Albion 1 Chelsea 5: Under-18s undone in second half

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The score was level at the break, but Albion conceded four in the second half.

Charlie Hanson

2026-09-13T06:00+01:00

The men's under-18s have won two and lost two of their opening five games in Premier League South. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Our men’s under-18s were beaten 5-1 by Chelsea in Premier League South on Saturday.

Mason Stephens put Albion in front after eight minutes, but Chelsea equalised through Jashayde Mensah-Greenwood after half an hour before the Blues scored four goals in the second half.

Men’s under-18s head coach Carl Martin said, “The scoreline suggests a one-sided game, but particularly in the first half the game was far more balanced than that.

There was a clear contrast in styles - Chelsea had more of the ball, while we controlled large parts of the game without it. They had possession but created relatively little from it, which was part of our plan and I thought the players executed that very well.

Carl Martin was pleased with his team's first half performance. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

“In the second half, the intention was to establish more control with the ball, but we struggled to gain that foothold. As the game opened up, we conceded goals too cheaply and made it too easy for a team of Chelsea’s quality to punish us.

“The biggest learning is around our resilience and personality when momentum turns against us. We have to stay in the game, maintain our standards and continue to show ourselves when our backs are against the wall.

“Overall, I am very pleased with the first-half performance and some strong individual displays. Ultimately, though, it was a game of two very different halves.”