Toni Martinez’s hat-trick in Monday night’s 4-0 Premier League 2 victory against Wolverhampton Wanderers prompted West Ham Academy manager Terry Westley to describe his record as frightening.
Nathan Trott was in goal recording a shutout, while Djair Parfitt-Williams was did not travel with the squad.
The Spaniard scored three terrific goals at the home of AFC Telford United – one a penalty – to, alongside Dan Kemp’s first half strike, down their Midlands opponents with ease.
Martinez, who signed for the Hammers from Valencia during the summer, now has 12 goals in eleven Under 23 matches this season and has impressed every time he has pulled on a claret and blue shirt.
After his trio of strikes against Wolves, boss Westley said, “Toni’s on double figures and he missed probably six weeks of the season. He has come from abroad, has had to settle, has been learning the language.
“That shows just how well he has done. He’s an out-and-out goalscorer. He puts his foot through the ball and he’s clinical.
“He can be frustrating because he’s not on the right side of the pitch sometimes when you want to play it up, but around the box he comes alive and to score double figures in the first half of the season at any level is difficult.
Trott was called upon in the 84th minute making a wonderful save, it was the first time he had been properly tested. Wolves striker Armstrong cut in from the right and struck one in anger, and Trott brilliantly and acrobatically tipped it over.
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