U18s earn crucial win at Reading

 

  • Anthony Scully scored a late winner as West Ham United U18s beat Reading 1-0
  • The Hammers ended a run of five straight defeats with the victory
  • Assistant boss Mark Phillips was pleased with his team's commitment and desire

Assistant manager Mark Phillips was delighted with how his U18s bought into what they were told before the 1-0 win over Reading in Merit Group A.

Anthony Scully netted the late winner in Berkshire as the youngsters ended a run of five defeats on the bounce.

The side assembled feature no less than four U16 players, with the U23s fixture at Newcastle meaning regulars Tunji Akinola, Alfie Lewis, Ben Johnson, Joe Powell and Jahmal Hector-Ingram were unavailable. 

But the young side dominated large parts of the game against the Royals and Phillips was delighted with his side's display. 

"There's not many times that you get the U16s and U18s and U23s all playing together on the same day, so our resources were a little stretched," he revealed.

"But on the day, we deserved it. Our keeper didn’t have a shot to save and we probably had five decent chances throughout the game.

"Everyone bought into what me and Steve [Potts] told them before hand and we thoroughly deserved the three points."

The Hammers lined up with a back three of Ajibola Alese, Ben Wells and Vashon Neufville and the wing back pairing of Jeremy Ngakia and Reece Hannam provided the width. 

The new formation caught Reading unawares and the Hammers had the better of the opening exchanges with Scully missing a decent chance.

The Royals had a spell of pressure either side of the interval but Hammers went on to dominate the majority of the second half and got their rewards in the final ten minutes, thanks to Scully's second of the season. 

"Scully could have easily scored four goals. He led the line very well and was a constant threat," Phillips continued.

"It was good to have Rosaire Longelo and Ben Wells back from injury and hopefully they can stay fit and we can push on from this result."

West Ham: Matrevics, Alese, Wells, Neufville, Ngakia, Hannam, Eggleton (Constantinou, 69), Henry, Rosa, Longelo (Hamilton, 46), Scully.

Subs not used: Dalipi, Mingi.

Goals: Scully