Remy Coddington and his West Ham United Under 18 teammates put in an improved second-half display to claim a 1-1 draw away at Tottenham Hotspur in Under 18 Premier League South action.
Following their exit at the FA Youth Cup fifth-round stage and the inclusion of numerous youth team players in the Under 23’s squad on Monday, Under 18’s lead coach Kevin Keen named a much-changed side for the trip to their London rivals’ training ground.
Only five of Friday’s starting eleven began the game against Spurs, with starting opportunities arising for Junior Robinson, Brendan Thomas, Isaac Evans, George Earthy, Gael Kileba, and Divin Mubama.
West Ham looked rusty in the opening exchanges and could consider themselves fortunate to only go in at the interval 1-0 down, with Tottenham hitting the woodwork three times inside the first half.
The goal came in the 17th minute when an in-swinging ball from the right fell at the feet of Roshaun Mathurin, who took his opportunity.
In the 53rd minute, West Ham United was awarded a penalty when the ball was handled inside the box.
Mubama, who netted against Arsenal on Friday and scored a hat-trick in the game before that, demonstrated his confidence by sending Spurs stopper Adam Hayton the wrong way to level matters.
Coddington would enter the match one minute later, however, he and his teammates were unable to find the winner.
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