Town's U18 side were on the wrong end of an 8-2 scoreline at Playford Road on Saturday morning as they were comprehensively beaten by West Ham United, playing the last quarter of an hour with 10 men.
The Blues fielded Oliver Wilkinson, a recent signing from Barnsley, at centre-back and Daniel Ologho, most recently with Spurs, started at left-back.
However, the Town backline was breached twice early on - Isaac Thomas headed in a deep free-kick at the back post on six and then Jephthah Medine cut in from the right and hit a left-foot shot into the top corner just five minutes later.
Thomas added a third on 18 with a close-range header after a short free-kick was well worked on the left, but the Blues rallied and Benji Buskell forced visiting keeper Finley Hooper into a smart save and Nelson Eze headed over from a corner.
Two minutes before the break, Indiana Pedder raced onto a through ball from Charlie Wood and forced Hooper into a mistake which left the former Spurs youngster with an empty net to roll the ball into.
Pedder grabbed his second less than sixty seconds later when he bundled a fine cross from Buskell in at the far post, to leave the game finely poised at half-time.
The young Blues made the worst possible start to the second half though and found themselves 5-2 down just five minutes after the restart. Medine netted his second following a cross from the right and then a Hammers free-kick deflected into the net off the head of Isaac Boakye-King.
On 59 the Town defence failed to clear the ball from danger and Andre Dike converted from close range for the visitors' sixth. With fifteen minutes remaining, skipper Wood was shown a second yellow card and subsequent red for a foul after picking up a caution early in the game for a similar infringement.
Hammers centre-back Thomas grabbed his hat-trick with another header from a set piece on 85 and then his fourth in the second minute of stoppage time after a cross from the left following another short free-kick.
U18s: Bentley, Barry, Ologho, Brown (Olawole 70), Wilkinson (P Adebayo 46), Boakye-King, Buskell, Wood, Ladegbaye, Eze (Enkotosia 46), Pedder. Unused: Fletcher, Msabah.