West Ham United's under-18s returned to winning ways on
Friday with a 1-0 victory over Southampton at Little
Heath.
A strike from Jack Jeffery minutes before half-time secured all three points for Tony Carr's youngsters, who bounced back from a 2-0 defeat against top of the table rivals Arsenal last week.
After a nervous and edgy start to the game, Hammers settled into their stride and had the better of the opening exchanges, without creating any real clear-cut chances.
The breakthrough arrived just moments before the break, when a goalmouth scramble ended with the ball dropping at the feet of Jeffery, who made no mistake from close range to net his first goal of the season.
The second half was largely one-way traffic, with only some excellent goalkeeping and wasteful finishing preventing Hammers from extending their lead.
Jeffery, Jack Collison, Lorcan Fitzgerald and Lee Hales all went close to netting a second in the final minutes, but the hosts were happy to hold on for a final score that somewhat flattered Southampton.
Tony Carr said afterwards: "It was pleasing to see the boys bounce back after last week's result, and they thoroughly deserved the victory today.
"After a bit of a nervous start, they played some good football and, in the second half especially, created some very good chances.
"At 1-0, there was always a slight danger that Southampton could nick something out of the blue, but I thought we defended very well and looked solid throughout.
"It was a bit unusual playing on a Friday lunchtime, but the players handled it comfortably and we can now look forward to seeing how Arsenal and Chelsea get on in their matches tomorrow."
Hammers: Blackmore; O'Neill, Miller, Ngala, Widdowson; Bowes, Hales, Collison, Fitzgerald; Sears, Jeffery.
A strike from Jack Jeffery minutes before half-time secured all three points for Tony Carr's youngsters, who bounced back from a 2-0 defeat against top of the table rivals Arsenal last week.
After a nervous and edgy start to the game, Hammers settled into their stride and had the better of the opening exchanges, without creating any real clear-cut chances.
The breakthrough arrived just moments before the break, when a goalmouth scramble ended with the ball dropping at the feet of Jeffery, who made no mistake from close range to net his first goal of the season.
The second half was largely one-way traffic, with only some excellent goalkeeping and wasteful finishing preventing Hammers from extending their lead.
Jeffery, Jack Collison, Lorcan Fitzgerald and Lee Hales all went close to netting a second in the final minutes, but the hosts were happy to hold on for a final score that somewhat flattered Southampton.
Tony Carr said afterwards: "It was pleasing to see the boys bounce back after last week's result, and they thoroughly deserved the victory today.
"After a bit of a nervous start, they played some good football and, in the second half especially, created some very good chances.
"At 1-0, there was always a slight danger that Southampton could nick something out of the blue, but I thought we defended very well and looked solid throughout.
"It was a bit unusual playing on a Friday lunchtime, but the players handled it comfortably and we can now look forward to seeing how Arsenal and Chelsea get on in their matches tomorrow."
Hammers: Blackmore; O'Neill, Miller, Ngala, Widdowson; Bowes, Hales, Collison, Fitzgerald; Sears, Jeffery.