Eric Ramsay Swansea City Under-18s West Ham
25th October
Eric Ramsay praised Swansea City Under-18s' fighting performance as the young side secured a 2-2 draw with West Ham at Landore on Saturday.
An injury-time equaliser from substitute Sean Hanbury claimed a point for the home side, who had led through Brandon Griffiths' opener after just four minutes.
The result is the scholars' third draw in the Barclays Premier League South division this season, and coach Ramsay believes the score mirrored their level of team performance.
"The last 35 minutes of the second half is as good as we have been all season," he said. "We were dominant in possession and are slightly disappointed not to come away with more than a point.
"Despite opening the scoring, myself and Chris (Llewellyn) felt we were below our standards in the first half. We looked to address that at half-time but fell a goal behind to a good set-piece.
"However, we continued to fight for the result and we finished the stronger team which helped get our reward late on.
"Goals have been lacking from our game so it was great to see Brandon and Sean step up and get their first of the season.
"Last weekend we had a number of good chances in front of goal but failed to convert. On Saturday we had fewer chances but we were more clinical in front of goal and tested the keeper, which is what we want to see."
The young Swans squad - missing eight players through international call-ups and injury - had to call on a number of U16 players during the game.
Defender Ben Cobango, goalkeeper Alex Lang and 14-year-old midfielder Mason Jones-Thomas all debuted for the U18s.
"Credit has to go to the U16s who featured," Ramsay added. "The lads stepped up and performed at a really high level to fill in for our absences.
"Ben did well in the centre of defence for 75 minutes while Mason came on and played with intent and purpose. Alex did well in goal, too, when Lewis Thomas picked up an injury.
"Overall it was a real team performance. We have made huge improvements to be in the game for the entire 90 minutes.
"We need to continue our form, keep improving and build from here as we go into the second half of the season."
