Norwich City U18s 3-0 West Ham United U18s
U18 Premier League South, Avant Training Centre, Saturday 3 May 2025, 12noon BST
West Ham United U18s fell to a 3-0 defeat at Norwich City in their penultimate U18 Premier League South fixture of the 2024/25 campaign.
With a number of young professionals and second-year scholars absent preparing for the U21s’ Premier League 2 play-off quarter-final at Manchester United on Monday, coach Lauris Coggin fielded an inexperienced team in Norfolk.
Under-16s Joe Scanlon and Harry Montague both started in defence, while first-year scholars Finley Hooper, Lewis Beckford, Chinaza Nwosu, Majid Balogun and Andre Dike were also in the team from kick-off.
Goalkeeper Lanre Awesu, defenders Ezra Mayers, Emeka Adiele, Airidas Golambeckis and Aaron Kamara, midfielder Preston Fearon and forward Josh Ajala were eligible to play but not involved. Mayers, Adiele, Golambeckis and Ajala all started the U21s’ PL2 play-off round of 16 win over Sunderland.
Norwich took the lead inside three minutes at the end of a counter-attack through Damari Daley, an 18-year-old forward who signed his first professional contract last year, then doubled their advantage on 23 minutes when another 18-year-old, Alan Domeracki, found the net with a left-foot shot.
West Ham’s best chances of the opening period fell to Elisha Sowunmi, but his shot was blocked, and Dike, whose long-range effort was saved.
The Canaries made the game safe six minutes after half-time when centre-forward Finlay Corke beat goalkeeper Hooper at the end of another fast break from the home side.
Coggin introduced Gabriel Caliste, Riley Hargan, David Chigwada and Jonathan Unwin from the bench, but the Hammers were unable to work themselves back into the game as Dike saw another shot saved, as did Josh Landers, while Caliste fired wide in between.
Defeat leaves the Irons 12th in the 13-team U18 Premier League South table. However, victory over bottom side West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday would lift them two places and possibly three in the final table to ninth, above Brighton & Hove Albion and Norwich and Leicester City, should the Foxes fail to win at Aston Villa on Thursday.
Norwich City U18s: Binne, Oligbo, Ozcan (Madu 84), Keita, Okpiahele, Trialist (Northover HT), Domeracki, Bracking, Daley, Corke (Valencia Gomez 75), Steele (Owen 66)
Sub not used: Tkaczuk (GK)
Goals: Daley 3, Domeracki 23, Corke 51
Booked: Trialist, Domeracki
West Ham United U18s: Hooper, Medine, Scanlon, Montague (Hargan 55), Oyebade, Nwosu, Beckford (Caliste 55), Balogun (Chigwada 68), Sowunmi (Unwin 76), Dike, Landers
Sub not used: Nightingale (GK)
Booked: Oyebade
