Nathan Trott kept a clean sheet as West Ham United’s Development Squad kicked off the new Premier League 2 campaign with a convincing 3-0 victory at Stoke City.

The visitors controlled the entire game, played at the Leek Town’s Harrison Park stadium last weekend, with Trott barely tested between the posts.

“A clean sheet and a great start,” was the way former BAA and Bermuda Under-17 player summed up the result to family members. “The team defended well.”

Ashley Fletcher took just three minutes to score what proved to be the winner, rising to nod Grady Diangana’s inswinging cross past Daniel Gyollai, the Stoke goalkeeper.

Fletcher also had a hand in the visitor’s second goal as his rebound from a one-on-one effort saved by Gyollai was fired in off the post by Antonio Martinez on the half-hour mark.

Fletcher went close again with a lob from just inside Stoke territory that crashed onto the bar and bounced over the touchline for a goalkick, much to the relief of a hapless Gyollai.

West Ham pulled further away through a Ryan Sweeney own goal fifteen minutes from time, which capped the visitors comfortable victory.

Trott and his team-mates will now be looking to build on their perfect start to the new season when they host Newcastle United in their next league outing at their new home venue at Victoria Road, the home of Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club.

“We are delighted to have secured Victoria Road,” Terry Westley, head of West Ham’s Academy, said. “It’s a great stadium with a great pitch. It was our first-choice venue, so we are very grateful to Dagenham & Redbridge that it’s worked out.

“We’re all looking forward to that first home game of the season against Newcastle. We’ve had some great games with them recently, and this one should be no different.”

Westley added: “One of the most pleasing things for us last season was the growth in the number of supporters. We started with a couple of hundred, now we regularly get several thousand.

“For the U21 Premier League Cup final we got more than 10,000 and you can’t underestimate how valuable that experience is for the development of our young players.

“We’re expecting big crowds at Victoria Road and I’d like to welcome and encourage every West Ham fan to come down and see the work we’re doing for themselves.”