West Ham United’s U23 squad continued their tough start to the season on Monday night, travelling up to Loughborough to face an in-form Derby County side, who had the chance to go top of the league with a win against the Hammers. It was the hosts who emerged victorious in this tie, as Halajko’s squad continued to struggle to adapt to the demands of the new division.
Fresh Faces
West Ham had two new faces joining the side, as Josh Okotcha made the step up from captaining the under-18s last year, looking to establish himself at this level. Joining him was a first start for winger Kamarai Swyer, who looked very bright when he made his U23 debut last week against Blackburn.
The Derby County side was strengthened by first team regulars Krystian Bielik and Morgan Whittaker, and it may have been these additions that were the deciding factor in a tight-fought tie.
A Rough Start
Looking to vanquish any ill-feeling from their last fixture against Blackburn, the game started in nightmarish fashion for the east London side, as a Kornell MacDonald strike was fumbled by ‘keeper Joseph Anang, for Derby’s Jack Stretton to prod home in the second minute.
With mounting pressure from Derby, the Hammers had a chance to equalise in the 26th minute, as Harrison Ashby clipped a delightful ball into the path of Oladapo Afolayan, who couldn’t quite turn the ball past the Derby goalkeeper from close range.
Derby managed to double their advantage in the 33rd minute, as a neat ball through the Hammers’ back line sent goalscorer Stretton in on goal to convert his second of the evening.
Work to Do
The Irons went in at half time with a mountain to climb in the second half, as the Derby side had their first sniff of the top of the PL2 Division 1 table this year.
Some strong words from Halajko at half time seemed to give his side more of a cutting edge in the second half, as they came out and looked a different side to the first. The Irons tested the Rams defence a number of times early on in the second half, including a snapshot from Ashby rattling the post.
Amidst a period of fast, flowing football, the Hammers still failed to put the ball past Derby ‘keeper Manny Idem. Despite this period of pressure, The Rams’ Whittaker found space to drive into the penalty area, being brought down by Josh Okotcha as the referee pointed to the spot.
Unsurprisingly, it was Jack Stretton who stepped up and lashed the ball past Anang to
complete his hat-trick.
Fighting Back
Captain Connor Coventry managed to decrease the three goal defecit to two just a minute later, as a free kick taken looped in towards the back post, missing everyone and finding the net.
Just minutes later, substitute Mesaque Dju cut in from the left-hand side to float an inch-perfect ball into Kamarai Swyer, who struck first time against the post, only for Afolayan to react quickest, scoring and giving the Hammers a chance to push for an equaliser in the final moments of the game.
Despite all their efforts, and seven minutes of injury time, the Hammers failed to find their equalising goal, with the tie finishing 3-2. This loss means that Halajko’s side are still searching for their first win of the season, heading into a tough game against Liverpool next week, it will be important for the coach to rally his troops if they are looking to get anything positive from what remains of this season.
