Djair Parfitt-Williams, the West Ham United striker, said winning the Barclay’s Under-21 League Cup was a “very proud moment”.

West Ham beat Hull City 5-3 on penalties after the two teams finished the two-leg home and away series deadlocked at 1-1 on aggregate after extra time at the KC Stadium in midweek.

“I’m absolutely delighted, I’m buzzing!” Parfitt-Williams said. “It’s a great feeling to be named champions. I’ve never won a serious tournament before, so it’s a very proud moment for me and the team.”

West Ham led 1-0 from the first leg of the final thanks to Parfitt-Williams’s late winner at Upton Park, and were seconds away from clinching the trophy before Will Annan scored for Hull in the final minute of second-half stoppage time to take the game into extra time.

However, the visitors would not be denied their moment of glory and finally sealed the win after all five of their penalty takers converted while Raphael Spiegel, the West Ham goalkeeper, saved Daniel Batty’s effort.

“I think we deserved to win the game,” Parfitt-Williams said. “Hull were difficult to beat, but we had the chances so it shouldn’t have gone to penalties really.”

Parfitt-Williams finished as the competition’s joint leading goalscorer with five goals alongside Greg Olley, the Hull striker.

He nearly won the Golden Boot outright after striking the post just before half-time

“I came so close to scoring in the first half,” he said. “I gave the goalkeeper the eye, did everything well, but it hit the post.

“Thankfully, it didn’t really matter, but it would have been nice to get that goal.”

Parfitt-Williams is considered one of West Ham’s most exciting talents and featured twice for the club’s first team against Lusitanos of Andorra in the Europa League qualifiers in July last year, and had been an unused substitute away in four Barclays Premier League matches this season before he suffered injury.

He signed a two-year deal at the club last year after finishing as the top scorer for their under-18 side with nine goals.

The promising player was playing for the San Jose Earthquakes academy when he was recommended to West Ham by Clyde Best, who played for the East London club between 1968 and 1976.