West Ham United U18s 2-3 Newcastle United U18s FA Youth Cup third round

On Friday night, West Ham United U18 FA Youth Cup ended in disappointment at Rush Green. They lost to Newcastle United U18 3-2 in the third round. 

Against the Newcastle team that entered the quarter-finals last season but was defeated by the ultimate winner Aston Villa, this game ended in a difficult way for the young Hammers team because they lost a U18 Head coach Kevin Keane's team dominated the game for a long time. 

Two weeks ago, Keane made four changes to the team that defeated Burnley 3-0 in the U18 Premier League Cup. Mason Terry, Isaac Evans, Asher Falase and Lewis Orford were replaced by Jacob Knightbridge, Michael Forbes, Archie Woods and Freddie Potts, who made his first team debut against Dinamo Zagreb on Thursday night.

Dominated by the home team in the first half, Devin Mubamar scored in the opening minutes, although it was a gentle effort and a simple save for Newcastle goalkeeper Max Thompson.

Hammers continued to control the opening half an hour, but did not consistently produce any real quality in the final third.

Soon after the 30th minute, Mubamar regained possession of the ball from the center line and released George Erti, who received the ball and kicked off in the Newcastle defensive center. Earthy slid down Gideon Kodua from the left. The West Ham forward cut inside and fired at the goal, but his shot was blocked.

Keane's team nearly scored before the intermission because the ground ran into a through pass and found that they were heading towards the goal. Thompson rushed out of his goal, but it was West Ham who got there first, his toes touched the ball. It slowly flowed towards Newcastle’s goal, and may have been wide, but the shot was not fast enough and his shot was cleared.

The back line of the Hammers, led by captain Michael Forbes, was able to offset Newcastle’s offense in the first half, while Knightsbridge played a relatively insignificant role in the West Ham United network.

The second half started in a similarly cautious manner. West Ham United saw a lot of balls, but it was difficult to find the final result. As the second half progressed, Newcastle began to enter the game. Kailan Casey defended well on two different occasions. He positioned himself brilliantly and created two crucial, goal-saving blocks.

Newcastle's pressure paid off in the 70th minute and the visiting team took the lead. Kyle Crossley caught the ball for the Magpies and kicked off from the left, then picked out Michael Ndiweni, who touched the ball with his toe, and forced Knightbridge to make a save. However, the West Ham goalkeeper could only block the ball, and Newcastle's No. 9 cleverly finished the game in his second attempt.

Soon after, as Forbes dropped the ball after a bad contact, the visiting team had the opportunity to double the lead. However, the mid-time was able to recover and presented an important challenge to put the ball in the corner.

Newcastle continued to put pressure on it, but it was the Hammers who scored next. The young Robinson found space on the right and whipped on an excellent cross. The Newcastle defender had done a good job of touching the ball with their toes, but they could only guide the ball to Mubamar’s path, and Mubamar hit the net at close range.

The game looked like it was going into overtime, but just before the 90th minute, Newcastle regained the lead-which is very unfortunate as far as the hosts are concerned. James Huntley shot towards the goal, the ball deflected well to Jay Turner’s path, who received the ball.

The Hammers have no choice but to fight for the winner at the final moments of the game and throw numbers forward. Keane's men evened the score, but Newcastle scored again in the 94th minute. Endiveni found space in the back post and cut into the inside, then calmly drove the ball into the corner.

West Ham United continued to fight, converted from Lewis Orford's retracement, and pulled a goal straight from the kick-off.

Unfortunately, there was no time to push to tie the score, because the referee ended the dynamic last fifteen minutes-which is what Hammers hopes for this season's Youth Cup.

West Ham United: Knightbridge, Robinson, Clayton, Talima, Casey, Forbes (c), Woods, Potts, Mubamar, Koduya (Orford 67), soil substitutes: Evans, Terry, Scares, Falasse, Batum, Booth    

Newcastle United: Thompson, Stewart, Berez Frode, Stanton, Thompson, Barclays (McNally 24), Huntley, Miley, Endivine, Turner Cook (Donaldson 90), Crossley substitutes: Besant, Miley, Charlton, Parkinson, Mavidi

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