West Ham United had started playing in binary: 0-1, 1-1, 1-0, 0-1, 1-1, 1-0, a code of results signifying little entertainment. Then came March and the numbers went from dull to dire: 0-4, 0-4, 0-4. The sequence of suffering was broken on Saturday with a simple sum: 1 x 18. That is, one 18-year-old, Freddie Sears, who scored the winner against Blackburn Rovers six minutes into his debut.

It was not only the three points that lifted spirits at Upton Park, but the hope that Sears and other local boys of similar age and potential will graduate from youth to first team and shine, as did the likes of Joe Cole, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard.

The roar from the stands that greeted Sears’s appearance on the pitch, let alone his goal, indicated that the locals would love a team owned by Icelandic businessmen to be made in Essex. “We had Mark Noble and Anton Ferdinand [on Saturday] who’ve come through and two or three on the bench, so it’s a nice healthy mixture and, next year, with seven subs, it might happen more often,” Alan Curbishley, the West Ham manager, said.

Of course, the juiciest fruits from the famed academy have graduated to bigger clubs in recent years, but Curbishley hopes that West Ham will be buyers, not sellers. “I don’t think anyone at the club is thinking of anything but progressing and strengthening,” he said.

Sears, who is in England’s Under19 squad for their friendly against Russia a week tomorrow, has been prolific for the West Ham youth team and the absence of Carlton Cole, Luis Boa Morte and Craig Bellamy on Saturday meant that Curbishley considered giving the forward a start against Blackburn. He came off the bench with 15 minutes left and sent a diving header past Brad Friedel after the goal-keeper had parried his initial low shot.

“He’s only just started training with us, but he’s been scoring goals in the youth team and reserves,” Noble, the 20-year-old midfield player, said. “I hope he keeps his feet on the floor and keeps working hard. The future’s bright – we have just got to nurture him. His greatest asset is his goalscoring ability. He shoots from anywhere. Even with a half-chance he will shoot. I told him, ‘I’ve been exactly where you are now, mate, go out and enjoy it. Celebrate with your family or do whatever you do. But come ready for work on Monday.’ ” Anton Ferdinand said: “He is special. Even though it was his first game, there were no nerves. I’ve always said when home-grown players come on the pitch it lifts the crowd. He’s a grounded lad, born and bred in this area, and he has a lot to offer this club. I know what it is like to come through here. There is a lot of pressure on youngsters because everybody expects them to be a lot better than they actually might be.”

You could say the same of Blackburn, whose prospects of a top-six finish are receding. They should have won comfortably after Roque Santa Cruz’s opening goal, but their intensity dropped and the excellent Dean Ashton equalised. “We just didn’t have that drive we need to have,” Mark Hughes, the manager, said. Unlike Sears - especially if the rumour is true that he had promised himself a new car if he scored. Just as long as it is not one of those “Baby Bentleys” Curbishley dislikes so much.

How they rated

West Ham (4-4-2) R Green 6 – L Neill 7 J Spector 6 A Ferdinand Y 5 G McCartney 5 – N Solano 7 S Parker 6 H Mullins 6 F Ljungberg 6 – D Ashton 8 R Zamora 7 Substitutes: F Sears (for Solano, 75min), M Noble (for Parker, 75), J Paintsil (for Ljungberg, 88) Not used: R Wright, J Tomkins. Next: Everton (a).

Blackburn Rovers (4-4-2) B Friedel 6 – B Emerton 6 C Samba 6 A Ooijer 5 S Warnock 6 – D Bentley Y 7 S Reid Y 6 D Dunn Y 6 M G Pedersen 6 – R Santa Cruz 7 J Roberts 7 Substitutes: Z Khizanishvili 5 (for Emerton, 46min), M Derbyshire (for Dunn, 71), B McCarthy (for Pedersen, 90) Not used: J Brown, A Mokoena. Next: Wigan (h).