U18s edged out by West Ham

Swansea City Under-18s lost 1-0 against West Ham in a close contest in Premier League South at Landore.

The academy Swans started the game on the front foot but were almost caught out when a long ball from West Ham goalkeeper Joseph Anang found Veron Parkes only for the striker to fail to get a shot away.

The visitors came close again in the 10th minute, but Swans goalkeeper Nathan Shepperd got down quickly to deny Hammers forward Sean Adwarka.

The home side pushed to break the deadlock in an evenly contested first half, with Jayden Reid and Ali Al-Hamadi both having efforts from long-range saved by Anang.

The Hammers carried their momentum into the second half and went close to taking the lead twice through full-back Jeremy Ngaka.

The West Ham man was proving difficult to handle for the Swans’ defence and again came close to scoring on the hour but Shepperd did well to keep the score level.

West Ham hit the post before Swansea substitute Josh Thomas came close to nicking a goal for the home side only to be denied by a well-timed tackle by Hammers defender Jamal Baptiste.

The only goal of the game came inside the final 15 minutes as West Ham midfielder Bernardo Rosa’s first-time effort arrowed past Shepperd into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

Swans U18s: Nathan Shepperd, Tivonge Rushesha, Jacob Jones, Daniel Williams, Cameron Evans, Ben Erickson (capt), Marc Walsh, Ryan Bevan, Ali Al-Hamadi (Joshua Thomas, ht), Owen Evans (Joshua Edwards, 63), Jayden Reid (Bradley Gibbings, 51).

Unused Subs: Scott Reed, Luke Motruk.

West Ham U18s: Joseph Anang, Jeremy Ngaka, William Greenidge, Peter Stroud, Jamal Baptiste (Joshua Okotcha, 70), Ajibola Alese (capt), Emmanuel Longelo (Kai Corbett, 51), Bernardo Rosa, Sean Adwarka (Keenan Forson, ht), Odysseus Spyrides, Veron Parkes.

Unused Subs: Kyle McGeachy, Daniel Jinadu.

The young Swans are next in action at Leicester this Saturday, September 1st (11am).