Luis Boa Morte completed his first full 90 minutes in eleven months in Tuesday's reserve-team friendly defeat at Tottenham Hotspur.
The Portugal midfielder, who returned from a long-term knee problem in last week's Barclays Premier Reserve League fixture at Wolverhampton Wanderers, continued his comeback on a sunny afternoon at Spurs Lodge.
It was the first time Boa Morte had completed a full game since the 2-1 Barclays Premier League victory over Middlesbrough on the final day of last season, Sunday 24 May 2009.
Playing on the left of a four-man midfield, Boa Morte came up against England international Jermaine Jenas and youngster Danny Rose, who scored a memorable goal in Tottenham's top-flight win over Arsenal six days ago.
Ahmed Abdulla and Jack Werndly were on target in a 5-2 defeat for a youthful Hammers' side, who were giving away much in terms of overall experience, but manager Alex Dyer said the 32-year-old's performance was the highlight of the day.
"It was good. Boa was pencilled down to play 60 or 70 minutes, but he said he felt comfortable enough to carry on and he did so. He got through the game, worked hard as usual and encouraged the lads around him. The most important thing was that he got 90 minutes under his belt.
"Tottenham had good players - Jenas, Rose and John Bostock - who have been around the first team. They also have a reserve squad of young players who have been together all season and have developed together. They have strength in depth.
"We had a first-team game on Monday and have an Academy league game on Wednesday, which means we had a younger side, but they worked hard and put it in. We were just beaten by a better side.
"We had the same attitude as they did, but they just had that little bit more quality at vital times. I said that to the boys that I couldn't fault their attitudes, but they had to make sure they completed their passes and crosses or hit the target with their shots in the final third. They did those things with more consistency than we did."
West Ham United reserves: Kurucz, Driver (Modelski), McNaughton, Sanchez (Craig), Brown (A Zola), Payne (Werndly), Lee, Boa Morte, Edgar, Abdulla, Montano