TEDDY Sheringham proved he has lost nothing of his scoring touch, adding to strikes from Carl Fletcher and Bobby Zamora to give Hammers a fine 3-0 win over FC Trollhättan in the second game of their Sweden tour.
Hammers travelled 50 miles north of Gothenburg to the Edsborg Stadium in Trollhättan for this friendly match, a town more famous for its Saab manufacturing plant than its football team.
Nevertheless, FC Trollhättan have an impressive record this season, particularly for a club that only formed in October 2001. Currently lying second in the Swedish Second Division with an excellent chance of winning promotion, Jonas Olsson's team narrowly missed out on promotion in 2002.
The local club were certainly relishing the visit of West Ham United, laying on a lavish welcome in front of an enthusiastic crowd.
Pards dipped into his first-team squad to make nine changes from the side that beat Falkenbergs, Danny Gabbidon and Luke Chadwick the only survivors from Thursday's win.
With bolts of lightening crashing overhead on a gloomy Saturday afternoon, it was Hammers who made the early running. Matty Etherington and Nigel Reo-Coker both testing the hands of goalkeeper Tobias Wennergren from close range in the first five minutes.
On 14 minutes Hammers had the ball in the net, Carl Fletcher's rasping 20-yard drive too hot for Wennergren to handle, but Teddy Sheringham was deemed to be in an offside position when he tapped home the rebound.
Two minutes later though and the legitimacy of West Ham's strike was in no doubt. Chadwick found space to cross from the right, picking out Fletcher arriving late in the box, who swept the ball past Wennergren to make it 1-0.
Sheringham traded a long-range effort with the home side's Janne Moilanen soon after, the latter's well-struck volley the closest Trollhättan would come in a half dominated by West Ham's superb attacking play.
With 10 minutes to go until half-time the tourists turned that dominance into a second goal. Chadwick's cross again caused panic in the Trollhättan defence and from Etherington's cut-back Bobby Zamora fired home from close range.
HT: 2-0
Pards gave James Collins another chance to impress in the second-half, Danny Gabbidon the man making way, while Gavin Williams replaced Luke Chadwick on the right of midfield.
Still it was Hammers dominating, Reo-Coker bursting through the home defence before executing an audacious lob that dipped narrowly over the bar.
Etherington, fresh from signing a new four-year deal at Upton Park, looked hungry and might have scored when he fired across goal from a tight angle, while Williams kept up the threat posed by the West Ham right.
And it was the Welsh winger's cross that set up Hammers third on 63 minutes. Sheringham's pass out wide started the move, and the former England striker finished it in style, heading home at the back post to all but end the game as a contest.
Sitting on a comfortable cushion, Hammers continued to knock the ball around with the panache of a Premier League outfit.
With 70 minutes gone, a lively performance from Zamora ended as
he was replaced by Czech trialist Petr Mikolanda.
Three minutes later Stephen Bywater was forced into his first save
of the match, a smart take from Jonas Andersson's drive, before
the Hammers 'keeper returned to spectator duties for the
remainder of the game.
As tiredness began to creep in Christian Dailly, Paul Konchesky and Elliott Ward were introduced - Sheringham, Etherington and Newton the players withdrawn after all giving fine performances.
The pace of the game slowed as the clock ticked away, but Hammers never looked in danger of surrendering their clean-sheet, Anton Ferdinand giving a faultless display at the heart of the West Ham defence to secure a well-deserved 3-0 win.
WEST HAM UNITED
Bywater; Repka, Newton (Ward 75), Gabbidon (Collins 45), Ferdinand, Chadwick (Williams 45), Fletcher, Reo-Coker, Sheringham (Dailly 75), Zamora (Mikolanda 70), Etherington (Konchesky 75). Subs unused: Bucek (GK), Mullins, Harewood.