West Ham Under-18s knocked Swansea U18s for eight as youngsters Veron Parkes scored a hat-trick and new signing Mipo Odubeko netted on his debut.
Kevin Keen’s junior Irons got off to a great start when Swansea failed to clear a high ball from Odubeko and Parkes picked it up on the edge of the area, rifling a low shot into the bottom left-hand corner after just eight minutes.
Odubeko then grabbed his maiden Hammers goal on his first appearance for the Club two minutes later, holding off a challenge before stroking home Lennon Peake’s through-ball, before the home side pulled one back through William Rickard on 27 minutes.
The Hammers regained their two-goal advantage just eight minutes later, a powerful Odubeko run again causing problems before the debutant lobbed the ball to top-scorer Sebastian Nebyla, who finished into an empty net.
Swansea pulled themselves back into it shortly after the interval, Ali Al-Hamadi pouncing on 57 minutes to reduce the deficit once more, before enjoying an excellent opportunity to level the scores – only for Hammers keeper Serine Sanneh to display impressive reflexes to deny the home side.
This would prove a turning point in the game as Veliky squared for Parkes’ composed second to stretch the advantage again with 63 minutes played, before the Slovakian playmaker made it 5-2 ten minutes later, sprinting onto Peake’s precision pass at the end of an impressive counter-attacking move to slot home from close range.
As the home side’s defensive shape began to falter, West Ham made the occasion into a rout, Parkes completing his hat-trick with seven minutes to go when he sidefooted Greenidge’s low cross into the net, before pinball inside the Swans’ area allowed Veliky to make it 7-2 on 90 minutes.
West Ham United U18s: Sanneh; Greenidge, Nsumbu, Thomas, Okotcha (Perkins 67), Parkes, Peake, Woods (Kileba 72), Giddings, Nebyla, Odubeko (Veliky 45)
Subs: Roach
Goals: Parkes 8, 63, 83; Odubeko 10; Nebyla 35; Veliky 74, 90; Kileba 90+1