Djair Parfitt-Williams’ West Ham Under 21 coach Steve Potts was delighted with the Development Squad's 2-1 win over Fulham at Rush Green.
The Hammers, who fielded another young side, took an early lead as captain Josh Cullen headed home Joe Powell's cross into the net.
Cullen's opener sparked a frantic five minutes as Adam Taggart equalized a minute later, only for striker Jordan Brown to restore the Hammers' lead with a similar header at the back post.
The win was only West Ham’s third in the league this season as they hope to beat the drop. Speaking after the game, Potts said, "I was really pleased with the performance. Obviously I'm very pleased to win, but the way we went about it was very, very good.
"We started on the front foot from the first minute and pushed on from there. We wanted to take the game to Fulham and ask them a few questions. We did that, we went 1-0 up but was then very naive and all of a sudden it was 1-1.
"Sometimes that can cause you to doubt yourself but we stood firm and refocused. Went 2-1 up and then it was a case of keeping it going."
The starting eleven included a number of younger players including Vashon Neufville who made his first start for the Under 21’s as well as Tunji Akinola, making only second Under 21 appearance.
Potts continued to praise the efforts of the youngsters, "The younger lads were excellent, we had three school boys playing out there tonight. It was a risk but certainly one worth taking and they showed that tonight. The whole team was pretty young and they did very well collectively and individually. I couldn't fault any of them.
"It can help them to improve as players. We could've faced sharper players, stronger maybe but they'll learn quickly from tonight."
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