Matthais Fanimo made it a birthday to remember with the second of the Development Squad's goals in their 2-0 victory over Arsenal on Monday afternoon.
The midfielder turned 19 on Monday and celebrated by finding the net at Arsenal's London Colney training base with a speculative effort on 30 minutes to back up Wellington Paulista's opener.
The Hammers then repelled what Arsenal could throw at them in the second period to kick off their Barclays Premier U21 League Elite Group Stage campaign in style.
"It was a cross really for my goal," an honest Fanimo admitted. "I just happened to put it across and somehow it went in, but I was happy with it because it gave us a two-goal lead.
"They had a couple of chances in the second half, but our goalkeeper [Raphael Spiegel] dealt well with them. The team performance was really good, we dug it out well for the 90 minutes and got the result we needed."
Nick Haycock's U21 side endured quite a wait to get the second phase of their campaign underway following postponements against both Manchester United and Liverpool, but Fanimo was delighted to return with a three-point haul ahead of next Monday's fixture at Tottenham Hotspur.
"It was a performance worth waiting for," he added. "Some postponements can make you change the way you see games and how you go into them, but we were professional about it and we've gone on to get the win.
"When we play Tottenham next week we'll be looking to replicate that performance. We always want to play well in the league, especially in the Elite Group, so it'll be good to see how we get on against Spurs. They are a good side, so hopefully we'll be able to play well and beat them.
"I'll be looking for more goals. I enjoy playing on the right and I think I get more opportunities to score from there, so hopefully I'll get more games and see how it goes from there."