Wolves Youth 2 West Ham Youth 3 - report and pictures
Wolves' top brass Steve Morgan, Jez Moxey and Mick McCarthy saw their team narrowly lose – but they can't have helped being impressed by the Molineux cubs.
Wolves' top brass Steve Morgan, Jez Moxey and Mick McCarthy saw their team narrowly lose – but they can't have helped being impressed by the Molineux cubs.
Mick Halsall's side, who top the Premier Academy League (Group C) by three points after seven successive wins, also hit the post twice and should have won this highly-entertaining FA Youth Cup clash but for sloppy defending.
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Elliot Lee put West Ham ahead in the third-round game after just 88 seconds when he was allowed to turn and bury a left-foot shot inside the post after Wolves failed to deal with a corner.
Centre-back Oliver Lashford levelled in the 25th minute with a volley after Taylor Miles cleared Dominic Iorfa's header off the line when he beat keeper Jake Larkins to Zeli Ismail's corner.
Wolves went within a whisker of taking the lead four minutes from the break when captain Liam McAlinden fired against the post after strike partner Jake Kempton split the defence, Sam Whittall side-footing the rebound wide.
A minute later, Miles made his second goalline block, this time from Kempton's shot after a scramble from another Ismail corner. Ismail was next to try his luck, his angled shot smothered by Larkins after he was left clean through, while Kempton swept over from Jordan Cranston's cross.
West Ham, however, braved the storm and regained the lead within four minutes of the restart, with striker Elliot Lee's second.
Again Wolves could have done better, Lee heading home after keeper Aljaz Cotman failed to hold a misplaced clearance from Lashford that came off the bar.
Wolves hit the post for a second time in the 57th minute through left-back Cranston's low effort after he beat two defenders.
But the hosts grabbed a deserved equaliser on 68 from McAlinden's header after Ismail beat Jake Young and crossed from the left. Another jinking run from Ismail, this time beating Miles and Young before crossing, should have been the platform for Wolves to go ahead only for Anthony Forde to blaze over at the far post.
But the Hammers hit back and Kenzer Lee flashed a bullet header wide from Mattias Fanimo's free-kick before Elliot Lee sidefooted against the post with only Cotman to beat after bursting past Iorfa.
West Ham grabbed the winner with seven minutes left when centre-back Kenzer Lee drilled home after Wolves failed to clear.
Wolves (4-4-2): Cotman; Kostrna, Bashford, Iorfa, Cranston (Shepherd 85); Ismail, Whittall, Kellernan (Parry 85), Forde; McAlinden, Kempton. Subs not used: Parry, Ifil, Dell, Flatt (gk).
West Ham (4-4-2): Larkins; Young, K Lee, Chambers, Potts; Turgott, Miles (Shaw 86), Powell, Fanimo; Hall, E Lee. Subs not used: Baxter, Sadlier, Nasha, Siafa.
Referee: J Law. Attendance: 569.
