Ten-man West Ham United ended a three-match FA Premier Academy League losing run with a battling goalless draw with Cardiff City at Little Heath.
The Hammers lost right-back Filip Modelski two minutes after half-time when the Poland youth international received a second yellow card for deliberate handball.
The defender was hugely unfortunate to see a red card, as both the handball decision, and that to book him for shirt-pulling on the stroke of half-time, appeared to be harsh.
Despite being reduced to ten men, Tony Carr's side produced a spirited display, and could even have nicked all three points with a little more luck in the attacking third.
In a game of few clear-cut opportunities, it was the Bluebirds who came closest to scoring a winner, only for Deniz Mehmet to pull of a brave stop to keep out Nathaniel Daniels' seventh-minute shot with his head.
West Ham's best moment arrived on 22 minutes, when a sweeping move from back to front involving Mehmet, Sergio Sanchez, George Moncur, Danny Subuola and Ahmed Abdulla ended with Danny Purdy just unable to finish from an acute angle.
Subuola also went close himself nine minutes before the break, but his shot was well saved by Cardiff goalkeeper Jordan Santiago with his legs.
With Carr forced to sacrifice forward Purdy for defender Callum Driver following Modelski's dismissal, the Hammers were forced to play on the break for the remainder of the game, with Subuola running himself into the ground up front.
There were impressive rearguard actions across the pitch, with Sanchez, Nick Barrett and captain Jordan Brown particularly catching the eye. Substitutes Driver and Cristian Montano also worked hard to relieve the pressure on the home side.
Turkey Under-17 stopper Mehmet took centre-stage with three minutes remaining, brilliantly parrying substitute Soloman Taylor's shot on to the post. West Ham broke straight up the other end, where replacement Jack Werndly worked Santiago with a powerful left-foot shot.
Having lost to Stoke City, Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City in their last three matches, Carr and his players will have taken confidence from the relative ease with which they held off Cardiff in the second half.
West Ham United Under-18: Mehmet, Modelski, McNaughton, Sanchez, Brown, Barrett, Moncur, Okus (Montano 64), Purdy (Driver 49), Abdulla, Subuola (Werndly 85)
Subs not used: Larkins, Craig
Cardiff City Under-18: Santiago, Edwards, Z.Evans, A.Evans, Meades, Last, Cummings (Diallo 66), Wilding, Jarvis, Farah, Smith (Taylor 78)
Subs not used: Al-Basith, Jones