West Ham United's Under-18s continued their sparkling form with a comprehensive 4-2 victory over Charlton Athletic on Saturday morning.
Goals from Jack Collison, Lorcan Fitzgerald, Ben Hunt and Junior Stanislas secured the win and, although Charlton grabbed two late consolation goals, Tony Carr's side were never in danger of relinquishing their lead.
Hammers got off to the perfect start when midifelder Collison headed home from a corner inside the first minute for his third goal in three games, and the lead was doubled just nine minutes later, as a superb cross from Stanislas was converted at the far post by Fitzgerald.
On 20 minutes, it was 3-0, as Hunt was sent clear through and lifted the ball over the goalkeeper, and Hammers went in for the half-time break having virtually wrapped up all three points.
It took until the 75th minute for the fourth goal to arrive, as Stanislas fired in from the edge of the box and, with the game by now won, it was purely a consolation as Charlton grabbed two back in the last five minutes.
Tony Carr said afterwards: "Conceding the two goals in the last five minutes took the shine off the final score a little, but it was still a comprehensive win and we would have settled for that result before the game.
"We played some great football, especially in the first half, and Charlton really couldn't live with us early on. Having let a lead slip in recent weeks, we concentrated on staying solid early in the second half, and the fourth goal killed them off.
"We took our foot off the pedal late on, but that is not unusual at this level and, all in all, I was extremely pleased with the performance."
Hammers: Blackmore; Miller, Spence, Ngala, Widdowson; Stanislas
(Bowes 82), Hales (Harvey 70), Collison, Fitzgerald (Sears 80);
Jeffery, Hunt. Subs unused: Stech, Blackwell.