City are First Team into 5th Round

WHUFC Youth 2 – 4 MCFC Youth

I wasn’t looking forward to the long trip down to the East End of London so near to Christmas and three long delays on my journey down confirmed my fears. But City lifted my spirits immediately with a wonderful first half display. With West Ham United flying high in their academy league the pressure was really on the City boys to gain a result under the floodlights of the Boleyn Ground. A brace of goals from our prolific Kelvin Etuhu and a goal from winger Karl Moore was capped of with a fourth goal by our own young “ Goal Machine” , Daniel Sturridge; all this within the first half hour as well.

Stuart Pearce and Steve Wigley looking on must have thought they were watching a BBC2 repeat from last Saturday’s first team game as City came out of the blocks with all cylinders firing.

City struck the first blow in the sixth minute when Man of the Match Shaleum Logan broke up a West Ham attack, ran into space and passed to Michael Johnson in midfield, and he played a well weighted ball for Kelvin to run onto. He ran from just inside their half and had a first time shot from just inside the area which was blocked, but Kelvin quickly composed his shape and drilled the ball hard and low into the far bottom corner of the net.

Within three minutes, City had doubled their lead. This time a free kick on the left from just inside their half was well played into the melee of players on the edge of the box where Micah Richards flicked the ball on and Kelvin held of the defender and turned and shot a good half volley across Eren Kemal in goal into the opposing side of the net.

The third goal came yet again within a five minute period of the last goal and really silenced the East End faithful, whose chants of “Iron” did little to uplift their wilting players. This time it came from good work down the right by Ashley Williams who deceived two defenders with his run and put a good cross in that Sturridge flicked on, and Moore chested down and volleyed from 10 yards past Kemal.

West Ham nearly pulled a goal back on eighteen minutes when Hogan Ephraim was given space from about twenty five yards to volley at goal, but the ball failed to dip sufficiently and it hit the crossbar. Zavon Hines ran in to convert the rebound, but he found the woodwork again and was ruled off-side before hand.

With a minute to go before the half hour mark, City won another free kick near the edge of the area on the left. Johnson played yet another good ball in, and there was Richards again to flick on. Sturridge managed to wriggle free of the defender and hit his shot that managed to bounce of the underside of the diving Kemal and into the net.

With just over five minutes of the half remaining, City nearly made it five nil with a great free kick by Paul Marshall that hit the post and even though City were queuing up to get the ball in, every shot managed to be blocked by the defenders.

The second half was much less frenetic with West Ham being more organised and forcing the play more. But it was City again who nearly scored when a good cross from Logan was only half cleared away from Kelvin’s head by Kemal, but he got up well to prevent Moore from volleying in the rebound.

City were forced into making a change up front when Sturridge took a knock. Ched Evans offered more aerial threat up front, but lacks that zip that Sturridge offers. So West Ham were able to play further up the pitch and compress the midfield. This pushed City’s midfield further back, but they held their shape well and West Ham struggled to create any clear cut openings.

West Ham got their breakthrough with just over five minutes to go when the referee harshly adjudged that Curtis Obeng had impeded Ephraim by pulling his shirt. Ephraim coolly stepped up and scored the penalty kick with a good strike.

The referee then decided to play as much injury time as was deemed. Had it been a league game, he would have been justified but being a cup game; goal difference does not count towards the result. And so in the ninety third minute, West Ham scored a pointless goal from twenty five yards that took a wicked deflection and gave Laurence Matthewson no chance of saving.

So City march on to the fifth round; hoping for an easier tie, on paper at least; either at home or a short journey away. Although playing so soon before Christmas seems quite strange, it was quite a shrewd move by West Ham and City as academy and youth sides always seem to look a bit lethargic the first couple of weeks back after Christmas and so both teams were able to play to a high tempo which made for a very good match.


WHUFC: Kemal(GK), Andrews, Widdowson, White, Tomkins, Hales (Harvey 82), Welsh, Cowley (Collison 54), Hines, Ephraim, Reid (Jeffery 67). Subs unused: Blackmore (GK), Spence


Man City: Matthewson; Obeng, Logan, Williamson, Richards (McDonald 72), Marshall, Williams, Johnson, Etuhu, Sturridge (C Evans 65), Moore. Subs unused: Vadon (GK), S Evans, Breen


Att: 933.

MoM: Logan; there were many outstanding first half displays, but Shaleum was very good for all of the ninety minutes despite his needless booking by the referee.