Runners-up spot for Hammers in Hong Kong

West Ham reached the final in the Hong Kong Sevens tournament but were beaten by Aston Villa
West Ham United finished as runners-up in the Hong Kong Sevens tournament on Sunday for the second consecutive year as they were beaten 2-0 by Aston Villa in the final.
 
The young Hammers progressed from Group D as winners on Saturday after two draws against Singapore Cricket Club and HKFA and a victory over Leicester City, securing their quarter-final place against local side Eastern on Sunday.
 
And after a 1-0 win in the last-eight of the competition in the morning, the Hammers came up against Seoul FC in the semi-final stage for a place in the final once again after last year’s 3-2 defeat to Atletico Madrid.
 
Another one-goal victory followed and the Hammers found themselves up against fellow English side Aston Villa in the final, but the Midlands side’s 2-0 success saw them lift the trophy.
 
Full-back Lewis Page grabbed the Claret and Blue’s winner against Eastern in the quarter-final, firing a left-footed attempt across the keeper into the bottom corner, and spirits were high heading into the final four.
 
He said: “I haven’t scored in a while, so it was nice to get on the scoresheet. It was great to get us into the semi-finals so hopefully we can push on from here.”
 
 
Another one-goal victory was all that was needed when FC Seoul were the opponents in the next round, and Jahmal Hector-Ingram was the scorer, tapping in from one yard out following a superb passing move.
 
Alex Pike, who scored two for the Hammers on Saturday in the tournament, reacted: “The game [against Seoul] was our toughest game so far. We got to the final last year and we’re there again, so fingers crossed we can go and win this one.”  
But it wasn’t to be again for the Hammers, as Villa scored through Harry McKirdy and Rushian Hepburn-Murphy to lift the trophy.