Men's under-18s narrowly beaten in seven-goal thriller

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2025-01-26T20:00+00:00

Aiden West netted a brace in the defeat to Chelsea. 📷 by Paul Hazlewood.

Our men’s under-18s’ return to Premier League South action didn’t go to plan as they were narrowly beaten 4-3 by Chelsea in a seven-goal thriller.

With Inigo Calderon having departed to take over as manager at Bristol Rovers, Arthur Brammer took the team at Lancing on Saturday.

The Blues took the lead eight minutes before the break when Joel Philbert fired in from the left, but Albion equalised shortly after the restart as a terrific piece of teamwork on the right opened up the Chelsea defence, with Aiden West tapping in a cross.

Chelsea went 2-1 up with a drive into bottom left corner from the left of the box frby m Ryan Kavuma-McQueen, before a defensive mix-up saw the visitors extend their lead when Chizaram Ezenwata slotted in.

Albion responded to make it 3-2 as West expertly headed into the bottom left corner, but we were punished for another defensive error with Ezenwata showing composure to make it 4-2.

Brammer’s side fought for a way back into the game and gave themselves hope when Tyler Silsby slotted into the bottom left corner with ten minutes to play, but they were unable to find a late leveller.

The result leaves Albion seventh in the table, with West Ham up next on Saturday.