West Ham United's young lions Mark Noble and James Tomkins led England Under-21s to a 7-0 victory over Azerbaijan on Monday evening.
Noble was named captain while Tomkins completed the full 90 minutes on his U21 debut, becoming the 20th West Ham United player to represent England at that level on an unseasonably cool June evening at stadium:mk.
England, coached by former Hammer Stuart Pearce, completed their preparations for the UEFA European U21 Championship with a comprehensive win. The squad jets out to Sweden on Thursday ahead of next Monday's opening Group B fixture against Finland in Halmstad.
Tomkins, returning to the ground where he scored twice for England's U19s against Russia in March last year, nearly found the net again after just 45 seconds, heading Adam Johnson's far post corner against the inside of the post before central defensive partner Michael Mancienne thrashed the ball past Elchin Sadigov from eight yards.
As one might have expected, England continued to dominate and it was no surprise at all when a slick passing move ended with the unfortunate Sadigov diverting the ball into his own net on 28 minutes.
Again, a West Ham player and Sadigov's left-hand post were heavily involved. Martin Cranie cleverly swapped passes with Craig Gardner before crossing low towards Fraizer Campbell. The striker laid the ball off to skipper Noble, who saw his low shot bounce against the upright and over the line via the goalkeeper's body.
Three minutes later, Gardner latched on to man-of-the match Kieran Gibbs' inch-perfect pass before firing a rasping drive past Sadigov to make the score 3-0.
Rauf Aliyev forced Joe Hart into a smart save before Emin Jafarguliyev inexplicably dragged his shot wide from eight yards as Azerbaijan briefly rallied, but the visitors' threat soon subsided.
Into the second half and Campbell forced Sadigov into a flying save on 48 minutes before Noble curled a free-kick over the crossbar from 25 yards. The goalkeeper did well to palm substitute Jack Rodwell's header wide before Campbell headed Johnson's resulting corner against the bar.
It would not be long before the fourth goal arrived, however, as captain Nodar Mammadov inadvertently diverted Lee Cattermole's volley past Sadigov after 54 minutes. Noble's night ended soon afterwards as he was tactically replaced by Danny Rose ahead of next week's finals.
Cattermole came close to making it five, only for Sadigov to divert his header over the crossbar before Gibbs converted Rose's cross to do just that. The same combination led to the Arsenal youngster adding a sixth with 20 minutes remaining.
Hart did well to block Jamid Imamverdiyev's shot with his legs before fellow goalkeeper Joe Lewis was handed a 15-minute run out as a makeshift striker, momentarily flummoxing the stadium PA announcer when he appeared on the touchline in the No32 shirt.
Shahriyar Rahimov came within a yard of heading in a last-minute consolation for Azerbaijan, but England's goal remained intact. The visitors' misery was complete in the first minute of added-time when Jack Rodwell's shot took a deflection and looped over the stranded Sadigov.
Pearce's youngsters will now go into next Monday's Euro 2009 opener against the Finns full of confidence. England's other group matches see them take on Spain in Gothenburg on Thursday 18 June before returning to Halmstad to face Germany on Monday 22 June.
* The other 19 West Ham players to have represented England at U21 level are Paul Allen, Stephen Bywater, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Tony Cottee, Jermain Defoe, Alan Dickens, Julian Dicks, Anton Ferdinand, Rio Ferdinand, Paul Goddard, Paul Ince, Glen Johnson, Frank Lampard, Adam Newton, Mark Noble, Nigel Reo-Coker, Stewart Robson and Stuart Slater.
Defoe, with 23, has earned more U21 caps than any other Hammers player, scoring seven goals.
Present West Ham players Matthew Upson, Calum Davenport, Kieron Dyer, Scott Parker, Dean Ashton and Carlton Cole all earned U21 caps before moving to the Boleyn Ground.