West Ham's development squad has finally been beaten for the first time under new coach Dmitri Halajko, bringing to an end a 16-game unbeaten run.
The U21s lost 4-3 to League Two Cheltenham Town in the Leasing.com Trophy in the west country on Tuesday night as the home side roared back from a 3-1 deficit to take the victory.
Halajko took over as the man at the helm of the academy side from Liam Manning in the summer after the latter joined the youth setup at MLS side New York City FC. Former Norwich City academy cheif Ricky Martin also arrived in east London in a big shake-up at Chadwell Heath over the summer.
Halajko had yet to oversee a defeat in pre-season, the Premier League 2 campaign or the Leasing.com Trophy until Tuesday when his U21 side was beaten. It was just the second time this season that Halajko had not witnessed his team win a game.
Against Cheltenham, Halajko handed U21 debuts to Iyiola Adebayo, a first-year scholar and U18s regular Sam Caiger also made his first start. Joseph Anang, who regular trains with the first team, started in goal and in-form Nathan Holland and Anthony Scully provided the goal threat up front.
Holland, who made his first senior start in the Carabao Cup defeat to Oxford last month, unselfishly set up Dan Kemp to fire the visitors in front in the 11th minute but Cheltenham equalised 15 minutes later.
Kemp then bagged his second ten minutes before half time to give the Hammers the advantage, which was extended further just two minutes later as Brazilian midfielder Bernardo Rosa arrowed in his first goal of the season.
However, the youngsters couldn't hold on to their lead as the home side scored three times in the second half to eventually earn the win and means the Hammers have to wait to try and qualify from their Leasing.com Trophy group. Had they won last night, they would have gone through.
It's back to PL2 action for the U23s and Halajko next when they face Stoke City at the bet365 Stadium on October 21. Following relegation last year to Division Two, the Hammers currently sit three points clear at the top after their unbeaten start to the league season.
