West Ham United U18 2-1 Nottingham Forest U18s
U18 Premier League Cup, Group E, Little Heath Training Ground, Saturday 4 October 2025, 12noon BST
West Ham United U18s continued their perfect record in their defence of the Premier League Cup title with Joel Kerr’s first-half brace helping the side stay top of the group going into the final group game.
After Andre Dike’s hat-trick performance in a 3-1 win against Sunderland in August, this fixture held importance for the side to maintain momentum in the cup. After losing their last outing at Reading in a narrow 2-1 league defeat, our young Hammers responded in the best possible way.
The first chance of the match fell to Dike, who burst down the right flank in a brilliant solo run. His effort was saved, but it immediately highlighted the threat the side posed down the wings.
It didn’t take long for our young Hammers to open the scoring. Kerr, operating as a striker, pressed the defence to win the ball back and calmly slotted it into the net, giving his side a well-deserved lead after just 13 minutes.
However, the home side suffered a setback shortly after, as Aaron Kamara was forced off the pitch after 20 minutes through injury, with Reggie Morris slotting into midfield to replace him.
Despite this, Lauris Coggin’s men continued to showcase their attacking prowess. After 22 minutes, they extended their advantage. A brilliant cross from Vinnie Perkins fell to Jephthah Medine, whose shot was blocked off the line, only for Kerr to react quickest and poke the ball home for his second goal of the game.
Before half-time, the home side continued to dominate. Dike once again demonstrated his excellent wing play, chasing a long ball down the right before finding Morris. His incisive pass fell to Jonathan Unwin, but his effort struck the post.
The early exchanges in the second half saw both teams applying pressure, but West Ham’s defenders remained composed, winning multiple duels and headers to prevent Forest from breaking on the counter-attack.
However, after 70 minutes, the home side were dealt another blow when captain Callum Leacock was shown a red card for a late off-the-ball challenge, leaving our young Hammers to see out the game with ten men.
The away side then increased the pressure following the red card, as Frank Djamma was played through on goal after a slick move through midfield. His effort went over the bar, serving as a warning for the home side.
West Ham continued to push for another goal despite being a man down. Lewis Beckford came close to extending the lead when a clearance from a corner fell to him on the half-volley, but his effort drifted just wide.
With eight minutes remaining, Nottingham Forest made the most of the extra man as Basima Balagizi kept his balance and played Shakur Samuels through on goal. He placed his shot into the bottom corner to pull one back, setting up a tense final few minutes.
But it wasn’t enough to derail our young Hammers, who saw out the win and extended their unbeaten run in the competition to eight matches, securing six points from six in the cup.
Top of the group, our third and final fixture in the Premier League Cup is against Ipswich Town at the Ipswich Town Training Centre on 22 November.
West Ham United U18s: Hooper, Perkins, Leacock ©, Jonla, Scanlon, Unwin (Peychev 85), Dike, Kamara (Morris 20), Medine (Onyeka-Fokujwu 70), Beckford, Kerr (Obi 70)
Sub not used: Goodger (GK)
Booked: Kerr
Goals: Kerr 13, 22
Sent off: Leacock
Nottingham Forest U18s: Grainger (GK), Sanneh ©, Andrews, Russell (Samuels 59), Broomes, Davies, Lokote (Balagizi 59), Djamma, Hamilton, Robinson, Sutton
Sub not used: Bailey (GK), Nolan
Booked: Davies, Brandy, Djamma, Robinson
Goal: Samuels 82
Coggin: Proud of the personality shown despite setbacks
Despite facing numerous challenges during the game, including an early injury and a red card, lead coach Lauris Coggin was proud of the togetherness shown by the group.
He said: “The competition means a lot to us in the group. And with our performances in the cup over the last couple of seasons, there comes a pressure for the new set of scholars. So, I felt like from the first minute, there were some great performances, the togetherness and the hard work were clear.
“Unfortunately, the referee made some poor choices, in my opinion, in the last 20, 25 minutes of the game. But again, the players dug in and did what they needed to do very well.”
Coggin also highlighted the personality shown by the group despite the setbacks, saying: “We played really well first half. And two goals were well taken. I think we could have scored more, and we said to the boys, 'When we don't take all of the chances that we create in the first half, it leaves the door open.' You saw that in the second half, where anything can happen.
“Having said that, the boys stuck together, and we started to see more and more characters show their personality, which is positive. We're a young group relative to what we've had in the past seasons, and all those things are exciting.”
