West Ham United were again represented well as the Victory Shield tournament for home nations got under way for England Under-16s on a winning note.
After Robert Hall, who only turns 16 on Tuesday, helped the Young Lions to a comprehensive success last year with three wins out of three, Matthias Fanimo was man of the match in the 1-0 home win against Wales in Yeovil on Thursday night. Fanimo actually also featured briefly in last year's edition, coming off the bench in the 2-0 win at home to Scotland when aged just 14. This time he played the full 80 minutes and stood out for his industrious play.
After his success last year, Hall has already had a taste of being around the first team, appearing in the first pre-season friendly of this campaign away to Grays Athletic in July. England have won the last eight editions of the Victory Shield with young forward Fanimo following in the footsteps of a long line of West Ham United players to appear in the competition including Trevor Brooking, Joe Cole, Glen Johnson and Jordan Spence.
Fanimo's selection means West Ham have strikers on the books at U16 (Fanimo), U17 (Hall), U19 (Frank Nouble), U21 (Zavon Hines and Freddie Sears) and full senior level (Carlton Cole and Dean Ashton). The U16s will next be in action on 5 November at home to Northern Ireland before travelling to Edinburgh to take on Scotland on 26 November.