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u18 Debut Appearance(s):
D Heaven Kilwa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

Match Report:
A debut goal from Heaven Kilwa could not save Aston Villa from falling to a narrow 2-1 defeat away at West Ham United in the Under-18 Premier League South.
Richard Beale’s Young Lions returned to action following the international break at the Hammers’ Little Heath training ground on Saturday afternoon, falling 2-0 down courtesy of goals from Lewis Beckford and Andre Dike either side of the interval.
Youngster Kilwa – who had already netted two for Villa’s Under-16s in a 7-2 win over West Ham earlier in the day – came off the bench for his debut at Under-18 level and netted five minutes from time to spark hopes of a late comeback.
But the Villans were ultimately condemned to a third league defeat of the campaign, which keeps them eighth in the table after six outings, ahead of next Saturday’s visit of Southampton.
Beale handed a full Under-18s debut to Dan Adediran following his first goal off the bench before the international break, with Kilwa named in an Under-18s squad for the first time, and Farrid Addey, Finlay Barnard and Vinnie Hayward all returning from injury to start.
But it was the hosts who were the enforcers throughout the opening period, carving out a few early chances through Dike and Joel Kerr, who were both thwarted by Villa’s backline.
The Young Lions did respond in their search for the game’s opener, Cole Ramsey escaping down the left-hand side and forcing goalkeeper Finley Hooper into a save.
However, the Hammers continued to pressure their visitors and, after Kerr saw another effort blocked, they broke the deadlock on 37 minutes when Joe Scanlon pulled a ball back for Beckford inside the area, who made no mistake in finishing past Rhys Oakley from inside the area to give his side the lead at the break.
Villa came back out for the second period with a renewed purpose in their hunt for an equaliser, but were continuously denied by a resolute Iron backline.
Having kept their visitors at bay for the early stages of the second half, West Ham went back on the offensive, with Chuk Obi twice going close, before their pressure told on 64 minutes as Dike doubled their advantage.
Beckford turned provider, finding his fellow attacker on the edge of the area, with Dike cutting in onto his left foot and bending a superb strike into the top corner.
Kilwa’s introduction gave the Villans an increased threat in attack, and the youngster needed just 12 minutes to get himself on the scoresheet and halve the deficit, stealing in after Hooper mistimed his clearance of a long ball forward to tap into an empty net and give the visitors hope.
Beale’s side were now in the hunt for a would-be equaliser and a share of the spoils, and things almost got even better for Kilwa and his teammates in stoppage time when he worked space in the area for a shot, but could only drag his effort wide.

2025-26 u18 Premier League Appearance & Goal Record
GK Rhys Oakley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 10 | ⛔ 0 | 🇺1 |
RB Clay Atkins | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CB Farid Addey | 🇸🇪 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 4 | ✅ 4 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |
CB Junior Wilson | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 6 | ✅ 6 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
LB Finlay Barnard | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 5 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Lennon Melhuish | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 6 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Oliver Bindley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 4 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺1 |
AM Fletcher Boyd | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 2 | ✅ 2 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
AM Cole Ramsey | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 2 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
F Vinnie Hayward | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
F Daniel Adediran | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
D Heaven Kilwa | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CM Olly Lloyd | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
RB Jacob Green | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 2 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
LB Harry Pinnell | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 4 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 3 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
GK Theo Houston | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 0 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺3 |
GK Owen Asemota | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | 🥅 5 | ⛔ 1 | 🇺0 |
LB Teddie Bloomfield | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
DM Woody Burgess | 🇩🇪 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
AM Max Jenner | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
AM Jack McGrath | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 5 | ✅ 5 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
W Alfie Lynskey | 🇮🇪 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 3 | ✅ 3 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
CF Markie Meade | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 4 | ✅ 4 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 2 | 🔥 1 | 🇺0 |
LB Rodrigo Fortes | 🇵🇹 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 1 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
F Oscar Johnson | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
GK Jack Allan | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 0 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 0 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺1 |
AM Jahmi Kellyman | 🇬🇧 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 2 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺2 |
CF Rio Hammond | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 2 | ✅ 1 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |
AM Josh Blake | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 2025-26 u18PL 🕒 1 | ✅ 0 | 🔁 1 | ⚽ 0 | 🔥 0 | 🇺0 |