West Ham’s Eastern Counties League side fielded only three amateurs - Noakes, Knight and Malcolm, all just sixteen, Malcolm already a schoolboy international. And make no mistake: the Hammers came to win by playing football the right way. No frantic running, no blood‑and‑thunder stuff - just the ball kept on the deck, neat patterns, patient build‑up. Forde slung in centres, others followed suit, but the three youngsters - Malcolm especially - refused to lump it.
The trouble was simple: near goal, there was no Hammer to finish. Not a single tap‑in, barely a shot worth the name, Chapman the lone exception. It was as if Upton Park had adopted a six‑lesson coaching manual - slow, steady, and utterly toothless. Aylesbury delivered the first lesson instead. Wegrzyk twisted Malcolm, Ballantyne and Peters inside out over 30 yards of devilry before sliding the ball past the advancing Peters. Ten minutes later he repeated the trick, skating round three more defenders and finishing with the same cool certainty.
Gibson somehow missed an open goal, and with Terry Williams giving their defence a soldier’s farewell before heading into the Army, Aylesbury were rarely troubled. The third goal was pure misfortune. Dymock chased a long Straczek punt and young Ballantyne, stretching to clear, hooked the ball high over his own keeper from just beyond halfway. Petchey briefly revived interest, drifting in from the left to bury a Chapman centre after 34 minutes. But within 30 seconds of the restart Wegrzyk struck again, and Williams added another on 65 minutes - both efforts reminding West Ham what shooting actually looked like.
The Londoners never shook off their practice‑match lethargy. Plenty of approach play, plenty of tidy touches, but close to goal they carried no punch at all.

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Aylesbury United:

Lightfoot, Condron (Munday), Straczek, Scott, Jones, Lewandowski, Habowski, Williams, Dymock, Wegrzyk, Steglinski