West Ham United's youth team saw their 100% winning
start to the season come to an end on Saturday morning, when they
suffered a 5-2 defeat at Norwich City.
The under-18s found themselves 2-0 down after 11 minutes and, despite pulling the score back to 3-2 early in the second half, they couldn't produce a memorable comeback and the hosts added two more strikes late on.
Junior Stanislas converted a penalty on 30 minutes to pull a goal back after Norwich had raced into an early two goal lead - their second also coming from the penalty spot after the referee had inexplicably decided that Lorcan Fitzgerald had committed a foul after accidentally tangling with an opponent.
The Canaries restored their two-goal advantage just before the break, but Stanislas grabbed his second 10 minutes into the second half after good work from Freddie Sears and at that point it looked as though Hammers might turn the match on its head.
However, Norwich bounced back to claim a fourth after Jack Collison slipped in midfield, and they made it five in the closing minutes as the visitors chased the game.
Tony Carr said afterwards: "It wasn't a good performance today and Norwich were physically stronger than us - we were second best from the word go, to be honest.
"At 3-2, it looked as though we might produce a comeback but then we shot ourselves in the foot again with another sloppy goal, and they finished it off late on.
"It's a shame that the winning run has come to an end, especially in the manner that it did, and now we've just got to bounce back as soon as we can.
"The boys have been brought back down to earth with a bit of a bump today, and they are all disappointed that they didn't perform to the best of their ability, but we will work hard to make sure we get back on track."
Hammers: Blackmore, O'Neill, Spence, Ngala, Fitzgerald (Widdowson 65), Sears, Collison, Harvey (Hales 60), Stanislas, Bowes (Hunt 70), Jeffery. Subs unused: Street, Tomkins.
The under-18s found themselves 2-0 down after 11 minutes and, despite pulling the score back to 3-2 early in the second half, they couldn't produce a memorable comeback and the hosts added two more strikes late on.
Junior Stanislas converted a penalty on 30 minutes to pull a goal back after Norwich had raced into an early two goal lead - their second also coming from the penalty spot after the referee had inexplicably decided that Lorcan Fitzgerald had committed a foul after accidentally tangling with an opponent.
The Canaries restored their two-goal advantage just before the break, but Stanislas grabbed his second 10 minutes into the second half after good work from Freddie Sears and at that point it looked as though Hammers might turn the match on its head.
However, Norwich bounced back to claim a fourth after Jack Collison slipped in midfield, and they made it five in the closing minutes as the visitors chased the game.
Tony Carr said afterwards: "It wasn't a good performance today and Norwich were physically stronger than us - we were second best from the word go, to be honest.
"At 3-2, it looked as though we might produce a comeback but then we shot ourselves in the foot again with another sloppy goal, and they finished it off late on.
"It's a shame that the winning run has come to an end, especially in the manner that it did, and now we've just got to bounce back as soon as we can.
"The boys have been brought back down to earth with a bit of a bump today, and they are all disappointed that they didn't perform to the best of their ability, but we will work hard to make sure we get back on track."
Hammers: Blackmore, O'Neill, Spence, Ngala, Fitzgerald (Widdowson 65), Sears, Collison, Harvey (Hales 60), Stanislas, Bowes (Hunt 70), Jeffery. Subs unused: Street, Tomkins.