West Ham United's U18s succumbed to their second defeat in a row after being beaten narrowly at home by Aston Villa.
Korrey Henry gave the Hammers the lead in the first half, nodding home after the ball was kept in the danger area by Aji Alese, however the Hammers were pegged back just before half-time by Jordan Cox.
Harvey Knibbs scored the winner in the second half, but the young Irons still look set to finish in the top four with just two games left to play.
The Hammers started the brighter of the two sides and should have gone ahead after 15 minutes. Ben Wells nodded a Reece Hannam corner towards goal but Tunji Akinola was unable to apply a decisive touch at the back post.
However, the home side took the lead on the half hour mark. Once again, Hannam delivered from the left and the danger looked to have been cleared by Villa but Alese hooked the ball back into the six yard area and there was Henry to nod home his tenth of the season.
The Hammers couldn't build on their lead though and Villa equalised shortly before the interval Cox rebounded home a Jack Clarke free-kick.
The home side could have regained the lead on a number of occasions in the second half. Jeremy Ngakia fired over from an acute angle and leading scorer Jahmal Hector-Ingram, returning from injury, had a shot deflected inches wide of the post.
However, against the run of play, Villa stole the three points as Knibbs broke clear and slotted under Rihards Matrevics.
Despite the defeat, the Hammers go into their final two U18 Premier League South matches with a five point cushion over fifth placed Fulham.