West Ham XI 0-0 VVV
A young West Ham outfit earned a hard fought 0-0 draw with Dutch partner club VVV Venlo at Rush Green on Thursday afternoon.
As part of a number of events between the sides throughout the weeklong visit, the two teams pitted themselves against each other in blustery conditions.
Despite plenty of effort and industry, clear cut chances were hard to come by for either side.
Terry Westley named an experimental XI which included Dev Squad regulars Raphael Spiegel and Leo Chambers as well as three trialists. Sam Westley, on loan at Venlo, played the full 90 minutes for his parent club.
Under the watchful eye of Slaven Bilic, Nicola Jurcevic and Edin Terzic, both teams set about trying to play, adventurous, attacking football.
The visitors Venlo, currently second in the Dutch Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the league pyramid, demonstrated their superior experience and physicality early on yet the young Hammers showed admirable spirit and grew into the match.
The visitors enjoyed a number of half chances, however a combination of dominant defending, particularly from Chambers kept them at bay.
Further forward, the Hammers kept probing; Dan Kemp looked lively on the wings while Anthony Sculley showed nice touches.
As the game wore on, the hosts grew into the game, creating their best chance of the first half as Kemp and Alex Pike combined expertly down the right flank before whipping in a dangerous delivery that Chambers headed agonizingly wide.
Into the second half, a Westley introduced a number of substitutes including Belic brothers Kristian and Luka as well as Jordan Brown.
With the conditions deteriorating, the Hammers looked like the most likely team to break the deadlock as Moses Makasi intercepted a loose pass and played in Brown who smashed it at the goalkeeper.
Seconds later the provider turned shooter as he tried his luck from the edge of the box yet the shot had power but lacked accuracy.
West Ham XI: Spiegel, Pike, Chambers, Onariase, Westley, Trialist, Makasi, Sculley, Trialist, Trialist, Kemp
Subs: K. Belic, Trott, Nasha, L.Belic, J. Brown