West Ham U21s were handed their third competitive defeat of the season against League Two Exeter City in the Leasing.com (EFL) Trophy last night.
Goals from Joel Randall and Jordan Tillson ensured a home win for the Grecians and seeing them through as group winners.
Ahead Of The Game
Dmitri Halajko’s side went into the game knowing that securing a point in this group stage match would ensure qualification into the next round of the cup, but they would have to perform well to get the better of the unbeaten Exeter City side at St James Park.
The Irons made a number of alterations in selection, as the likes of Joseph Anang, Goncalo Cardoso and Anthony Scully were on international duty which forced Halajko into five changes from their previous fixture, most notably defender Mich’el Parker who made his debut at centre-back.
The Opposition
Exeter, who currently sit in 5th place in League Two, had a much-changed side heading into this fixture, with manager Matt Taylor making 10 changes from the side that held Cambridge United to a draw in the FA Cup on Saturday.
Taylor’s side knew that thanks to results elsewhere, they had already qualified for the knockout stages of the competition, but they were also keen to get a point as it would secure their place at the top of the group.
Lively Start
The home side looked to assert their dominance from the first whistle, as they aimed to get in the faces of a weakened young Hammers side.
The unrelenting pressure from the South-West side proved to be all too much for the Irons, as a long ball from Exeter’s goalkeeper Dino Visser was flicked on by an unmarked Ben Seymour into the path of Joel Randall who finished past Krisztian Heygi to score after nine minutes.
Halajko’s side knew that they would need to show some serious determination to get back into the game.
Following a nice piece of play in the 17th minute between Harrison Ashby and Joe Powell, Ashby was brought down by Jordan Tillson’s late tackle in the box, and the referee pointed to the spot.
Up stepped captain Joe Powell, who coolly converted the spot-kick into the bottom left corner, sending Visser the wrong way and equalising just 8 minutes after the hosts went ahead.
West Ham reacted well to the goal, getting onto the front foot and creating chances. Powell’s chipped pass to Dan Kemp was skied over the bar by the English youngster.
Moments before half time, West Ham had the ball in the net through Kemp’s first time left footed shot but the linesman immediately signalled his flag for an offside, which sent the sides level at half time.
The Second Half
The East London side started the second period quickly, with a low driven 46th minute strike from Powell forcing a good save from Visser.
Exeter went close on the hour mark, as Jack Sparkes received the ball from inside of his own half and drove at the Irons’ defence, producing a left footed strike from 25 yards bounced off the post to the relief of Halajko’s men who failed to close down the left wing-back.
Legs grew tired for the Irons, who had missed a good opportunity from Nathan Holland whose speculative strike from 30 yards out just flew wide of Visser’s left post.
Hammer Blow
Exeter took advantage of this, a sustained period of good defending from West Ham came to an end in the 78th minute, as a lofted cross towards the back post from Sparkes was met by Tillson, who made amends for conceding the penalty by powering in a header.
Exeter nearly made it 3-1 in the 83rd minute after Randall’s left footed shot was parried by Heygi, into the path of substitute Ryan Bowman, whose unbalanced shot was eventually caught by Heygi.
Just five minutes, the game was well and truly over as West Ham’s Alfie Lewis’ back pass was latched onto Seymour found his strike partner Randall lurking in the six-yard box to tap in his second of the game, seconds after Randall’s previous shot had hit the post.
A hard-fought affair for Halajko’s squad, who will be bitterly disappointed they couldn’t capitalise on their recent run of form to take all three points on the road. Although with many positives to take from this result, the Hammers will look forward to bouncing back when they face Aston Villa next Friday at Rush Green.
