West Ham United U18s performed well but fell to a 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United’s Academy training ground on Saturday morning.
The fixture marked Kevin Keen’s side's second match in the Premier League Cup group stage, having already overcome Tottenham Hotspur 2-1 in their opening game last month.
The Hammers started the game in the North-East brightly and with plenty of attacking intent, but fell behind to two quickfire strikes from Kain Reed after a quarter of an hour played; the first an excellent finish from the edge of the area, the second a simple tap-in.
Those early blows did not dull West Ham’s intent, however, and they won themselves a lifeline when Gael Kileba won his side a penalty shortly after the half-an-hour mark, Veron Parkes converting for his fourth goal of the season.
Although the Hammers started the second period on the front foot, their momentum was halted by two red cards in quick succession for Dan Chesters and Kai Corbett towards the end of the half.
Newcastle subsequently took full advantage from a corner eight minutes from time, working a corner well to Elliott Anderson to outmanoeuvre the Irons and put the game to bed as a contest.
“We showed good character being down to nine men in the last 15 minutes,” assistant coach Mark Phillips said afterwards.
“We were up against it, but we kept probing and kept asking questions. You learn a lot about your players in adversity, and today was encouraging.
“The first ten or 15 minutes of the game we played well, but those two goals really put us on the back foot. We started the second game well, and it’s just unfortunate that we didn’t take four or five presentable chances when they came.”
The result leaves all four teams in Group E on three points after two games played, with the Hammers’ hopes of advancing to the knockout stages resting on a trip to Stoke City at the end of November.
West Ham United U18s Starting XI: Sanneh, Greenidge, Okotcha, Appiah-Forson, Gileba (Corbett 46), Parkes, Nebyla (Woods 72), Nsumbu, Giddings, Chesters, Thomas (Peake 46)
Subs not used: Perkins, Allen
Goals: Parkes 32
