West Ham 3 Albion 2: Late sucker punch denies MU18s a point

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Albion came back from 2-0 down to be level, but conceded late.

Charlie Hanson

2026-05-02T14:30+01:00

Henry Kasvosve had a hand in both of Albion's goals in the defeat to West Ham. 📸 by Paul Hazlewood.

Our men’s under-18s suffered late heartbreak as they conceded deep in stoppage time and lost 3-2 to West Ham on Saturday.

Having been 2-0 down, Albion scored in the fourth and sixth minute of second-half stoppage time, but the Irons found a winner in the 104th minute to bring to an end Brighton's six-game unbeaten run.

West Ham took the lead thanks to Zak Thomas after eight minutes and the hosts added a second 17 minutes later when David Chigwada capitalised on an error when Albion tried to build out from the back.

A prolonged second-half stoppage due to an injury to a West Ham player saw 12 minutes added on, which gave Albion enough time to get something from the encounter.

Henry Kasvosve crossed in for Jacob Parsons to head home and the comeback appeared to have been completed when Kasvosve combined with Younes Ibrahim to score.

There would be late drama though, as Albion gave away a cheap free-kick, which was crossed in and finished off by Jepthah Medine.

Jacob Parsons has scored eight goals in Premier League South this season. 📸 by Simon Roe.

Under-18s interim head coach Steven Menzies said, “In the first few minutes we were bright and played around their box. We didn’t deal with their direct play well – they had a couple of long throws into the box and then a corner, from which we conceded.

“We were below par for the rest of the half. We had some good spells of possession before half-time but didn’t trouble their low block.

“We started the second half much better and looked threatening. We were moving the ball with better quality and speed, dealing with the long ball into the striker. Chances began to come – Henry Kasvosve and Younes Ibrahim came to life and we scored two excellent goals.

“At that point, it felt like a goal could be scored by either team, which we ultimately conceded.

“It means the run of six games unbeaten is over. We’re frustrated to concede the goals we did, especially as West Ham made us work so hard for ours.”