Lee and Moncur honoured in Hammers awards

Last night saw the well publicised West Ham United season awards ceremony, and as well as Winston Reid’s big HOTY win there were a couple of nominations and awards for members of the U18 and U21 sides.

The nominees for Academy Player of the Year were selected by Tony Carr MBE, and he picked Elliot Lee, Kieran Sadlier and Frazer Shaw. Sadlier has had a great season as the top scorer for the U18s, Shaw’s performances saw him promoted to the U21 side, but the award went to 18-year-old Lee who was given a first team debut this year in the FA Cup replay against Manchester United at Old Trafford. After a short illness, Lee’s form continued in the U21 side, so he was a deserving winner.

After winning the award, Lee told whufc.com:  "Brilliant, I'm delighted. I couldn't be any happier. It has just capped off a great season and to get this at the end of the campaign is brilliant. I love scoring goals!"

Carr was also in charge of picking Young Hammer of the Year, which as always was a tough contest. George Moncur, Sebastian Lletget and Dan Potts were nominated.

Potts’ first team season was unfortunately cut short by a head injury suffered in the 5-1 defeat to Arsenal in Februay, but he played six times with the full squad and impressed whilst on loan at Colchester United.

Lletget and Moncur have been an impressive midfield pair in U21 action with 50 appearances and four goals between them. Moncur edged it to win Young Hammer of the Year, and we hope to see much more of him next season.

By Lucy Woolford, Youth and Development Squad reporter

@lucy_whufc

Haycock reveals delight at 'fantastic' Dev Squad season and looks ahead to young stars turning out at Olympic Stadium

West Ham U21s manager Nick Haycock has brushed aside the disappointment of two defeats in the last matches of the season and has praised his young side for a great season in a competitive Elite U21 Premier League.

Speaking to West Ham TV after yesterday 1-0 defeat to West Brom, Haycock looked back on the positives from the year.

"Taking this game away, I'm delighted with the players this season. We've given young players a chance on a regular basis and a stat revealed we're the youngest team in the U21s league, which is great news. The league has been a fantastic thing for West Ham United.

"This place is full of good young players who are getting challenged now, playing up, playing with and against older players. I can only see us going onto bigger and brighter things. We've more than competed in this Elite Group and I think we warranted being in that top three.”

Unfortunately his rallying cries in recent weeks didn’t see results go their way to end the season on a high, but he was pleased with the performance against Albion despite the loss. 

He said: "We gave a poor goal away right on the stroke of half time and that ended up costing us the game. The second-half display was much better. It showed that we had the quality to score and on another day we might have had two or three."

He was also highly complimentary about youngsters George Moncur, Sebastian Lletget, Pelly Ruddock, Leo Chambers and Elliot Lee.

As a final conclusion on this up-and-down season, Haycock said: "This was our first year as a Category One Academy and we've made great strides. It's a thriving time, and I've told the players, it's down to them as to how far they go. It's all there for them, the opportunity being the main thing, because it's a club that has always had a tradition of producing players. Three years down the line, we're hoping some of this lot are going to be playing in the Olympic Stadium."

There’s no doubt that some of the season performances have shown the raw talent of both the youngsters brought through the famous Hammers academy and those signed from elsewhere. There have been a few moments of disappointment, but Haycock’s words are a fair round up of an eventful season for the U21 Development Squad.

By Lucy Woolford, Youth and Development Squad reporter

@lucy_whufc

Dev Squad end season with defeat

West Ham U21s' season didn't quite come to the close they hoped after another loss, this time to West Brom, in the final game of the Barclays U21 Premier League.

The 1-0 defeat ensured that the Irons the season on the high that skipper Callum Driver had called for pre-match, but the lads can take heart in the narrow nature of the scoreline after the 5-2 demolition by Southampton last week.

There were chances for the Hammers to equalise after Adil Nabi’s shot was deflected into the goal by Jordan Spence in first half injury time to put Albion in front. Striker Paul McCallum, fresh from a productive loan at League Two side Aldershot, came close and Elliot Lee had a great effort stopped by the Baggies' keeper before later hitting the bar in the second half with a free kick.

Unfortunately, Matthias Fanimo was stretchered off in the first half, so our best wishes are with him. His injury made way for Irish forward Sean Maguire to put in another shift but with no goal.

That caps a very up and down season for the U21 side, which has seen the excitement of new signing Wellington Paulista, the emergence of great young talent such as Elliot Lee and some late drama, notably the last-gasp 3-2 win against Liverpool.

We will bring you reaction from players and manager on this as it arrives.

By Lucy Woolford

@lucy_whufc

Dev Squad miss out on play offs

The West Ham Development Squad played their penultimate match in the Barclays U21 Premier League Elite Group Stage this afternoon against Southampton and despite a good start, a 5-2 defeat means that they have missed out on third place.

Elliot Lee continued his excellent vein of form and scored after four minutes from a Sean Maguire pass to put the Hammers ahead, but Southampton equalised 10 minutes later.

The sweltering weather on the South Coast didn’t make the match any easier for either set of players, but the pace of the game continued as Irons went 2-1 ahead after a Jack Stephens handball gave George Moncur the opportunity to score from the penalty spot.

A late and somewhat scruffy first-half equaliser from Southampton was a little scruffy ensured the sides went into the break on level terms.

A double substitution from Nick Haycock at half time introduced Taylor Miles and Frazer Shaw to the action in place of Dan Potts and Ben Marlow, but the second half did not bring the positives of the first.

Two defensive errors midway through the second half gave the home side their third and fourth goal of the game and heads dropped, as the Saints then made it 5-2 late on.

The Hammers now face bottom of the league West Brom in the rearranged fixture which will be their last of the season. They have missed out on third place in the league and the play-offs, which will disappoint the players and Haycock, but the ever changing squad can draw positives from this season.

We’ll get you some reaction on this heavy defeat as it comes through.

By Lucy Woolford, Youth and Development Squad reporter

@lucy_whufc