West Ham’s U21 team completed a remarkable comeback in the EFL Trophy clash with Newport County last night. The Hammers found themselves 4-1 down against Newport at Rodney Parade but showed great character to win 5-4.
It was the opening game of the EFL Trophy and a chance for the young Irons to test themselves against senior opposition. But Dmitri Halajko’s men were without Nathan Holland, Conor Coventry, Aji Alese, Nathan Trott, Goncalo Cardoso and Oladapo Afolayan.
The much-changed U21 side proved a point by recovering for a great result. One week after West Ham’s senior side beat Newport 2-0, the U21 team won 5-4 in Wales.
Hammers’ remarkable recovery
Anthony Scully gave West Ham an early lead but Newport roared back with four goals. The game looked dead and buried at half-time but a Joe Powell penalty got West Ham back in it.
Suddenly, there was a change in mood in the camp. Ben Johnson – who has played in the senior side – crossed for Veron Parkes to head in and West Ham only trailed by one goal.
Newport looked nervous and Kai Corbett found space in the box to drill home an equaliser. Late in the game, Scully scored an untidy goal after good work from Dan Kemp.
Here are some tweets discussing the amazing comeback victory.
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