In a cagey affair in the blistering wind and rain, Ed Brand and his coaching team will be disappointed by the team;s decision-making in the final third, which ultimately cost us. This result means that we have now suffered back-to-back losses in the Under-18 Premier League after last week’s 1-0 defeat to Leicester City.

The game began with no real rhythm to it, both sides failing to keep hold of the ball for a sustained period. West Ham had the first shot of the game with Oliver Scarles striking straight at Teddy Curd, who was between the sticks for the home side.

Chelsea began to dominate territorially as the half wore on but were struggling to create any clear-cut chances for Ronnie Stutter and the rest of the attack. Charlie Webster did, however, have a chance which trickled wide of the Hammers keeper’s net.

West Ham won the first two corners of the game and, although they did not get a clear sight of goal, the aerial dominance was evident as Chelsea struggled to clear the ball away from their box.

They were warned and with their third corner of the game Asher Falaise delivered an excellent inswinging ball that, having beat the first man and the keeper, was bundled home by Kaelan Casey for the first goal of the game.

The reaction to going behind was a positive one as we continued to probe and look for openings. Leo Castledine, after some good work on the right, put in a great ball which Webster latched onto but his effort was deflected away by one of West Ham’s defenders.

Against the run of play however, captain Alfie Gilchrist was left disappointed as he conceded a penalty by pushing visiting striker Divin Mubama in the back. Mubama brushed himself off and dispatched the penalty, sending the keeper the wrong way.

The boys fought back and began to dominate the ball a lot more and that increased pressure led to our first goal of the game. The same combination that had earlier threatened struck again as a Castledine cutback was struck by Webster, whose deflected effort this time beat the keeper for 2-1.

The first half ended with Chelsea remaining on top and the whistle could not have come at a better time for West Ham as we began to play with more confidence.

With the weather conditions worsening in the second half, the scoreline almost took a turn for the worst as Asher Falaise drilled a right-footed effort that beat the keeper but also beat the post.

West Ham threatened again from a free-kick as the combination of Falaise to Casey, which led to the first goal, almost resulted in a third. Following that chance, Chelsea dominated the rest of proceedings.

Lovely combination play from Malik Mothersille and Somto Boniface down the left led to Webster putting in a left-footed cross that Stutter diverted well on goal only to be denied by the post.

Shortly afterwards, Stutter was again involved following some lovely hold-up play. He laid the ball off to Josh Tobin, who drove into the box and went down under pressure from two West Ham defenders but the referee adjudged it was too soft for a penalty.

The Clarets began to slow the game down by utilising their substitutions to wind the clock down which proved effective, although the hosts did have two big final chances before the end of proceedings.

A long ball played by Boniface down the left was controlled well by Edwin Andersson, who had been brought on for Tobin. He drove to the byline and put in a nice cutback for Stutter  but he could only blaze over from just inside the penalty area. The final chance of the game fell to Luke Badley-Morgan, though his volley in the box from a corner was excellently saved by Jacob Knightsbridge.

What this now means is Ed Brand’s side suffer back-to-back defeats and a first pf the campaign at home. Our next game will be against Reading, who currently sit in fourth having only won one game.

Chelsea (4-2-3-1) Teddy Curd; Richard Olise, Alfie Gilchrist (c), Luke Badley-Morgan, Somto Boniface; Josh Tobin (Edwin Andersson 86), Billy Gee (Reiss-Alexander Russell-Denny 79); Leo Castledine, Charlie Webster, Malik Mothersille (Louis Flower 69); Ronnie StutterUnused subs Samuel Rak-Sakyi, Prince AdegokeScorer Webster 43Booked Badley-Morgan 63; Webster 81

West Ham (4-4-2) Jacob Knightsbridge, Asher Falaise, Regan Clayton, Sean Tarima, Kaelan Casey, Michael Forbes (c), Archie Woods, George Earthy (Isaac Evans 90+2), Divin Mubama (Lewis Orford 76), Gideon Kodua (Blaise Uwandji 86), Oliver ScarlesUnused sub Mason TerryScorers Casey 23; Mubama (pen) 30Booked Woods 32; Knightsbridge 35; Falaise 78

-Pictures courtesy of Mark Sandom