com. “It seems funny to say after winning 4-1 but we didn’t play at our best. George put us ahead and gave us a good start, but we went in at 1-1 at half-time and we knew that we needed to improve.
“We changed the shape at half-time and it worked well. We created lots of chances and took some of them, and in the end it was 4-1 so is a pleasing score line.”
After an early period of dominance, Earthy gave the Hammers the lead after eight minutes. Dan Rigge and Mubama exchanged a give and go before the ball was worked to Earthy inside the penalty area. The midfielder demonstrated superb skill to weave his way through the Norwich defence, before slotting the ball into the bottom corner.
Mason Terry and Caleb Ansen were both on hand to make superb saves for their sides, denying Mubama and Kenneth Adoh from scoring, before Elliot Myles equalised just before the interval for the hosts. The No8 was the quickest to react in the 18-yard-box, racing onto a loose ball and firing past Terry.
Mubama restored West Ham’s lead immediately after the break. The striker was well placed to intercept a poor pass in the Norwich penalty area and the striker drilled the ball across Ansen and into the bottom right corner.
Kaelan Casey gave the visitors a 3-1 lead on 61 minutes. The defender powerfully headed Orford’s deep corner into the net to give the Irons a two-goal lead.
The Hammers capped off an excellent second half performance with a fourth goal in the final ten minutes. Earthy pulled the ball back to Orford, and the No4 smashed the ball into the roof of the net from the edge of the box.
Prenderville suggested that the Hammers could have been even more ruthless at times, despite scoring four goals.
He continued: “We definitely could have scored more goals. We created so many good chances and that’s something that we’ve been able to do all season. The boys work really hard on the training ground and it’s paid off all season.
“We just lacked the final little bit of quality at times but we scored four goals and won the match comfortably, so we’re pleased.”
After a disappointing end to the first half, Prenderville was delighted to see a positive response in the second half.
“We weren’t quite at it, but we still managed to take the lead and it was a very good goal,” he reflected. “We had a big chance to go 2-0 up and we didn’t take it and from there we let Norwich back into the game. We didn’t take our chances and they took their chance before half-time.
“The message at half-time was just to play as we had played all season. We’ve always been good in the second half and that’s down to the boys and their conditioning. We’re fit, we’re strong and we managed to be a little bit more positive in the second half. We pressed with a little more intensity and we got our rewards for that.”
The young Irons can win the league as soon as next week if they beat West Brom and second-placed Fulham fail to win at Norwich.
Despite a superb season so far, Prenderville is determined to focus solely on the next game and concentrate on getting another win.
“Our goal is always the same, and that's the same across the staff or the players. We know that it’s been a fantastic season so far but we just want to keep winning matches and we want the boys to keep developing on and off the pitch.
“We take things one match at a time and that is a reason for our success so far this season. There’s a lot of football still to play this season in the league and we have a FA Youth Cup semi-final to look forward too as well. We’ll just keep things the same and we’ll look to keep pushing on.”
West Ham United U18s: Terry ©, Battrum, Falase, Tarima, Casey, Scarles, Orford, Akpata (Briggs 18), Rigge (Clayton 73), Earthy (Uwandji 82), Mubama (Jones 78)
Subs not used: Herrick (GK)
Goals: Earthy 8, Mubama 49, Casey 61, Orford 81
Norwich City U18s: Ansen, Pinyoun, Owen (Keita 79), Doy ©, Renecke, Matos (Valencia Gomez 73), Myles, Eze, Welch (Roberts 73), Reindorf, Aboh (Thompson 73)
Subs not used: Giller (GK)
Goals: Myles 40
Booked: Matos
Referee: James Cliffe
