Northampton Town 0-0 West Ham United U21s
Pre-Season Match, Sixfields Stadium, Tuesday 22 July 2025, 7.15pm BST
West Ham United U21s delivered an encouraging display to hold League One outfit Northampton Town to a goalless draw in a pre-season friendly at Sixfields Stadium on Tuesday evening.
In front of over 1,000 spectators, including a vocal away contingent of 165 West Ham fans, Mark Robson’s side more than held their own against their League One counterparts, looking well organised out of possession and confident on the ball throughout.
The young Hammers took a few minutes to settle, with the home side enjoying the majority of possession in the opening stages, but soon grew into the contest. Emeka Adiele looked particularly lively down the left, frequently troubling the Northampton defence with his pace and direct running. He twice got in behind the hosts’ backline following long diagonals from Michael Forbes and Luizão, forcing the first corner of the match and later drawing a smart low save in a one-on-one situation against Cobblers goalkeeper Lee Burge.
At the other end, West Ham’s defensive shape remained solid. Forbes was instrumental at the back, making a vital block to deny Jack Burroughs after a turnover on the right, and consistently stepped out to intercept and initiate counterattacks.
Goalless at the interval, both sides made several changes in the second half. Fin Herrick was called into early action, producing an excellent close-range stop to deny Elliot List. That save set the tone for a half in which the young Hammers were forced to absorb periods of pressure but continued to look dangerous on the break.
As the game progressed, West Ham’s substitutes added fresh energy. Ezra Mayers and Rayan Oyebade stepped in, with the latter making an important last-ditch tackle to prevent a clear opening for the hosts.
The best opportunity of the match fell to new signing Daniel Cummings in the closing stages. A back-to-front move saw Ryan Battrum find Elisha Sowunmi, who broke the lines with a chipped ball out wide to Regan Clayton, who delivered a perfectly weighted low cross for Cummings. His finish across the goal looked destined for the net, only to be denied by the legs of substitute goalkeeper Ross Fitzsimons.
Ultimately, the goalless draw was a positive result and performance against a seasoned Northampton side preparing for their third consecutive League One campaign.
Northampton Town: Burge (Fitzsimons 69), Burroughs, Campbell (Ireland 88), Willis (Jacobs HT), Hoskins, McGeehan, List, Fornah, Thorniley (Tomlinson 85), Wormleighton (Perkins HT), Baldwin (Dyche HT)
Sub not used: Dobson
West Ham United U21s: Herrick (Awesu 73), Battrum, Luizão, Caliste (Hargan 80), Golambeckis (Mayers HT), Forbes (Oyebade 57), Moore (Sowunmi 80), Akpata ©, Rigge (Briggs 66), Ajala (Cummings 75), Adiele (Clayton 57)
Robson: We performed very well against a strong League One side
Reflecting on the display, lead coach Mark Robson was particularly pleased with the way his side applied themselves against their League One counterparts and with the levels brought by those who had spent the previous week training with the first team during their pre-season training camp in Germany.
“Maybe they had a bit of pressure on us at the start of each half, but I felt in the first half especially we played really well," he reflected. "We moved the ball through the lines, our movement was sharp, and I thought Fin [Herrick] was excellent playing out from the back, not just with short passes but with longer ones as well. He really got us playing.
“I was really pleased with how we played both in and out of possession. The boys worked incredibly hard as a group, and we performed well against what I’m sure will be a very strong League One side this season under Kev [Nolan].
“We had a few boys back from the first team who’d been away on their pre-season tour.
“They added a little bit of quality to us, and you could see that in how we played. I thought we were really good throughout the game.
“Being around the first team, training with them, eating with them, sharing the same space - it can only make you want to be a footballer even more. We’ve got some top, top players at the Club, and to mix with them for a whole week is a fantastic opportunity. We hope when the boys come back from that sort of experience, they bring it back to us. They see what excellence looks like, and in doing so, raise the standards for everyone. I thought tonight we saw that.”
