Matthias Fanimo's joy turned to despair on Monday night as the Development Squad succumbed to a narrow Barclays U21 Premier League defeat by Manchester United at Old Trafford.
The winger belted home Elliot Lee's knockdown after 41 minutes to deservedly cancel out Michael Keane's 33rd-minute opener.
A matter of 46 seconds later, however, and the Hammers were picking the ball out of the back of their own net as Andreas Pereira cut in from the left-hand side before firing an unstoppable shot past Raphael Spiegel.
Defeat was hard to take for Fanimo, who felt the second goal was a killer.
He told West Ham TV: "It was a good performance from the team but I think we could have been a lot better.
"We got ourselves back in the game at 1-1 and then gave it away cheaply to make it 2-1 and that's where the game ended really. From there, we just couldn't get it back."
The timing of the second goal seemed to knock the stuffing out of the young Hammers, who might have equalised had Blair Turgott got a shot away sooner when in front of goal.
Fanimo felt that conceding the goal so soon after scoring themselves had knocked the team's confidence but feels they can be proud of their performance.
"It was really disappointing because we were in high spirits so we felt like we were getting a foothold in the game. When they scored again it just really demoralises you as a player and as a team. It was hard to get back from that.
"It's always good to go into half-time either winning or drawing. Sometimes when you're losing it's hard to come out and go again, but credit to the boys because we came out and tried our best in the second half. We didn't do ourselves any harm."
Scoring on your first appearance at Old Trafford is not a feat which many players achieve during their careers but it is one Fanimo has managed with his tidy finish.
"It was really, really good. It's not something that you can do every day so I'm really pleased with it.
"It's a very good stadium, the atmosphere obviously wasn't what it usually is, but it was still a great experience to play on this ground."
Fanimo and company will be looking for an immediate reaction when they welcome Southampton to Rush Green Stadium on Friday night, with kick-off set for 7pm.
The match represents a chance for the Development Squad to record their first win of 2014 and the wideman is already looking forward to the game.
"We've got to look forward. Of course we've still got to have a look at this game and see what we did wrong but I think it's more about looking forward to the Southampton game now."
Tickets for Friday's visit of Southampton will be priced at £3 Adults and £1 Concessions, with admission free for Season Ticket Holders.