Colchester United have been eliminated from the Bristol Street Motors Trophy by West Ham's U21s at the JobServe Community Stadium.
Colchester were looking to book their place in the last 16 of the Bristol Street Motors Trophy but were up against a young West Ham side who have been prolific this season.
And the Hammers were at it from the off, taking the lead in the opening minutes courtesy of Daniel Chesters, who nodded home from close range.
Matt Jay had the best chance of the half for the home side, turning a header towards goal at a difficult angle but it was not enough to beat the goalkeeper and draw the U’s level.
Despite gaining more of foothold in the final few minutes, Matty Etherington’s men could not find a goal and headed down the tunnel trailing.
Despite an early flurry from the U’s early in the second half, it was West Ham who scored the second goal.
George Earthy rounded off a quick passage of play, bursting into the box and firing home infront of the travelling support.
With ten minutes to go, the East Londoners had a third, this time finding the net through Lewis Orford to give his side a comfortable lead in North Essex.
A few minutes later, West Ham found their fourth. Divin Mubama put his laces through the ball and his strike was true, beating Tom Smith again to guarantee no chances of a comeback.
Matty Etherington made six changes from the side that started against Doncaster with Will Greenidge, Matt Jay, Samson Tovide, Gene Kennedy, Jayden Fevrier and Bradley Ihionvien all coming into the XI.
Despite plenty of fresh legs on the pitch, it was West Ham who started quicker, taking the lead inside eight minutes.
A cross on the left from Callum Marshall was met by former Colchester loanee Chesters – and he had no problem dispatching his header past Smith in goal.
The U’s responded well to the goal, with Jay being involved in most of the attacking transitions.
Ihionvien had a chance after a quarter of an hour, latching on to a ball over the top from Jay but the striker could only drag his left-footed effort wide of the goal.
Tovide was claiming for a penalty a few minutes later after being floored by Ben Johnson, but the referee was not buying it and waved play on.
Marshall was the first man in the book at the Jobserve Community Stadium after going in late on Kennedy who required treatment but was able to continue.
Much of the first half was dominated by the visitors. West Ham were able to keep the ball well in large periods and were quick in their recovery when the U’s broke.
Jay had an opportunity with five minutes to go before the break, flicking a deft header on and towards goal but Joseph Anang was equal to it in net.
West Ham had another opportunity from a corner in the dying seconds but did not conjure much from it and went in at half-time with a one goal cushion.
The U’s needed to go up a gear if they wanted to qualify for the next round and they emerged for the second half with renewed purpose and energy.
An early series of corners put pressure on the West Ham defence, with Kelleher getting up well to win his headers but unable to sirect on target.
Divin Mubama tried his luck from distance for the Irons, but his effort was just wide.
And Earthy was the man to get the Hammers’ second, drilling low past Smith to double their advantage.
A triple substitution followed as Etherington looked to shuffle the pack with John Akinde, Noah Chilvers and Tom Hopper all coming on to add some more firepower in attack.
But it would be West Ham who grabbed a third. Substitute Orford powered home from the edge of the box to kill to the game off.
Chay Cooper was introduced for the final ten minutes, replacing Jay who looked dangerous at times during the match.
The visitors had their fourth after eighty-one minutes, this time it was Mubama who struck, leaving Smith stranded and sparking more celebrations from the travelling supporters as they walked away as winners on the night.
Colchester XI: Smith, Greenidge, Kelleher, Jay (Cooper, 78), Tovide (Akinde, 62), Mitchell, Read (Chilvers, 62), Egbo, Kennedy, Fevrier, Ihionvien (Hopper, 62)
Subs: Collins,Bandeira, Chilvers, Hopper, Akinde, Cooper, Terry
West Ham U21 XI: Anang, Chesters (Laing, 83), Johnson, Casey, Luizao, Scarles (Clayton, 83), Coventry, Kelly (Orford, 46), Marshall (Moore, 87), Mubama, Earthy (Kodua, 87)
Subs: Moore, Clayton, Laing, Knightbridge, Kodua, Orford, Forbes