The reserve team sealed their second win in a row on Monday night with an impressive 1-0 victory over Watford at Boreham Wood.
Having notched their first triumph of the season two weeks ago,
against Charlton Athletic, Steve Brown's men continued the good
form thanks to a first-half strike from Carlton Cole.
Another positive was the return from injury of midfielder Nigel
Quashie, who played the full 90 minutes, while fellow senior
players Christian Dailly, Paul Konchesky, John Pantsil and Jimmy
Walker all made impressive contributions.
However, it was the hosts who made the brighter start, and Hammers
had Walker to thank for keeping the scores level in the opening 20
minutes, as he made four excellent saves, including one amazing
acrobatic tip-over the bar to keep out a dipping volley from
midfielder Johan Cavalli.
Having survived that early onslaught, the visitors then began to
assert themselves on the game and, after Konchesky had gone close
with a low 25-yarder, took the lead on 25 minutes with what proved
to be the winner.
Cole started and finished the move, dispossessing defender Aaron
Beech wide on the left before cutting in and coolly slotting the
ball past goalkeeper Scott Loach from 10 yards out.
Watford striker Will Hoskins then missed their clearest chance of
the game 10 minutes before the break, heading wide from just six
yards out, and Hammers went in at the interval feeling slightly
fortunate to be in front.
Whatever Steve Brown said in the dressing-room certainly made the
right impact, though, for his team came out in the second half
clearly determined to hold on to their lead and take a stranglehold
on the game.
Just two minutes after the restart, hard-working young striker Jack
Jeffery found himself in the clear but was denied by a fine save
from Loach, and then saw the Watford stopper keep out his stinging
20-yard drive two minutes later.
Jeffery then saw a hat-trick of chances go begging when he fired
inches wide after cutting in from the right, before Freddie Sears
also narrowly missed the target and Junior Stanislas ended a
storming run with a goalbound shot that was tipped round for a
corner by Loach.
With three minutes remaining, Watford almost snatched an undeserved
equaliser when left-back Jordan Parkes latched on to a low cross,
but Jimmy Walker again came to the rescue with a superb point-blank
save.
In injury-time, Konchesky had an opportunity to grab a killer
second goal, but his quickly-taken free-kick from 20 yards out
dropped just the wrong side of the post.
Hammers held on, though, to keep their revival going and match the
exploits of the first team by claiming their second successive
victory in impressive fashion.
Hammers: Walker, Pantsil, Konchesky, Hales (Collison 70),
Dailly, Spence (N'Gala 83), Stanislas, Quashie, Cole, Jeffrey,
Sears. Subs not used: Blackmore, Widdowson, Hunt.
Watford: Loach, Doyley, Parkes, Avinel, Beech, Bangura, Cavalli
(Bennett 84), Williams, Hoskins (Henderson 60), Campana, Williamson
(Forbes 78). Subs not used: North, Brown.