Tony Carr admitted to being hugely impressed after watching his West Ham United Under-18 side overcome Colchester United 5-0 on Saturday.
The Academy Director was in fine humour after seeing Nick Barrett, Daniel Subuola, Daniel Purdy, Jack Werndly and Simone Bezziccheri hit the target at Little Heath.
With the first-team squad preparing to fly home from Barclays Asia Trophy duty in China and a number of second-year scholars turning out for the reserves at Kingstonian on Friday evening, Carr named a largely U17 side to take on the U's.
The youngsters responded superbly, going into half-time 2-0 up before adding three further strikes after the interval. Despite the use of rolling substitutes, Carr said his players had produced a fluent, confident display.
Carr, who has recently returned from leading a coaching course at the West Ham United USA Academy at the Hammers' partner club, Alpharetta United, in Atlanta, Georgia, was pleased with his squad.
"It was a good performance," he said. "I was very pleased with it. We passed the ball very well, especially considering three or four of them had had a 15 or 20 minute run out at Kingstonian the night before.
"We played very well. Obviously you can only play as well as the opposition allow you to and we dominated the game from start to finish. I was very happy with the result and we could even have added a couple more goals at the end."
Carr was also happy with his trip to the United States, where he spent three days working with young players.
"I went away to the USA Academy, where we held a three-day training camp at Alpharetta in Atlanta," he explained.
"Even though the conditions were extremely hot and humid, we got some good work done with some promising young footballers."
Back home, the U18s will return to action at Reading on Wednesday before hosting Ipswich Town in their final domestic pre-season friendly at Little Heath on Saturday 8 August.
The scholars will then travel to the Netherlands for an international tournament before returning to England for their opening FA Premier Academy League fixture at Everton on Saturday 22 August.
West Ham United U18: Loveday, Smith, McNaughton, Lampe, Driver, Barrett, Moncur, Turgot, Wearen, Abdulla, Subuola
Used subs: Mehmet, Craig, Fanimo, Purdy, Werndly, Vose, Bezziccheri