Development Squad right-back Alex Pike said his side deserved to lose against Sunderland following a disappointing away performance on Monday evening.
The hosts started the game the stronger as they had several early chances, however goalkeeper Sam Howes was on hand to deny the Black Cats. However, they were eventually rewarded when they won a penalty which Martin Smith slotted home.
The second half was more even with the Hammers having several half-chances to equalise, the best of which fell to Jaanai Gordon, whose shot fell agonizingly wide.
The hosts wrapped up the victory late on when Rees Greenwood ran onto Mikael Madron's incisive through-ball before Duncan Watmore slotted home in the 90th minute.
Speaking after the match, the 18-year-old defender said: “I’m very disappointed, everyone is really. It was a poor performance all-in-all and we know we can do a lot better.
“The score line may have been a bit harsh but they did deserve to win. We did throw it away in the last five, ten minutes. You get punished at this level if you do that.”
This season, Pike has been in impressive form for both the U18s and the Development Squad, totalling 22 appearances in all competitions.
The defeat sees the Dev Squad stay at the foot of the Barclays U21 Premier League table, while Sunderland remain in tenth with 19 points from 15 games.
“I thought Sunderland played pretty well to be fair. Their No7 Duncan Watmore is a good player, I thought he did well.”
Next up for the Development Squad is another tough away fixture against Liverpool on Friday 20 March and despite Monday night’s defeat, Pike is confident that the Dev Squad can bounce back quickly.
“We just need to bounce back from this, come back stronger and have a look at the things that went wrong and where we need to improve.
“It’s just the start, we’re a new team mainly and hopefully we’ll learn from tonight and improve quickly.”
The hosts started the game the stronger as they had several early chances, however goalkeeper Sam Howes was on hand to deny the Black Cats. However, they were eventually rewarded when they won a penalty which Martin Smith slotted home.
The second half was more even with the Hammers having several half-chances to equalise, the best of which fell to Jaanai Gordon, whose shot fell agonizingly wide.
The hosts wrapped up the victory late on when Rees Greenwood ran onto Mikael Madron's incisive through-ball before Duncan Watmore slotted home in the 90th minute.
Speaking after the match, the 18-year-old defender said: “I’m very disappointed, everyone is really. It was a poor performance all-in-all and we know we can do a lot better.
“The score line may have been a bit harsh but they did deserve to win. We did throw it away in the last five, ten minutes. You get punished at this level if you do that.”
This season, Pike has been in impressive form for both the U18s and the Development Squad, totalling 22 appearances in all competitions.
The defeat sees the Dev Squad stay at the foot of the Barclays U21 Premier League table, while Sunderland remain in tenth with 19 points from 15 games.
“I thought Sunderland played pretty well to be fair. Their No7 Duncan Watmore is a good player, I thought he did well.”
Next up for the Development Squad is another tough away fixture against Liverpool on Friday 20 March and despite Monday night’s defeat, Pike is confident that the Dev Squad can bounce back quickly.
“We just need to bounce back from this, come back stronger and have a look at the things that went wrong and where we need to improve.
“It’s just the start, we’re a new team mainly and hopefully we’ll learn from tonight and improve quickly.”