Missed chances costly in Under-18s' draw with Hammers

One point gained felt like two points dropped as our Under-18s were held at home by West Ham United on Saturday.

Ellis Lehane’s opener was cancelled out by a deflected effort from Riley Ebho early in the second half, but while our all-round dominance would have more than warranted victory, we were guilty of missing a number of big chances over the course of the game and when substitute Tye Hall could only hit the crossbar with a late penalty, it summed up our fortunes on a frustrating day at Hotspur Way.

The 1-1 draw meant we lost ground in the upper reaches of the table as it left us seven points behind leaders Southampton with two games in hand while fifth-placed Aston Villa are one point and one place behind us having played a whopping five matches less than the Saints.

Lehane was left kicking himself after squandering two big chances inside the opening two minutes, denied first by goalkeeper Lanre Awesu and then blasting into the side netting – and that ended up being the story of the game for large spells as we failed to turn our control of the ball into the goals we needed. Indeed, we were left scratching our heads as to how it was only 1-0 at half-time with Ronny Moncur firing over and both Miracle Adewole and Lehane going close with headers from a pair of excellent Tynan Thompson deliveries, while Thompson’s angled drive was too high and Dexter Oliver couldn’t steer his low shot from Harry Byrne’s cut-back on target as we created a series of good opportunities throughout the first period.

Our goal came in the 37th minute as Moncur was played in behind the defence on the right and he squared for Lehane to convert with aplomb from close range, although West Ham themselves weren’t without their threats, goalkeeper Sam Archer and defender Elijah Upson required to make key stops in quick succession around the half-hour mark while Andre Dike arrowed a shot over the bar from a tight angle on the stroke of half-time.

You sensed the missed chances would cost us and so it proved four minutes into the second period, as Ebho collected the ball in our box after we’d struggled to clear our lines, with his angled shot ending up in the back of the net via the post.

Try as we might to regain the lead, the ball just wouldn’t go in for us – substitute Reiss Elliott-Parris set up Oliver but his shot from the left angle inside the box was blocked by the legs of Awesu before the roles were reversed a few minutes later, Oliver’s cut-back leading to Elliott-Parris’ shot being blocked by the keeper. And when we finally appeared to be in the driving seat six minutes from time after substitute George Feeney was fouled in the box by Riley Hargan, Hall blasted the resulting penalty against the crossbar, typifying our frustrations.

Still we pushed but Feeney fired over the top after the ball broke to him in the area while Oliver’s low drive was straight at Awesu. West Ham had a half-chance deep into stoppage time when Elisha Sowunmi pulled the trigger from 18 yards, but Archer was in the way of it and when the full-time whistle sounded moments later, you sensed the draw left both camps wanting more.

‘The scoreline didn’t reflect the amount of chances’

Under-18s Coach Stuart Lewis underlined how being ruthless in the box is a major factor in winning games: “Performance-wise I felt we were very good – we showed a real dominance of the game and I thought we played really well, but were just lacking in that final moment where we needed a ruthlessness in their box and that’s really why the result didn’t go in our favour. The scoreline didn’t reflect the amount of chances that we had and we’re disappointed to only draw the game,” he said.

“In the first couple of minutes we’ve had two or three chances where we should have scored and moments like that have ended up costing us with the final result. We always speak to the players about the importance of being effective in both penalty boxes and at times defensively we showed real purpose to be first to the ball and get the first contact in key areas, but we need to take our chances in order to put teams away. The players have to train and play with that mentality and it shows the importance of respecting our practices when it comes to big moments in matches – the boys will need that if they’re to earn careers in the game.”