Palace settled quickly, moving the ball with confidence and enjoying the lion’s share of possession in the early exchanges.
The young Eagles first sight of goal came inside six minutes, when Jemiah Umolu cut in from the right, shifted onto his left foot and curled an effort narrowly wide of the far post.
An even better opportunity soon followed. A defensive lapse sent Benji Casey through on goal, but he was unable to apply the decisive touch, with Finlay Hooper advancing smartly to block and preserve parity.
It quickly became apparent that both sides were extremely comfortable in possession, each keen to build patiently and assert control with the ball.
By the 20-minute mark, the contest was finely balanced. Dylan Reid nearly released Casey clear away on goal, but the striker was adjudged offside. A few minutes later, Umolu played a neat layoff to Cardines, whose low delivery flashed across the face of goal but failed to find a white shirt.
Despite much of the play unfolding in the Hammers’ final third, the hosts struck on the counter after forcing a turnover.
Josh Ajala drove forward and squared for Daniel Cummings, but Lee reacted superbly, racing off his line to claw the ball away one-on-one. The loose follow-up then flashed across goal, fortunately evading any further danger.
As the game moved into the final third of the half, the momentum shifted – and it was West Ham who began to turn the screw, launching wave after wave of attack.
Lee was equal to it. He dealt comfortably with Ajala’s first effort at his near post, but his next intervention was outstanding. When Cummings drifted inside and saw his strike take a deflection, Lee reacted superbly, diving full stretch to claw the ball away in spectacular fashion.
Palace reasserted their control in the closing stages of the half and began to dictate proceedings once more. Tyler Whyte drifted inside and unleashed a fierce, flat drive that skimmed the outside of the far post – agonisingly close to breaking the deadlock.
On the stroke of half-time, Seb Williams offered a series of warnings for Palace, driving a low, powerful effort from distance that was held comfortably by Hooper, before forcing the shot-stopper into an acrobatic save to preserve parity.
