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A perfect weekend for West Ham United began on Saturday morning when the U18 side demolished Aston Villa 5-0 in this Under 18 Premier League South encounter.

With a 6-0 win for the Under 23s over Manchester United, followed by a 1-0 victory for the men’s first team over Tottenham Hotspur, things are looking distinctly rosy for Hammers fans everywhere.




Having put in a determined performance last weekend against Everton, the 18s were somewhat unlucky to come away with nothing, the final score of 3-0 to the Toffees not being a true reflection of the work rate and effort shown throughout the match.

The Academy side certainly looked as though they had a point to prove against Villa 16-year-old forward Divin Mubama won the ball back in Villa’s half early on, to begin a move which led to the striker tapping home from Gideon Kodua’s low ball into the box.

Five minutes later, their lead was doubled when Archie Woods’ corner reached captain Michael Forbes inside the six-yard box, the Northern Irish youth international darted out a leg to divert the ball past the Villa defender for his first goal of the season.

And the young Hammers were in dreamland 16 minutes later when Villa failed to clear from a set-piece and Woods delivered a delicate cross into the path of Mubama.

The lively forward still had work to do with his back to goal, but spun and got off a first-time shot which found the bottom corner.

And it was four for the Irons moments later when George Earthy fired in a cool finish. The Hammers high press forcing Villa into a mistake that allowed Kodua to slide his team mate in down the right, the young Villains defence unable to prevent the goal.

The second half saw more chances for the Irons to increase their lead, yet it seemed the fifth goal would allude the youngsters in Claret and Blue.

But an unnamed trialist, who had entered the field of play just moments earlier, controlled a Mubama high pass to nip around the last defender and then wrong footed the keeper to coolly score. The 18s had five unanswered goals and deservedly took the points.

“It was a great result, but more than anything, it was a great performance,” assistant coach Gerard Prenderville told whufc.com.




“The last few weeks we’ve worked really hard, created so many chances and had some decent performances, but it just seemed like this week, all of our hard work the boys had put in on the training ground paid off and everyone got it right on the day.

“It was a great result, but overall, a fantastic performance.

“The main thing for me was the whole team’s performance – from the goalkeeper right through to the centre-forwards, everyone worked really, really hard.

"You don’t see many clean sheets in Under 18s football, so the players can especially be pleased to keep their first clean sheet of the season, which is a real plus.

“If we can keep performing the way we’ve been performing, churning out that level every week, then hopefully the results will come.

“It’s not only great to have Divin back on the pitch, but also in and around training sessions as well,” Prenderville noted.

“I’ve coached him from a young age and he obviously loves to score goals, but he works really hard on it as well. To get him in and around the box, back firing and fully fit, is a real plus for any side.

“All the boys are fully focused and hopefully we’ll go in for another good training week and prepare for Birmingham away. We’re staying fully focused and not getting carried away with the result – it was all about the performance.”

West Ham Utd: Terry; Robinson, Tarima, Casey, Forbes (c), Clayton, Woods, Earthy, Trialist (Evans 59), Kodua (Trialist 72), Mubama

Goals: Mubama (15, 37), Forbes (21), Earthy (40), Trialist (73)

Booked: Earthy, Woods

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