Remy Coddington turned out for the West Ham United Under 18 team that rallied from 3-1 down to draw 3-3 with Norwich City U18s at the Lotus Training Centre.
George Earthy had put the young West Ham team ahead after just eight minutes, but a frantic five-minute spell saw the hosts hit back with three goals of their own midway through the first half.
Earthy grabbed his second of the contest shortly after the half-hour mark, and the comeback was subsequently completed by Coddington’s exquisite lob with little under 20 minutes remaining.
The draw sees West Ham United U18s stay tenth in the U18 Premier League South table with only two fixtures remaining.
Kevin Keen’s side made a lightning-fast start in Norfolk and took advantage of some sloppy Norwich City defending to give themselves the lead in the eighth minute.
An aggressive press from Coddington saw the Canaries surrender possession to the young forward on edge of the box. The Bermuda youth international then drove towards the byline and cut the ball back across the box to the advancing Earthy, who put the Hammers in front with the simplest of finishes.
That lead didn’t last long as the hosts got back on terms in the 22nd minute with a goal under very similar circumstances. A lapse in concentration from Earthy this time saw Kenneth Aboh steal in and go one-on-one with Krisztian Hegyi in the West Ham goal, and the striker steadied himself and fired low beyond the Hungarian to make it 1-1.
Less than a minute later Norwich took the lead, with Aboh this time turning provider. The forward strode past the Irons defense down the left flank and squared the ball perfectly into the path of Oscar Thorn to tap home at the back post.
After making a bright start, the tide had turned pretty sharply on the young Hammers, who struggled to settle after seeing their early lead disappear.
Thorn made it three goals in just seven minutes for Norwich City with his second goal of the afternoon. Positive play from Joe Duffy saw him feed Thorn in a pocket of space on the edge of the box. The No7 turned and managed to nestle his strike just inside the post to give the young Canaries a commanding 3-1 lead.
In keeping with the flow of the game up to that point, the hosts' two-goal advantage lasted barely three minutes. Earthy, once more, but Keen’s side firmly back in the contest with a fine drive.
A looping corner was punched only as far as Earthy by Jayden St Paul in the Norwich goal - and the ball quickly flew back past the stopper courtesy of Earthy’s half-volley, as the young midfielder doubled his tally for the match and the season.
After the break, it was the Irons who went on the charge in search of the equalizer and, despite dominating possession, the clear-cut chances were hard to come by.
With 70 minutes on the clock though, they leveled. A well-measured long ball forward from Michael Forbes put Coddington through on goal and the forward, having won the foot race between himself and St Paul, lifted the ball over the goalkeeper and into the net for his first goal in Claret and Blue.
Following Coddington’s late equalizer, the Hammers had chances to snatch all three points, but a draw was arguably the fair result of an entertaining contest in Norfolk.
West Ham United Under 18 coach Keen praised the goalscoring exploits of young Coddington, who impressed at the Lotus Training Centre.
“Coddington is a player who has really pleased me. He’s been away in Bermuda as part of a few of their national team training camps. He’s come back in, he’s been really hungry and now he’s got to finish the season strongly because we’ve got high hopes for him next year.”
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