6 January, 2007 - 16:16 — Neville Nixon
He came, he saw, he altered, OK so it was only a victory over Brighton but it was still a win, ask other London supporters, namely Alan Pardew's Charlton, how important it was to get through to the next round against lower opposition.
Two of Alan Curbishley's new starting selections came good for him by providing the goals that helped a little to remove the trauma of last week's result against Reading. Mark Noble scored his first for West Ham while Carlton Cole celebrated his second for the club, his first being as a substitute on the opening fixture of the season against Charlton.
The first half was all bluster and running but with no end result, but it wasn't for the lack of trying, Curbs' new line up played with fire in their belly's, they chased, they carried and generally played like it really mattered, something that was sorely missing of late. Tevez relished playing where he is supposed to play, ably supported by Carlton Cole, the Argentine International had a smile on his face and with better luck could have ended his scoring drought early on against the Seagulls. After weaving his way through the visitors defence his shot was well saved and he was equally unlucky later in the match when on 65 minutes his shot was parried away by Henderson.
The tension in the air was palpable early on as the crowd, quite rightly, urged their team on but were always wary of the break, the 0-0 scoreline at half time was at least a relief, if not overly welcome.
Second half started with Hammers much more in the ascendancy, and it was rather fitting that Mark Noble, hammer through and through, should open the scoring, Tevez passed to him and his volleyed drive from 18 yards out flew in.
Things got even better when Boa Morte crossed to Carlton Cole who stabbed the ball in from 6 yards out, cue a collective sigh of relief, but to be fair, Brighton made a go of it, and they had better possession for much of the remainder of the half although with little effective penetration.
Benayoun and Mullins both went close with shots from distance, but it was Mullins who landed the coup de grace with a header from close range in injury time. All in all it was an accomplished performance, the new lads in the starting line up definitely seemed to perk things up, there was also a clever bit of man management shown by Mervyn Day by his recomendation that Curbs should start Roy Carroll in a less high profile match than an all singing all dancing Sky extravagensa, but of course the proper test will come next week, ironically against Fulham, let's hope that Boa Morte can show them what they will be missing. - Ed
Comments
Franck Ribery!?! The biggest
why NOT franck Ribery from
because he wants to play CL
i have been home and away to
We cannot sell Ferdinand to
THAT IS BECAUSE YOU ARE A
Ed, why do you allow
Because otherwise we will
Bugger off then..!
Who's the retard who can't
HA HA no Champions leauge
It's only because you can't
I'm a retard who's team is
According to
Why bother with John Hartson
the only chance of getting
Yes and who wanted
Neville,can you help
A Rumour at Upton Park
nev ........ any transfer
And if not, could you make
em kaka, rooney n zidane is
That would be too
Bloody hell. Win the F A
dailly was captain?
dailly was captain?
The Toronto Fan: Best win
NOW I KNOW YOU ARE ON
WHAT DID I SAY! HAYDEN
R U ON DRUGS OR WHAT?
Man utd can have him!
i say get 2 centre backs in
Just read on
OMG!! SO UPSON MADE A
again... another short
1.My Eyes are perfect
what opinion? how sad his
Now now Ladies
Lauren and Davenport , yep
West Ham boss defends
MOTOR EVEN! sorry about
Whilst I agree we need a
I notice no one has
Yes we need a quality
I understand what your
I notice no one has
THERE'S AN ECHO IN HERE :-)
Curbs, get Ljungberg
i like ljungberg .. but no
every player you sign from