SAINTS Under-18s last night sent out a chilling message to their FA Youth Cup rivals by trouncing West Ham 4-1 in the quarter final at Upton Park.

Although Saints were already red-hot favourites before the tie to lift the prestigious trophy for the first time in the club's history, the trip to East London looked set to be a tough test with the hosts fielding three England youth internationals and first-teamer Chris Cohen.

But Saints made light work of it as two Leon Best goals and one apiece from Lloyd James and Nathan Dyer gave them a comfortable winning margin which puts them into a two-legged semi-final against either Derby County or Wolves.

Under-18s coach Georges Prost made just one change to the starting line-up from the fifth round victory over Arsenal at St Mary's last month.

Adam Lallana missed out with an ankle injury so Lloyd James moved forward into Lallana's attacking midfielder role with Feliciano Condesso taking James' place in centre midfield.

A minor injury meant that striker Dave McGoldrick was on the bench.

Saints also fielded a strong line-up in the stands with chairman Rupert Lowe and first team managerial trio Harry Redknapp, Jim Smith and Kevin Bond all present.

Saints started strongly and their first clear-cut chance came in the third minute when James' slide-rule pass put Theo Walcott clean through on goal.

The 15-year-old England Under-17 international tried to slip the ball past keeper Darren Behcet, who diverted it for a corner.

The Hammers' first effort saw Moses Ashikodi's shot blocked by Martin Cranie and the skier started the move that gave Saints the lead in the 24th minute.

His perfectly-timed ball set Dyer away down the left and Dyer cut inside to cross with his right foot.

The cross evaded everyone but Walcott kept the ball in and hit an out-swinging cross which was met by James' diving header.

Four minutes later Best ran from the centre circle, jinked past one defender and dummied to force another to back off before stroking a low shot against the post from the 18-yard line.

The £2m rated Walcott then twice came close to doubling the lead. Firstly Behcet left his goal gaping when he challenged Best for the ball, but Walcott failed to hit the target from a narrow angle. And then his far-post volley was saved by Behcet.

The home side were reduced to a handful of half chances in the first half but levelled two minutes after the break.

Hogan Ephraim made a strong run from midfield but lost control only for Saints' Kyle Critchell to mis-kick which allowed Oliver Allen, son of former Spurs ace Clive, to drill a powerful low shot inside Andy McNeil's near post.

Thankfully, Saints took just ten minutes to regain the lead.

Walcott turned his marker and raced to the by-line before hitting the ball low and hard across the face of goal, giving Best an easy tap-in.

Two minutes later Best had a 20-yard effort blocked when a pass to his right for Walcott was the better option.

But Best, the leading scorer for the reserves this season, made it 3-1 in the 77th minute.

A spectacular break-down of the Hammers' offside trap meant that Condesso's pass found him clean through in a central position and Best curled a delightful 20-yard shot just inside the left-hand post.

Saints rounded off the scoring with five minutes left with a well deserved goal for Dyer, who cut in from the left wing to hit a low 12 yard shot which rolled in off the near post.

SAINTS (4-4-1-1): McNeil; Critchell, Cranie, Rudd, Richards; Dyer (McGoldrick, 88), Sparv, Condesso, Walcott (Dutton-Black, 89); James; Best.

Attendance: 1,607