West Ham United U18s 4-2 West Bromwich Albion U18s
U18 Premier League South, Little Heath Training Ground, Tuesday 6 April 2025, 1pm BST
Elisha Sowunmi was the hero as West Ham United U18s finished their season in style and moved up to ninth in the U18 Premier League South table after a 4-2 win over West Bromwich Albion on Tuesday afternoon.
Josh Landers gave the young Hammers an early lead before Dauda Amihere Iddrisa and Rio Parmar swept home from close-range and turned the game on its head in the Baggies' favour.
Sowunmi’s substitution at half-time was the shot in the arm the Irons needed, and, after Finley Hooper denied Alfie Maughan from the penalty spot, he restored parity from 12 yards at the other end on 67 minutes.
Just as it looked like West Ham were heading for a draw, our No15 scored a goal worthy of winning any game when he cut inside onto his left foot before firing an unstoppable curled effort into the top corner.
And there was still time for the Hammers to add another through Mehmet Halim's penalty in stoppage time after Landers was upended inside the box by Iddrisa.
Andre Dike sought to get our final outing of the 2024/25 contest off to a memorable start by unleashing an ambitious early sighter from 20 yards but saw his shot roll inches wide after just two minutes.
It was a similar tale at the other end, where Matthew Crowther powered his way beyond the West Ham midfield and picked out an onrushing Divine Onyemachi, who saw his deflected effort gathered easily by goalkeeper Hooper.
Less than four minutes later, the breakthrough arrived on nine minutes from Landers, who expertly converted from the penalty spot. Another patient move saw Dike latch onto Gabriel Caliste’s slide rule pass and drive into the box only to be brought down by Iddrisa, and Landers needed no second invitation to slot home the spot-kick as he found the target to take his tally for the season to nine.
The lead was short-lived, however, as West Brom retaliated and drew level within two minutes, as a West Ham mix-up at the back saw Idrissa seize possession inside the box and slot the ball into the bottom-left corner for 1-1.
Both teams sought a second, with Lewis Beckford’s effort deflecting wide for a corner for the Hammers. Then, at the other end, Onyemachi had a few chances come and go in quick succession. First, he smashed a shot straight at Hooper after the ball had dropped his way in the area from a Daniel Chimeziri cut back, before skewing an effort off-target and volleying high and wide from a tight angle.
West Brom were knocking on the door, and it was Ryan Colesby’s turn to go close on 34 minutes, but he sent his left-foot shot just inches wide of the target, and then a fierce volley from the edge of the box from the Baggies No7 flashed just wide of the post.
It appeared as though the sides would go into the interval level. Then came the sucker punch when Parmar ghosted into the six-yard box and rifled home Chimeziri’s pull back from close-range.
Buoyed by their second goal, the young Baggies continued to attack after the restart, and after Chimeziri saw an effort blocked by Hooper’s legs and a subsequent goalbound effort blocked by Caliste, a spot-kick was awarded for the second time in the game when Parmar was hauled down by Dike.
However, Maughan’s spot-kick was saved by Hooper, who guessed correctly and sprung to glove the effort to safety down to his right, and after Onyemachi’s header cannoned back off the post, the momentum then swung very much West Ham’s way.
On 67 minutes, the young Hammers were awarded their second penalty of the afternoon after Idrissa was adjudged to have tripped Sowunmi just inside the box. The same player stepped up to send Louis Brady the wrong way for 2-2.
Into the final 20 minutes, and the game began to open up.
Chimeziri blasted over Hooper’s crossbar under pressure, then Onyemachi saw his shot blocked, while at the other end Landers’ effort was saved by Brady.
With just three minutes remaining, Sowunmi turned the game in West Ham’s favour with a stunning goal worthy of winning any match. The substitute received the ball on the right, cut inside and curled a left-footed strike beyond West Brom’s No1.
There was even time for one more, as Halim successfully converted a spot-kick in the 91st minute to eradicate any doubt about the outcome, securing a welcome three points for the Hammers.
West Ham United U18s: Hooper, Medine, Oyebade ©, Nwosu, Beckford, Caliste, Hargan (Thomas 82), Unwin (Sowunmi 46), Dike (Thomas 82), Chigwada (Halim 74), Landers
Sub not used: Awesu (GK)
Goals: Landers 9, Sowunmi 67 (pen), 87, Halim 90+1 (pen)
West Bromwich Albion U18s: Brady, Abudu, Crowther ©, Dupont, Letlat, Parmar (Ranger 82), Iddrisa, Maughan, Colesby, (McDonald 72) Onyemachi (Okorodudu 87), Chimeziri (Francis-Caesar 72)
Goals: Iddrisa 11, Parmar 43
Booked: Dupont, Crowther, Letlat, Iddrisa
Hines: It's a good way to end the season
West Ham United U18s assistant manager Zavon Hines was was happy to end the season on a high after a dominant second half performance at Little Heath.
The young Hammers went in behind at the break, but goals in the second period from substitutes Elisha Sowunmi and Mehmet Halim capped off 4-2 win in what has been another successful season for our U18s, who recently lifted the U18s Premier League Cup.
Reflecting on the victory and the campaign, Hines said: “We talked to the boys before the game because on Saturday [against Norwich City] it was quite disappointing for us in regard to how we performed, and we wanted to end the season on a positive, and a win always helps that feeling.
“We started well, then during the game we kind of dipped a little bit, but then to come out second half and then get a penalty save and then go on to win the game in that style, it's really good.
“All the substitutes made an impact. Elisha came on and scored a couple, which he'll get the highlight for, but I thought Issac [Thomas], as an U15s player, came on and made a difference.
“I think it's been a positive season. Obviously, especially winning the Premier League Cup, it's always a good thing. In the league, we've been quite inconsistent result-wise, but there are a lot of other factors that play a part in that.
“But for me personally, it's been a positive because from the start of the season to now, there's a lot of development within the individuals, so I can be proud of that because there's a lot of hard work that's gone on with all the staff to help the players, and I feel like they've done really well to adapt to this environment as well.
“It's not always about the position in the table. We’re big on development, but also part of development is winning, creating a winning mentality, and obviously we're quite disappointed with not winning more games than normal.
“But the main thing for me personally is the development of the players themselves and helping them be better people as well, because that will help their performances and professionalism going forward.”
