1-3 Brighton & Hove Albion U18s Saturday, September 23, 11 a.m. BST, West Ham United U18s U18 Premier League South Division
On Saturday morning, West Ham United U18s recovered from behind to win 3-1 against Brighton & Hove Albion.
Jerry Umolu scored each side of halftime to put the Irons ahead, then Dan Rigge put the game out of reach with 72 minutes remaining. As a result, Kevin Keen’s side extends their unbeaten record to four games in all competitions.
The Hammers were eager to get started at The Amex Elite Football Performance Centre, and Josh Ajala nearly opened the scoring within the first five minutes. The striker pushed Lorenz Ferdinand into an early save, and Josh Briggs’ drive was deflected just over the crossbar moments after.
Despite the Irons’ quick start, Brighton took the lead. After a tussle in the penalty area, Zane Albarus pushed the ball into the bottom left corner.
As the Hammers sought a response, Ajala saw another shot deflected behind for a corner before Ezra Mayers made a goal-saving challenge midway through the first half.
Pushing forward, Umolu raced onto a long pass and hammered the ball into the bottom right corner from the edge of the box near the end of the first half.
After the break, Umolu put the visitors in ahead. To complete his hat trick, the striker slammed the ball past Ferdinand and into the back of the net.
Fin Herrick was called into action to deny Aidan West before Umolu and Dan Rigge both saw their efforts bounce off the post.
But the Irons got an important third when Rigge found the back of the net with just under 20 minutes remaining.
His strike deflected past Ferdinand to secure their third league win on the bounce.
West Ham United U18s: Herrick, Battrum, Briggs, Mayers, Medine, Jones (Adeile 59), Caliste, Fearon (Akpata 59), Rigge, Ajala (Fawunmi 64), Umolu (Uwandji 77)
Subs: Abraham (GK)
Umolu 45+1, 49, Rigge 72.
Adeile has been scheduled.
Keen compliments Hammers’ tenacity.
Kevin Keen, the U18s’ head coach, was pleased with his team’s recovery after falling behind in the first quarter of an hour.
The young Hammers have already scored twelve goals in their previous four matches across all competitions, while the Irons were also on fire on the south coast.
“I’m really pleased,” Keen began. We were down 1-0, and Brighton are a really talented team. They have a style of play that might make it difficult to get the ball off them at times.
“But we worked on it during practice, and I think the boys executed the game plan really well.”
“It’s a lively, hardworking group with a bit of flair and excitement.” We’re finally coming together as a team.”
At the end of the first half, the Hammers created several chances, with Ajala and Mayers both coming close to opening the scoring before Umolu equalized.
After a spell of domination, Keen advised that a goal before the interval was critical.
“The goal before halftime was really important,” he concluded. We didn’t want to remain behind at halftime after having created so many wonderful opportunities. After that, we dominated the second half. Our shape was excellent, and we relied heavily on Dan Rigge and Josh Ajala.
“We scored two really good goals in the second half, Jerry’s goal in particular was a top strike. We were aggressive on the ball and also when we were pressing. We were also defensively strong when we needed to be so I’m really pleased with the group today.”
The young Irons are unbeaten since a defeat against Arsenal on the opening day of the season.
And, as such, Keen’s side now sit third in the U18 Premier League South division after picking up nine points from a possible twelve.
“I’m really pleased with the group,” he added. “The second years are setting an example but we also have some fantastic, talented first years. The young players have shown how good they are and we are improving all of the time as a squad.
“There’s a really good feel to what we are doing so we want to keep that going. We want to have a real go at trying to achieve something special.”
Umolu continues goal-scoring run with brace
Jerry Umolu played a key role as the Hammers came from a goal behind to beat Brighton 3-1 on Saturday.
The striker scored two goals either side of half-time to give the Hammers the lead before Dan Rigge made sure of the victory in the last 20 minutes.
“It was a really challenging game and it wasn’t ideal to go 1-0 down.” Umolu explained. “But we stuck together as a team and we came back into it. We’ve been working hard on the training ground and it all came to fruition today.
“I was pleased to score at the end of the first half to make it 1-1 and then I made it 2-1 after the break. The lads stayed together, we were resilient and Dan Rigge got a third for us to seal the three points. It was a really good team performance and a really good result.”
Umolu buried his two goals superbly before bursting down the right flank and hitting the post midway through the second half.
Despite being delighted with his two goals, the No9 was slightly disappointed not to be walking away with the match ball.
“For the first goal, I managed to chest the ball down and get in front of my man before hitting the ball across goal into the bottom corner. The second one is what people would describe as a typical Jerry goal. I pinned my defender, spun and hit the ball across goal.
“It was two good finishes but I should’ve had a third. I worked really hard to get from the halfway line to their penalty area and I’ve hit it across goal but unfortunately, it’s hit the post. It should’ve been a goal but you can’t score them all. We’ll go again next week.”
Up next
West Ham United U18s are next in action against Norwich City.
The game will take place on Saturday 30 September, with kick-off set for 12pm.
