Djair Parfitt-Williams and his West Ham United Under 18 teammates hopes of reaching the Barclays Under 18 Premier League's top four play-offs were dented after a 2-1 defeat to Norwich City.
West Ham were looking to finish the league season strongly in order to qualify for the top four play-off stages with the best clubs in the country. However, that hope suffered a major setback just two minutes in when City's Harley Black curled an inch perfect free kick into the top corner.
After 75 minutes, England international striker Jahmal Hector-Ingram was well placed inside the Norwich penalty area to finish past Canaries goalkeeper Marcus Beauchamp.
However, just two minutes later, substitute Benny Ashley-Seal benefited from a defensive mix-up to finish low past West Ham keeper Sam Howes.
Under 18 coach Mark Phillips named possibly the strongest squad he had available on paper with regular Development Squad players Parfitt-Williams and Jordan Brown again available for selection, joining recent first team substitute Reece Oxford in the Hammers starting line-up.
With West Ham only picking up one point from their past three games, their bid for a top four spot looked slim when Grady Diangana needlessly committed a foul on the edge of the penalty area, allowing Black to step up and curl the visitors into an early lead.
Shortly after, the game was put on hold for over ten minutes when Norwich trialist Emmanual Vasi suffered an injury and had to be accessed by medical staff.
Both sides struggled to focus after the long break, but Norwich almost managed to double their advantage when Louis McIntosh wriggled free inside the box and drew a strong low save out of Howes.
In the closing stages of the first half, Hector-Ingram spurned two chances to level the score shortly after Josh Pask's header failed to trouble Beauchamp.
The second half started sluggishly for at least ten minutes, with neither team managing to create any chances to threaten the opposition defense.
With 75 minutes on the clock however, West Ham did manage to beat Beauchamp to find the equalizer as Parfitt-Williams picked up the ball to the left of the Norwich penalty area and attempted a cross that was blocked inside the box. The ball fell nicely to the feet of Hector-Ingram who looked up and finished expertly into the far corner of the net.
The score didn't stay level for long as the hosts created their own downfall. A mistake at the back allowed Canaries substitute Ashley-Seal to break through the Hammers back line and finish confidently past Howes when one-on-one.
The result leaves West Ham in seventh place with 29 points from their 21 league fixtures, with Phillips' side needing a victory in their final scheduled league fixture this season against Reading Under 18 at Little Heath.
After the Reading game, the Hammers will join a play-off stage alongside the same teams in their final position group in both the North and South sections. For example, those that finish in 1st-4th in both the Northern and Southern divisions will play each other in a further seven fixtures, which is also the same for those that finish in 5th-8th and 9th-12th.
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