West Ham United have already reached two finals at academy level this season. Thanks to goals from Daniel Cummings and Lewis Orford, Greg Lincoln’s Under-21s could make it a three-peat.
A week and a half after West Ham defeated Blackburn in the U17 Premier League Cup, Fulham were dispatched after what Lincoln called an ‘exhilarating’ affair on Friday night at Motspur Park.
The Under-21s qualified for the Premier League 2 play-offs after finishing 13th in a colossal, 29-team league this season. A tense penalty shoot-out victory over their London neighbours, meanwhile, ensures that West Ham United can now look forward to a spot in the quarter-finals.
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Finlay Herrick the example as West Ham United’s U21s defeat Fulham
Lincoln watched on with pride as Finlay Herrick was thrown in at the deepest of ends during the FA Cup last-eight tie with Leeds at the start of the month. The reserve-team coach is hoping that the likes of Herrick, Mohamadou Kante and Ezra Mayers are taking a path many of their U21 teammates will soon be walking down themselves.
“It was an exhilarating game,” said Lincoln.
“I’m sure it was great for the neutral. I’m really proud of the spirit the boys showed. I think we pride ourselves, at West Ham, on staying together, being united, and we saw that on the pitch tonight.
“These are all formative experiences for the players and ultimately, as we saw with Fin Herrick when he took to the field against Leeds, it’s all about getting them ready for that opportunity, whenever it may come, at London Stadium.”
Daniel Cummings and Lewis Orford certainly did their hopes of first-team involvement no harm.
Former Celtic kid Cummings has been in prolific form since recovering from a lengthy injury-enforced absence. He scored his sixth goal in just five starts when levelling from close range against Fulham.
Orford then took the game to penalties when converting following some outstanding work down the left from Mayers. Having been part of a penalty shoot-out defeat by Boreham Wood in the National League Cup final recently, victory from 12 yards at home to Fulham certainly exorcised a few ghosts.
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Greg Lincoln delighted as Daniel Cummings scores again
“The game ebbed and flowed,” Lincoln added. “We went behind and came back, and went behind in extra-time and came back again, so we showed real character and resilience to stick together as a group.
“The players were excellent, some boys were playing in secondary positions, and they were out on their feet at the end. But they found a way, they found something in the tank.
“We’ve done a lot of work on penalties. We had the experience that was not such a good one against Boreham Wood, so it was nice [to win] today and I thought we deserved it across the 120 minutes. [I told the players] to stick to the game plan, that we’d done a lot of the work on the training pitch and that it was an opportunity to be a hero.”
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