Patrick Kelly makes West Ham United statement with debut U18s hat-trick
West Ham United may have lost away at Nottingham Forest on Sunday but their Under-18s side faired much better on their opening day.
Having gone 2-0 down away at Crystal Palace in the Premier League Under-18s division, the Irons looked towards summer signing Patrick Kelly for a bit of inspiration.
The 17-year-old made the move to the London Stadium from Northern Irish side Coleraine after 23 appearances for their senior team last season.
He joined up with patriot Callum Marshall, also 17, in the club’s youth sides and he made an instant impact on his debut in a Hammes shirt to make a big statement of his intent.
Kelly took matters into his own hands and brought the score back to 2-1 in stoppage time of the first half before equalising seven minutes into the second.
He then completed his hat-trick and a stunning turnaround with five minutes left to play to get the Under-18s off to a winning start to their new campaign.
There are worse ways to make your first competitive appearance for your new club, even if it is only in the academy for now, and David Moyes should have taken plenty of notice of what the new West Ham recruit was up to.
It is obviously far too early to suggest that Kelly should be making an appearance in the senior team and even the Under-23s may be a struggle to begin with given the wealth of talent at Rush Green already.
But the teenager is doing all the right things to make his name noticeable among West Ham coaching staff and supporters and he will be keen to keep this level of performance up as often as possible.
If he can keep scoring three every single game, then Moyes may be forced to give him a chance because you cannot keep a talent that good away from senior football for too long.