U18 Report: West Ham 0-3 Saints

A first-half Michael Obfemi brace gave the Saints youngsters a well-deserved lead before Harlem Hale then converted from the spot late on to complete the scoreline.

Craig Fleming made a handful of changes to the side that suffered defeat to Leicester City last weekend, which saw Dan Bartlett came into the midfield.

Saints started the brighter of the two sides at Little Heath and the high-energy start soon created a number of openings.

With just ten minutes on the clock Bartlett surged into the penalty area and teed up Will Smallbone on the edge, though his shot was directly at Rihards Matrevics in the West Ham goal.

The opener then came on 19 minutes. Harlem Hale plucked a high ball out of the sky and found Obafemi inside the penalty area, who then cut back onto his left and finished confidently from close range.

Obafemi then added to his personal tally just before half time. Latching onto a mistake across the backline, he surged forward and produced a fantastic 20-yard lob to further extend the lead.

Saints continued the second half in the same manner that they finished the first and continued to create the better of the chances.

Christian Norton was introduced up top for the final stages of the game and almost added to the tally. Jake Vokins' low cross into the penalty area found the forward with ten minutes to play, but he was unable to keep his side-footed effort down.

The victory was then confirmed in added on time. Vokins latched onto a superb ball from Smallbone and was clattered inside the penalty area, leaving the referee no alternative but to point to the spot.

Hale confidently stepped up to dispatch the spot-kick, sending Matrevics the wrong way to ensure all three points came back to the south coast.