Premier League 2
Leeds United U21 1 (Pickles 71’)
West Ham United U21 3 (Ajala 63’, Battrum 74’, Fearon 85’)
Leeds: Meslier (GK), Lane, Lienou, Pickles, Howard, Matykiewicz, Vincent (Morris 83’), Crew (Ibrovic-Fletcher 46’), Chadwick, Cresswell (C), Mensah (Mills 62’). Subs not used: Wood (GK), Whitehead.
West Ham: Hooper (GK), Battrum, Oyebade, Fearon, Leacock, Briggs, Lamadrid (Akpata 73’), Orford (C), Landers (Cummings 73’), Ajala, Clayton. Subs not used: Wooster (GK), Brown, Medine.
Venue: LNER Community Stadium
Referee: Niall Smith
Bookings: Howard (Leeds) Clayton (West Ham)
Leeds United Under-21s were undone by West Ham United Under-21s on Saturday afternoon, despite Ollie Pickles’ equaliser.
Ahead of kick-off Scott Gardner named a side with three changes from the hard-fought point away at Chelsea Under-21s last time out. Illan Meslier and Kenneth Mensah were introduced, alongside Charlie Crew following recovery from injury.
Leeds waited patiently for their first break, which materialised as Mensah was threaded through down the left flank. His cross was intercepted and sent out for a corner, which was delivered deep and forced Finley Hooper to scramble clear.
Shortly after, the Whites had to withstand a flurry of West Ham corners, before Joshua Ajala eventually broke free and fired towards the near post, forcing Meslier into a routine, but crucial stop.
Ajala was again causing problems as he latched onto a flick-on in the centre of the park and made to the byline before cutting back and squaring to Josh Landers, who struck towards goal and forced another smart save from the Whites ‘keeper, but the flag went up for offside.
Halfway through the first period, Regan Clayton jinked his way down the left wing before driving into the box, earning a penalty for the away side as he was tripped. Up stepped Ajala and with a strong hand driving to his right, Meslier saved confidently and the ball was cleared!
Ten minutes later, Leeds were awarded a free kick on the left wing, which was delivered by Rhys Chadwick towards the back post. Looping over the visiting ‘keeper, Alfie Cresswell looked to have broken the deadlock, but the ball was hooked off the line by the opposition.
Following this opportunity, neither side were able to find another clear-cut chance before the end of the half, with Niall Smith blowing the whistle to signal the interval.
HALF TIME: Leeds United U21 0-0 West Ham United U21
Scott Gardner looked to his bench at the break, introducing Edward Ibrovic-Fletcher to the action as he replaced Crew.
The first chance of the second half fell to the visitors, as some smart work from Landers led to Preston Fearon picking up the ball on the edge of the box and striking, forcing Meslier again to intervene, tipping acrobatically over the bar to deny an opener.
The Whites were next to pry for a deadlock-breaker, coming forward with Jayden Lienou whose cross was cleared back to a white shirt, before finding Ollie Pickles just outside the area, but his curling effort was high and wide.
Then, as the clash descended into end-to-end fashion, the Hammers drove forward again, Clayton passing to Ajala, but his prodded strike was always going wide of the target.
However, the visitors did eventually find the back of the net, as Ajala drove a shot into the bottom corner on the 63rd minute mark.
The Whites responded soon after, as fresh substitute Callum Mills picked up a half-cleared ball in the opposition’s box and laid it off to Pickles, who steadied himself before drilling the ball into the bottom corner!
But it wasn’t long before West Ham snatched another, as another fresh addition from the bench in Daniel Cummings powered through and forced the ball to Ryan Battrum, who fired home.
Five minutes before the full time whistle the visitors grabbed another. Ajala once again involved as he squared the ball to Fearon to tap into the back of the net. This proved to be the last action of the game, as West Ham took all three points.
FULL TIME: Leeds United U21 1-3 West Ham United U21
