Wycombe 3 West Ham under-23s 0

IT was bye bye West Ham, as Wycombe sent the hapless Hammers tumbling out of the revamped EFL Trophy on a night to forget for the Premiership's much exalted academy teams.

West Ham, West Brom and Middlesbrough all found the exit door to this year's competition, also known as the Checkatrade Trophy, becoming the first Premier League academy sides to be eliminated in the group stages.

As for Wycombe, the comfortable victory, following on from their 3-0 away win at Northampton Town last month, means the Chairboys are safely through to the knockout rounds - with still one more group match to play against Coventry City.

The competition, which has featured 16 development squads alongside League 1 and 2 teams, has come in for some criticism and been marked by low crowds around the country. Adams Park was filled with 1,060 fans for the match.

Six of the academy clubs' players have to be under 21, with no limits on the other five players in their team.

But Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth won't mind. His team picked up from their two league wins on the spin with victory over a youthful West Ham team.

Adebayo Akinfenwa, Scott Kashket and Nick Freeman were on target for the League Two side, with Freeman scoring the third goal of the night and his first in senior football.

Akinfenwa, whose neat piece of skill earned Wycombe a 1-0 win over Exeter on Saturday, headed home a Sam Wood free-kick after six minutes to open the scoring for Wycombe.

And then Kashket, also in a rich run of form after his two goals in the 5-1 demolition of Crewe last week, was on target again two minutes after half-time thanks to a neat through ball, with Freeman getting the third on 68 minutes.

Boss Ainsworth named himself among the substitutes, but chose to keep the number 43 shirt hidden under his tracksuit. However Marcus Bean, who has been out of action since August, did get a second half run out after his lay-off through injury.

The match was marked by eight bookings - six of them Wycombe players going into the referee's notebook.

Wycombe: Blackman, Jombati, De Havilland, Pierre (Stewart 46),
Harriman, Freeman, Rowe (Bean 59), McGinn, Wood,
Akinfenwa (Hayes 69), Kashket.
Subs (not used): Cowan-Hall, Richardson, Ainsworth.
Booked: Pierre, Rowe, Stewart, Freeman, De Havilland, Jombati.

West Ham U23: Howes, Sylvestra (Eggleton 75), Pike, Akinola,
Neufville, Makasi, Lewis, Kemp (Parfitt-Williams 63), Browne,
Diangana, Gordon (Hector-Ingram 56).
Subs (not used): Johnson, Forde, Ford, Coventry.
Booked: Gordon, Akinola.
Attendance: 1,060