Under-18s finish season with victory over Hammers

Our Under-18s came from a goal down at half-time to secure a 3-2 victory at West Ham United in our final game of the Under-18 Premier League season on Saturday morning.

Two strikes in four minutes from Leo Black and substitute Ellis Lehane turned the match around early in the second period at Little Heath, before Black set up Luca Williams-Barnett to make it 3-1 with 19 minutes remaining.

The Hammers pulled one back three minutes from time through Riley Hargan, with Dan Rigge earlier on the scoresheet – remarkably, both of their goals were scored direct from corners – but we stayed strong to see out our third consecutive win, moving up one place to fourth in the final standings.

The Hammers were often a threat from corners, Airidas Golambeckis and Luis Brown going close with headers in the opening stages, but after our skipper Callum Olusesi rounded West Ham goalkeeper Fin Herrick at the edge of their box, only to be denied by a last-ditch tackle from behind by Tyron Akpata, it was straight from one of those set-pieces that they took a 26th-minute lead as Rigge’s corner sailed all the way in at the far post, the goal given despite appeals for a foul on goalkeeper Sam Archer in a congested six-yard box.

Archer subsequently made a fantastic close-range stop with his outstretched left arm to deny Josh Ajala but while we didn’t manage to meaningfully test Herrick in the first half, that all changed eight minutes into the second when Black curled a superb free-kick low inside the near post after Josh Briggs was penalised for handball 22 yards out.

And on 56 minutes, we were in full control when Olusesi and Damola Ajayi combined in a tight space in the box, the latter’s lay-off swept home by Lehane from six yards out. Commanding centre-back Jun’ai Byfield almost added an incredible third, picking up the ball just inside our half and driving unstoppably through the heart of the Hammers’ defence, but he couldn’t quite apply the finishing touch as his eventual low shot was kept out by Herrick.

Our lead was extended in the 71st minute, though, as Black found Williams-Barnett with a good forward pass and the young forward took a touch to commit the goalkeeper before turning to his left and slotting the ball home.

We produced some excellent passages of play in the forward areas in the closing stages, albeit without managing to carve out any more clear chances but the hosts remained in the contest and again scored direct from a corner on 87 minutes, this time through Hargan after Archer had turned an initial delivery behind again. In truth, neither side went close to adding to the scoreline after that, with Archie Baptiste routinely heading away one final corner from the hosts in the last minute of stoppage time as we made sure of the win.

‘A really positive way to finish’

Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis reflected: “It’s brilliant to get the result. To beat West Ham away, they’re a tough team to play against and I thought some of our performance levels, especially in the second half, were excellent, so it was a good end to the season and a really positive way to finish. I felt in the first half we were slightly off our performance levels but the second half was everything you’d want to see in an Under-18 Spurs team – we were playing on the front foot, in the final third we looked a real threat, we played with energy and some of the individual goals were outstanding with Leo’s free-kick, Ellis’ finish and obviously Luca’s individual brilliance.”

On the goals conceded, Stuart said: “I thought the first one was a foul on Sam Archer but you have to experience that and the boys have to be ready for those set-plays. It’s something we’ll reflect on when we come in on Monday and Tuesday – we’ll look at those, get better at those but also have a look at our general play. Some of the free-kicks around the edge of the box, we had to show more discipline at times.”