Southampton U18s 2-0 West Ham United U18s
U18 Premier League South, Staplewood Training Ground, Saturday 16 August 2025, 11.30am BST
Two first-half goals condemned West Ham United U18s to defeat in their opening U18 Premier League South match on Saturday.
Southampton opened the scoring through Leo Umeh’s curling 18-yard strike inside 12 minutes, then Korban McMullan doubled the lead on the stroke of half-time, and although substitute Jephthah Medine came close in the second-half, we tasted defeat at Staplewood.
Before kick-off, Staplewood paused for an impeccably observed period of silence in memory of Diogo Jota and his brother Andre Silva, allowing both teams to reflect on the tragic events that took place just six weeks ago.
Once the game got underway, Southampton's front-footed approach meant West Ham were barely able to venture out of their own half, and twice in quick succession Callum Leacock was able to put his boot in where it hurts to clear the ball away from danger.
A goal felt inevitable, and with twelve minutes on the clock, it arrived when Tomas Jonyla’s clearance only went as far as Harry Rodda, who picked out Umeh to let fly from the edge of the box, which flew past the helpless Lanre Awesu and into the far corner.
The young Hammers rallied after that setback, and their intense press rattled Southampton as the hosts attempted to play out from the back, though were unable to carve out any genuine opportunities to worry George Moloney.
A brief period of calm ensued before the Saints almost doubled their lead midway through the first half, as Thierry Rohart-Brown sent Oli Newman speeding through on goal, but he couldn't keep his effort down.
At the other end, a well-worked move saw the ball pulled back to Andre Dike, whose hit was blocked by Bobby Martin, then Lewis Beckford’s in-swinging cross was comfortably caught by Moloney.
As half-time approached, Southampton ramped up the pressure, with Awesu smothering a goal-bound Hansel Adjei-Afriyie effort after the right-back had looked to place one into the bottom corner.
But the Hammers stopper could do nothing to prevent the Saints’ second on the cusp of half-time, with McMullan slotting home after Umeh’s slide-rule pass, and there was to be one further opportunity with the last kick of the first-half, but Dike dragged his effort narrowly wide, and the whistle blew, with the score 2-0.
Lauris Coggin’s charges made a more energetic start to the second half and were on the front foot early on, but were unable to find space in the box, and Southampton started to use the counter-attack to their advantage.
First Rohart-Brown sent Adjei-Afriyie scampering down the line, and the defender raced inside the area, ran at Joe Scanlon and lashed into the side-netting, then from the resulting corner, Rodda’s towering header was promptly cleared.
The Hammers tried to retaliate immediately, as a Scanlon corner was missed at the near-post and the ball bobbled around the Southampton penalty area, but Rodda managed to scramble away.
Harry Gathercole then forced Awesu into a flying save, before Adjei-Afriyie’s cross almost resulted in Irons defender Jonyla turning the ball into his own net, then Newman had a goalbound shot blocked by Beckford.
The young Irons kept pushing, and after substitute Medine put the ball wide from six yards out as he attempted to guide home Dike’s back-post cross, our No7 was twice denied by Moloney, and then Medine was denied an almost certain goal had it not been for an outstanding goal-saving block by Martin.
But the hosts held on to make it a frustrating start to our U18 Premier League South campaign at Staplewood.
Southampton U18s: Moloney, Adjei-Afriyie, Vallance, Martin, Sewell, Rohart-Brown (Sainsbury 77), Umeh (Little 52), McMullan ©, Newman (Goremusandu 77), Rodda (Robinson 89), Gathercole
Subs not used: Richardson (GK)
Goals: Umeh 12, McMullan 43
Booked: Rodda
West Ham United U18s: Awesu, Perkins, Scanlon, Jonyla (Unwin 82), Leacock ©, Beckford, Morris-Agyemang (Medine 69), Dike, Kamara, Chigwada (Kerr 63), Balogun (Brooks 69)
Subs not used: Goodger (GK)
Referee: Anthony Cross
Coggin: We showed exactly who we want to be
U18s Lead Coach Lauris Coggin is taking the positives from West Ham United's opening day defeat by Southampton, and admitted his side weren't able to find that bit of quality in and around the box.
Leo Umeh and Korban McMullan scored the game’s only goals before the break, and despite getting in plenty of promising positions within the Saints’ half, Coggin’s men failed to trouble goalkeeper George Moloney as they managed just one shot on target.
“There are a lot of positives,” said Coggin. “I think we showed exactly who we want to be, and the energy from the first whistle to the last whistle was clear for everyone to see.
“It's the last bit of quality that we're looking for, and I'm sure we'll have an opportunity to add to that in the games that we've got for the rest of the month.
“Southampton is always a tough place to come, and they test you tactically and physically. I think we've stepped up to that. It's just two key moments in the first-half that cost us.
“I think we got ourselves into a number of important positions inside the box, and I thought the back line was superb, barring two moments.
“Vinnie Perkins, Callum Leacock, Joe Scanlon and Tomas Jonyla showed their quality, and we're going to need more of that coming up.
“What’s pleasing for me is that we showed what we're trying to do and how we're going to get there, and everyone's bought into that. We’ve spoken about the family feel and the environment that we've created, and that's credit to the boys and the staff.
“We want to make Little Heath feel like our home, and we want to make it intimidating for opponents to come there, and that starts next Saturday against Birmingham City. It's a game we're all looking forward to, and we're going to be ready.”