West Ham United U18s 0-5 Tottenham Hotspur U18s
U18 Premier League South, Little Heath Training Ground, Saturday 13 September 2025, 11am BST
West Ham United U18s fell to defeat at Little Heath with Tottenham Hotspur taking their chances to claim a 5-0 victory in U18 Premier League South.
Despite matching their opponents in possession and attempts on goal, our young Hammers were on the wrong end of a harsh scoreline and slipped to consecutive league defeats.
Spurs carved out the first opening inside the opening five minutes when Armend Muslika was played in behind the Hammers’ back line, though he dragged his effort wide of Lanre Awesu’s goal.
The early exchanges developed into a physical contest with clear sights of goal at a premium.
Midway through the first half, Miracle Adewole, lively down the left with his pace and trickery, almost found a way through, only for Callum Leacock to produce a crucial last-ditch tackle to deny the Spurs winger.
The visitors did eventually make the breakthrough when they beat the offside trap, creating a three-on-one situation. Muslika was set up inside the area and finished calmly beyond Awesu.
Spurs doubled their lead on 36 minutes with a cleverly-worked free-kick. Taken quickly down the left to Adewole, he cut the ball back for Oliver Boast, who swept home a tidy first-time finish.
Just moments later, Boast added his second. Goalkeeper Blake Irow launched a long kick forward, and with numbers in attack, Spurs worked it well for Oscar Sandiford to slide in Boast, who finished clinically once again.
West Ham almost reduced the deficit before the break when Jephthah Medine’s cross skipped past Lewis Beckford and fell to Andre Dike, who couldn’t quite connect cleanly. Aaron Kamara also went close, driving through the centre before seeing his shot deflected over the bar.
Five minutes into the second half, Kamara was again at the heart of West Ham’s attacking play. Having been pushed into midfield after the introduction of Harry Montague, he surged forward and played in Dike, who was denied at the last by Elijah Upson just as he shaped to shoot one-on-one with Irow.
The young Hammers continued to search for a route back into the contest, applying consistent pressure and creating openings inside the Spurs penalty area.
With five minutes remaining, however, Muslika capitalised on a loose pass from goalkeeper Awesu to extend Tottenham’s advantage.
Lauris Coggin’s side continued to battle until the final whistle, with Chukwuemeka Obi going close late on, but in stoppage time Frankie Day added a fifth for the visitors to round off the scoring.
West Ham United U18s: Awesu, Perkins, Scanlon (Jonyla 76), Kamara, Leacock ©, Unwin (Montague HT), Dike, Morris (Peychev 76), Obi, Beckford, Medine (Kerr 59)
Sub not used: Goodger (GK)
Booked: Perkins, Kamara
Tottenham Hotspur U18s: Irow, Sandiford (Byrne 62), Thomas, Tingey, Upson, Moncur (Salter 77), Myrtaj, Feeney © (Wellspring 47), Boast (Day 62), Muslika, Adewole
Subs not used: Doran (GK)
Booked: Thomas, Feeney, Muslika
Goals: Muslika 22, 86, Boast 36, 39, Day 90+3
Coggin: We must take the next step in maturity
Despite limiting Tottenham to just five shots on target, our U18s endured the same outcome as in their previous league fixture against Leicester City.
A final scoreline which felt a harsh reflection of the balance of play, left our young Hammers once again with nothing to show for their efforts.
“We've got a really open, honest, hard-working group, and that's been clear in all the games we've played this season so far,” lead coach Lauris Coggin reflected. “The important thing for us as a collective is to take a step forward in maturity; recognising the context of games and understanding that ultimately, the quality in both boxes determines the results you get.
“We need to make that step in mentality, realising the impact that moments and context can have in any game, at any level. That’s the challenge ahead of us, but what can’t be questioned is the players’ work ethic and their attitude.”