A second friendly defeat in a week for Hammers will probably matter less after the emergence of Anton Ferdinand into the starting line-up.

The teenager -- younger brother of Rio -- put in an assured 90 minutes at right back, and looks set to start the season there following Sebastien Schemmel's fall from grace.

Although Glenn Roeder has shielded the youngster from the hype that will inevitably surround him, he was happy to sing the praises of a player who may yet replace the much-missed Glen Johnson in the back four.

"I was delighted with Anton's performance," he said. "The class of the players he was up against, the quality of their movement, asked him a lot of questions and I thought he answered all of them in what was his first game."

West Ham acquitted themselves well against opponents who were always comfortable on the ball, and took the lead after 35 minutes when Joe Cole's corner was flicked on by Fredi Kanoute and deflected home by Richard Garcia.

After the break PSV upped the stakes, introducing Dennis Rommedahl and coveted striker Mateja Kezman amid a flurry of changes.

And it was Kezman who capitalised on a slack back-pass from Shaun Byrne to equalise midway through the half.

Then his darting run finally exposed Ferdinand and after Kezman's shot was parried Rommedahl tapped in a last-minute winner.

Published Monday, August 4, 2003

Brought to you by the Evening Echo