West Ham United’s U18s continued their preparation for the 2018/19 league season with a convincing 5-0 victory over Colchester United on Saturday afternoon.
The Londoners – who bagged five for the second consecutive match following last Wednesday’s 5-3 triumph against Southend United – secured the thrashing thanks to goals from Josh Okotcha, Sean Adarkwa, Louie Watson, Emmanuel Longelo plus one from a trialist.
It was a dominant performance from the Hammers, who are beginning to gel together as a team prior to the regular Premier League youth season kicking off.
Always a threat were Longelo and Bernardo Rosa, complementing the attacking prowess of Adarkwa through the middle. After the forward’s winner for the U23s as a substitute against Salford City, Adarkwa continued to impress against the U’s, threatening in behind and finding the back of the net once again.
Having conceded seven at home to Cardiff City just a couple of weeks ago – and though a win was recorded over Southend, three were let in – a clean sheet was of huge importance at Colchester and the Hammers were solid throughout.
The back four of Josh Wilson-Esbrand, Okotcha, Jamal Baptiste and Jeremy Ngakia never looked like conceding at Florence Park and rarely let the hosts have a sniff of Joseph Anang’s goal.
After the game, Academy Director Terry Westley expressed his delight at the performance and the result.
He said: “The game was really pleasing from a performance point of view, and I think it showed real evidence of moving from schoolboy football, where it’s end to end and really open like a basketball match, to a sound base and building from the back.
“We were very solid against Colchester, and that was the main improvement from the Southend game. That’s what we have been looking for in these last few weeks of pre-season, being compact and solid at the back but going on to be able to win games at the same time.
“That’s exactly what happened on Saturday, and the lads deserve great praise for that.”