Preston Fearon scored two ‘outstanding’ goals from the halfway line as West Ham United’s Under-21s beat Burnley 3-1 at Rush Green on Friday night. At least, that is the word Mark Robson used.

There were plenty of other adjectives the youth-team coach could have chosen. Outrageous, perhaps. Audacious, certainly. But ‘outstanding’ certainly works.

You’d have been forgiven for assuming you’d sat on your remote and rewound the footage when Cullen was dispossessed again and Preston Fearon again took aim from the halfway line. No, you had just witnessed someone score from near the centre circle twice in the space of 19 first-half minutes.

Preston Fearon scores two halfway line goals for West Ham United against Burnley

No wonder Robson couldn’t stop talking about it at full-time.

“With Preston’s two goals, the vision, awareness and technique needed to see that twice and execute both strikes… they were a couple of special moments,” an awe-struck Robson beamed, via the club’s official website. “Preston is an intelligent player.

“He’s so neat and tidy, and can pass short or long. His awareness in identifying the goalkeeper being off his line twice wasn’t something that we’ve worked on tactically or planned, but he saw it and delivered two great goals. It was outstanding.”

Last weekend, Diego Gomez lobbed Crystal Palace keeper Walter Benitez from the middle of the pitch, having tried and failed to achieve the feat against Sunderland a few days earlier. Practice makes perfect then, as both Fearon and Gomez will attest.

“I’ve tried shooting from there in two games before, but it didn’t come off,” Fearon admits. “The wind helped a lot and I just saw the goalkeeper off his line.

“I decided to go for it the first time, and the second time I looked and thought I shouldn’t do it again, but I did, and it came off! I don’t know which one I enjoyed more, to be fair.”

If you pushed us, we’d go for the first one. The ball didn’t even hit the turf on its way in, and that little clip of the inside of the post just added to the aesthetics.

Among those with a keen eye on the next generation, Fearon has been rated extremely highly for a while now by the way. Jarrod Bowen even called the teenager a ‘special’ talent after training alongside him back in 2025.

Fearon actually played his first ever senior minutes at Forest Green Rovers during a short loan spell a few weeks back. But with his sights firmly fixed on a role at West Ham, a performance of extraordinary individual class is one way to catch Nuno’s eye.

“Obviously, my goal is to get first-team minutes, whether it’s here or on loan at any level,” admitted Fearon, who scored his glorious brace while wearing the captain’s armband. “But right now, I’m trying to put my head down and focus on my attributes that need improving.

“I’m doing everything I can in the gym and always eating properly. My goal is to keep getting better and hopefully continue to move forward in my career.”