The report

Chelsea Under-18s ultimately secured a hugely significant victory over West Ham United by inflicting their first home league defeat of the season, closing the gap to our opponents at the top of the Under-18 Premier League table to six points, with three games in hand for the Blues.

The match didn't start on such a positive note, though, as we fell behind with just one minute on the clock when the difficult conditions made themselves felt, a West Ham corner swooping down towards goal. Keeper Luke Campbell clawed it out from under his bar, which was then rattled in the ensuing six-yard-box scramble, but the Hammers eventually bundled it in.

However, inside the fourth minute we were level, as our calm and positive response to that set-back paid off when captain Reiss Denny twisted and turned on the edge of the box before curling a brilliant shot into the top corner.

We were on the front foot after that and Jimmy-Jay Morgan went close from Somto Boniface's low cross before we took the lead ourselves midway through the first half, Frankie Runham intercepting a risky pass out of defence by West Ham and finishing calmly when one-on-one with the keeper.

The Blues remained on the ascendancy after the break but West Ham equalised from another half-cleared set-piece, this time Rayan Oyebade smashing a volley into the top corner from near the penalty spot, but Chelsea weren't done yet.

Another quick response saw Denny step up and curl and excellent free-kick low around the wall into the bottom corner, this time left-footed after scoring his first with the right. Both goalkeepers were required to make good saves towards the end, but our lead stood for an important win at Rush Green.

The reaction

The importance of the result for both the Blues' chances of lifting silverware and the team's development wasn't lost on Under-18s head coach Hassan Sulaiman.

'It was always going to be a big game and it was definitely a big result because West Ham are top of the table, doing really well, have a strong side,' said Sulaiman. 'We have quite a number of games in hand and it was important that we won this one.

'So this game was important for us, one because we want to win the league, but also because to beat the top side is always a massive achievement.'

Looking at the game in more detail, Sulaiman saw positives and negatives from his side at both ends of the pitch, as he felt we could have made the victory safe earlier in the game.

'We had a bit of a slow start and we conceded in the first couple of minutes, which obviously wasn’t an ideal start for us. But we were still very confident that we would go on to not only perform well but win the game.

'Once we got our equaliser, we controlled the majority of the first half. We arguably should have scored more, their goalkeeper made some really good saves, and we could have seen the game out in that first half. Unfortunately we didn’t, but we went in at 2-1, still in high spirits and thinking we could go on to dominate.

'Unfortunately we conceded an equaliser from another set-piece, when we didn’t react well enough to the loose ball, but I still felt that even in the second half we had moments where we could have gone on to score even more goals.

'In fairness they had some good chances too. We spent time defending for periods with our backs against the wall in the second half. We needed to show resilience, character, the willingness to defend our box and clear our lines, to not take unnecessary risks.

'We almost got caught playing out on a few occasions, but that’s also a reflection of the modern game. You have to be confident to play your way without allowing the opposition to affect that, but then the balance is decision making and knowing if it is the right time. Those aspects are all part of our process of learning and developing.'

Overall, it was another pleasing example of our Under-18s' determination and resilience as we recovered from that early West Ham goal to take all three points.

‘We were very mature,' he added. 'I’ve talked before about this age group passing a number of tests this season. Going behind or going down to 10 men, whatever’s been thrown at us this year, I would say 95 per cent of the time we’ve been able to pass the test.

‘When we go a goal down we’re never down and out, we’ve always got that fighting character about us, that resilience and that determination to never die.’

The teams

West Ham United 2-3 Chelsea

Chelsea (4-2-3-1): Luke Campbell; Josh-Kofi Acheampong, Harrison Murray-Campbell, Kaiden Wilson (Travis Akomeah 90+8), Somto Boniface; Ollie Harrison, Harrison McMahon; Frankie Runham, Reiss Denny (c), Tyrique George (Michael Golding 86); Jimmy-Jay Morgan (Leo Cardoso 65)
Unused subs: Kai Crampton, Genesis Antwi
Scorers: Denny 4, 69, Runham 26
Booked: Boniface 90+1

West Ham (3-4-3): Finlay Herrick, Jethro Medine (Aaron Kamara 77), Emeka Adiele, Ezra Mayers, Josh Briggs (Rayan Oyebade 23), Airidas Golambeckis, Chinaza Nwosu (Andre Dike 77), Tyron Akpata, Joshua Ajala, Elisha Sowanmi (Jemiah Umolu 63), Daniel Rigge
Unused sub: Dondre Abraham
Scorers: Ajala 2, Oyebade 64
Booked: Adiele 78