And, says Peter Grant, it was a great 90 minutes for Richard Garcia as he continues his comeback trail following a second cruciate injury of his fledgling career.
"We won quite convincingly, 3-1, with Richard Garcia scoring a hat trick - we are delighted, because it has been a long seven months for him," says Peter.
"We are pleased to see him return, and that is only his second game back.
"It is a credit to the boy and he is reaping the rewards for the hard work he is putting in.
"His attitude has been first class; I wasn't here when Richard had his injury but he has come back and worked really hard.
"He has been training for about six weeks now and we were cagey about when he came back, but he has had 90 minutes and we are chuffed with him.
"We always say to Richard that sometimes your strength comes from adversity."
Richard himself says he knows it will be time to move on when he does get fully fit and Peter says:
"It is not through lack of effort that he may not be a West Ham player - because his effort since I have been here has been phenomenal.
"He is working so hard and trained yesterday morning when he knew he wasn't involved against Southend so we are chuffed to bits with him.
"The physiotherapists have helped him, but then it becomes a mental block, and he has shown he is tough enough."