The reserve team have beaten Leicester City 5-2 at Upton Park this evening.
Despite conceding the first goal of the evening, Hammers fought back with strikes from James Tomkins, Shaun Newton, Kyel Reid, Carl Fletcher and Yaniv Katan to seal victory, while goalkeeper Jimmy Walker played the full 90 minutes to mark his return from a serious knee injury.Coach Kevin Keen named a strong side for the clash at Upton Park, with six of his starting line-up possessing regular first-team experience, but it was the young visitors who opened the scoring on 23 minutes.
Just four minutes later, though, Hammers were level when young defender Tomkins rose to meet a deep corner and sent a powerful header into the top corner of the net.
Ten minutes before the break, the hosts put themselves in the lead for the first time as Newton struck a superb volley - his first goal for the club since arriving last year - but just five minutes later the Foxes equalised to restore parity and send the teams in level at the interval.
The second-half saw Hammers make their greater experience count and dominate proceedings, but the vital breakthrough didn't arrive until the 78th minute, when England youth international Reid let fly with a swerving left-foot effort from the edge of the penalty area.
The third goal proved too much for the visitors to recover from and, in the closing stages, Hammers added two more to make the game safe. First Carl Fletcher bravely converted a header with five minutes remaining after previously missing two or three good chances, then in stoppage time Yaniv Katan scored his first goal in a claret and blue shirt from the penalty spot after substitute Zavon Hines had been fouled.
While the five-star show was reward for the impressive-sized crowd that turned up on a bitterly cold night in east London, the major plus of the evening was the appearance of goalkeeper Walker, who comfortably stepped back into the action and proved that he is well on his way back to making a full recovery from a worrying knee injury.
Kevin Keen said afterwards: "It was a pleasing night all round, what with Jimmy returning in goal and us hitting five goals.
"Leicester were a lot younger than us and, in the first half, we didn't play to our full potential. We were a little lax with both of their goals, and it wasn't until the second half that we stepped our game up.
"After the break, we dominated and had numerous chances to finish the game off. It looked at one point as though it may not be our night, but I was very pleased to see young Hogan Ephraim and Kyel Reid take the game by the scruff of the neck and turn it for us late on.
"Sometimes the senior players can find it harder to lift themselves for these sort of games, and it was the two young boys who picked us up tonight when we needed it.
"All in all, it was a good win and nice to get a few goals. Katan got his first since arriving, which was a bonus, and all of the players acquitted themselves well.
Hammers: Walker; Andrews, Tomkins, Collins, Clarke; Newton, Hales, Baradji, Reid; Ephraim (Hines 85), Katan. Subs unused: Welsh, Kemal, Cowley, Henry.