The return of defender Ollie Harfield after 717 days out with a knee injury was the highlight of Aldershot Town’s 3-0 home defeat by West Ham United’s under-21s in the National League Cup group stage.

Harfield started at left-back and played for 34 minutes before being substituted to a standing ovation from a crowd of 491 at the EBB Stadium.

West Ham took the lead in the ninth minute when they caught the Shots on the break down the right and whipped the ball in low for Daniel Cummings to slide it into the bottom left corner from close range.

The Shots then enjoyed a strong spell of possession and good running from Hakeem Sandah saw him brought down in the centre of the pitch.

Harfield played the ball out to Sandah on the right and after cutting in with some step-overs he drilled a cross to the back post where there was nobody in red and blue to capitalise.

In the 28th minute the ball fell to Jethro Medine down the right and he tried to twist and turn past Harfield to no avail, the defender’s superb block preventing a good chance.

Four minutes later the Shots lost possession in the middle of the park and a quick breakaway ended with a good low ball in from the right by Jethro Medine that found his brother Jephthah Medine at the back post for an easy finish.

Ten minutes before half-time Jephthah Medine was played in behind and slotted the ball past Charlie Patmore into the bottom left corner to make it 3-0 at the interval.

Aldershot started on the front foot in the second half and Brody Peart showed tidy footwork to work an angle for a cross from the left.

The ball in was a good one but West Ham goalkeeper Lanre Awesu did well to latch on to it and prevent anyone in red and blue poaching a gift.

With their fans eager for a goal to reduce the deficit the Shots kept knocking on the door but were unable to convert their chances.

Following a corner, the ball was laid back into the path of Lewis-Evans on the edge of the box who let fly with a left-footed strike that cleared the crossbar.

But as the game closed in on full-time it appeared to be one-way traffic in favour of the visitors. A couple of good attacking phases, including one that had the ball in the back of the net for a fourth time, were deemed offside to the relief of the Shots fans.

However Aldershot’s new signing Jordan Alves looked a positive option at left-back, linking up well with Brody Peart down the left and putting in several quality crosses that deserved someone on the end of them.

The defeat was a tough one to take for the Shots, with the fate of the game being sealed inside the first 45 minutes. But not everything was doom and gloom, with the introduction of some new faces out on the pitch and the much welcomed return of some old ones.

Aldershot Town: Charlie Patmore, Ollie Harfield (Tenconi 34), Jacob Borgnis, Tristan Abrahams (Alves 34), Marcus Dinanga (Lewis-Evans 34), Hakeem Sandah (Hadley 34), Michael Stickland (c) (Dyce 46), Jack Matton, Marcus Wyllie, Brody Peart, Elijah Oladunjoye.

By Luke Maunder