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 Saturday 5th November 2005, Barclays Premiership, Upton Park, Kick-Off 3:00pm
West Ham United: Hislop (Bywater 60), Repka, Ferdinand, Gabbidon, Konchesky, Benayoun (Newton 90), Reo-Coker (Dailly HT), Mullins, Etherington, Harewood, Sheringham. Subs not used: Bellion, Zamora
Albion: Kuszczak, Watson, C Davies, Clement, Albrechtsen, Greening, Wallwork, Inamoto, Kamara, Kanu (Campbell 84), Earnshaw (Horsfield 74). Subs not used: Hoult (gk), Moore, Carter
Referee: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)
Assistant Referees: Guy Beale (Somerset),
Mike Mullarkey (Devon) Half-Time: West Ham United 0-0 Albion Attendance: 34,325 Conditions: Cool and cloudy with spells of rain
MATCH REPORT
BY: Dale Brookes WEST BROM TEAM NEWS: Manager Bryan Robson made three changes to the side that lost 3-0 at home to Newcastle United last weekend. Ronnie Wallwork came in to replace Riccardo Scimeca who missed out altogether. Steve Watson reverted to right back while Martin Albrechtsen returned from injury in place of Darren Moore who dropped to the bench, Neil Clement switching back to his central defensive role. Darren Carter also made way for Diomansy Kamara after the Senegal International missed last weekend’s encounter due to being granted paternity leave. WEST HAM UNITED TEAM NEWS: Boss Alan Pardew made one change to the side that lost 2-0 at Liverpool last weekend. Veteran Teddy Sheringham returned to the starting line up, replacing David Bellion. ’SHERRI’ TOO MUCH FOR ALBION AS HAMMERS GAIN THE POINTS AT UPTON PARK!!! 39 year-old forward Teddy Sherringham scored the winner as West Ham collected another three points towards Premiership survival. Albion’s failure to convert early chances haunted them again as both Diomansy Kamara and Steve Watson had efforts well saved by Hammers keeper Hislop but there was only ever really one team that looked like scoring and Sheringham made sure of that with a 56th minute strike to pile more misery on Bryan Robson’s men. West Ham started the game extremely bright and were unlucky not take an early lead when Sheringham flicked on a long kick from Shaka Hislop into the path of Marlon Harewood but his shot was superbly blocked in the nick of time by Albrechtsen and the ball rolled behind for a corner. From the resulting corner Sheringham was again first to the aerial challenge but Ferdinand could only head wide of Kuszczak’s goal.
Diomansy Kamara showed
exactly what the Baggies missed last week against Newcastle as he skipped
his way past Repka following a Kanu pass but the Senegalese striker could
only fire into the side netting from a tight angle when he should have done
better. Albion thought they had gone in front moments later when Steve
Watson headed into the back of the net from close range following a Kamara
free kick but the goal was disallowed for offside.
The restart began with the
Hammers making a change as Christian Dailly replaced the injured Nigel Reo
Coker. Albion almost took the lead when an Albrechtsen swung over a
dangerous cross from the left which Kamara cleverly dummied for Steve Watson
to power in a shot but it was straight at Hislop who managed to hold onto it
at the second attempt with Kanu waiting to pounce. Ronnie Wallwork almost equalised for the visitors but his 18 yard half volley was well saved by keeper Bywater. At the other end Albion almost gifted the Hammers a second goal when Neil Clement’s poor pass back put Kuszczak under pressure, the Polish shot stopper could only kick an attempted clearance against the pressurising Harewood which saw the ball spin inches wide of his left hand post.
A last ditch clearance at
the vital moment from Anton Ferdinand denied Kanu from scoring following a
dangerous cross by Albrechtsen from the left flank. In the 87th minute
Diomansy Kamara missed a golden chance to equalise when he was played in by
a clever header from Ronnie Wallwork but the former Pompey forward blasted
his effort into the side netting when it looked easier to score. That was
the last chance of the game as West Ham held on for a vital victory. MAN OF THE MATCH: Steve Watson PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Kuszczak
6 - His kicking was very poor today, did make a couple of saves to keep us
in the game though.
REF
WATCH
FAN
WATCH MY REVIEW
Well what can I say
about that performance then? Other than it was another poor showing in my
view. Yes we created chances and yes we had a lot of possession in the
second half but we simply are not good enough. The players just don’t seem
up for it, we can hardly string two passes together and to be honest this
has been happening all season away from home. Did you know we have only
scored one away goal in the Premiership so far? That to me is relegation
form! Now I wouldn’t mind if we were dominating sides now and then but we
are not, we are awful in front of goal when we get a chance plus we can’t
defend to save our lives. It’s just terrible to watch at the moment and I
really think unless a dramatic change is made we are on our way down, this
time there will not be the luck we had last season.
wba.co.uk
Bryan Robson :"It's disappointing when you play like that, especially in the second half, and you don't get anything out of the game. We knew West Ham would put everything into the first 20 minutes so, when we got through that period and had a couple of good chances as well, I thought we'd come back into the game. To be as dominant as we were in the second half and not get anything out of the game is bad play by us.” "It was also a poor goal to give away. We didn't anticipate winning the second ball from a big diagonal ball and Teddy did what he does best. Our anticipation was also poor from the amount of corners and set plays we had. When you have that many around the opposition's box, you should be scoring some goals. I thought our overall play was very good. We passed the ball well in the second half and got round the back of West Ham. We created a few good chances but, unfortunately, we missed them." "The problem for us at this moment in time is that we're not finishing our chances. In the last three league games, we've had great chances but keep missing them. But, if we keep playing football like that and keep creating chances, it will turn and they will start going into the net. Joe Kamara was probably the biggest culprit today. In the first half, he could have played Ina and Earnie in for a one-on-one and his decision-making was poor. Then you don't get any better chances than the one he had right at the end of the game. He needed a bit more composure.” "But if you're playing well and creating chances, somewhere along the line your fortune will change. You will start scoring goals and go on a bit of a run. When that happens, who knows? But you just need that break to win a game luckily 1-0 and then you're on the way. If we keep playing like we did today we'll win more games than we lose." Source: wba.co.uk
Alan Pardew:
"It was a big win for
us and a terrific performance. That is 18 points now from 11 games and
for a promoted team that is a huge achievement. We were back at home
and for the first time we were up against a team that people expected
us to beat. There was a different mind set around the Stadium and
that's something we had to deal with.” Source: whufc.com
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