West Ham United's under-18 side were beaten 2-0 by Charlton Athletic at Little Heath on Saturday morning.
The scoreline marked a second defeat in the space of seven days
for Tony Carr's team, following last week's 1-0 loss at
Chelsea, and today's London derby followed a similar style.
Hammers made the brighter start and appeared to be gaining the
upper hand as the first half progressed, but two goals in the space
of five minutes just before the break put Charlton in control.
Despite dominating the second period and spending most of it camped
in Charlton's half, the hosts simply couldn't find the
breakthrough. Zavon Hines and Jack Collison both missed excellent
chances, while Hammers also had two strong penalty appeals harshly
turned down by the referee.
Tony Carr said afterwards: "It was a disappointing result and
a performance that mirrored last week's defeat at Chelsea, when
we conceded a poor goal in the first half and did everything but
score in the second half.
"Charlton defended well and got plenty of bodies behind the
ball after scoring their goals, but we are struggling to score at
the moment and, despite creating several good chances, we just
couldn't find the net.
"At the other end, the goals we conceded were poor, and the
boys know that they have got to defend better. On the day, we just
didn't get the break we needed, and it was a disappointing
morning for everyone concerned."
Hammers: Kemal; Henry, White, Widdowson, Fitzgerald; Welsh (Cowley
70), Collison, Hales (Tomkins 80), Reid; Hines, Jeffrey (Ephraim
70). Subs unused: Davidson, Andrews.