It was an important point gained, but on another day for
West Ham United's Under-18s, the scoreline would surely have
been quite different.
The young Hammers drew 0-0 away at Millwall this afternoon in a
match they totally dominated, but just could not find the final
strike to get the ball over the line.
The result places Tony Carr's side at the top of the league
table above Arsenal. Although the Gunners have a game in hand, West
Ham remain unbeaten in nine games now and are playing with as much
confident as ever.
Hammers took control early in the game and started to attack the
Millwall goal. The home side were standing strong in defence
though. Chances fell to Zavon Hines and Joe Widdowson, but shots
went wide.
After the break, Hammers started where they left off in the first,
but it was to be a frustrating afternoon. No fewer than 20 attempts
on goal still brought no end product.
A mix of strong defending and luck by Millwall coupled with the
final ball not going the way West Ham wanted saw the game finish as
a stalemate. But there could be no complaints about the work put in
by the Hammers to win this game, with Millwall being saved by the
woodwork on countless occasions.
James Tomkins could only watch as his effort hit the bar, followed
only minutes later by Bondz N'Gala's shot doing the same.
Hines, making his first start following two substitute appearances
after returning from his long injury lay-off, also went close with
a searing strike.
Millwall could count themselves lucky when they managed to clear
Widdowson's seemingly goal-bound shot off the line. With the
minutes ticking away, Hammers continued to plug away and once again
came within a whisper of scoring the goal they deserved.
Substitute Freddie Sears collected the ball and with only the
goalkeeper to beat, shot agonisingly wide. It was a fighting
performance that pleased Tony, but was equally frustrating at the
same time.
Speaking after the game, he said: "We did everything but
score. I can't complain about the effort and determination from
the boys in trying to win this game. It just didn't happen for
us today.
"Maybe we lacked a bit of quality in the final ball when it
mattered, because on another day, we would be talking about a 4-0
or 5-0 win here.
"Millwall set their stall out in that they were determined not
to get beaten, they defended well at times to stop us but were
lucky as some of our chances will show. It was a poor pitch so it
was hard to play flowing football, it was all about trying to make
the most of the second ball.
"I told the boys at half-time that we had to keep getting the
crosses in there, keep the pressure on in their goal and we did
just that, but just couldn't score today.
"There was no lack of us creating chances, just putting the
ball over the line. There are two league games to go. The ball, if
you like is in Arsenal's court a bit because they have a game
in hand. It's been more a frustrating afternoon than a
disappointing one, because we did our best. All we can do is keep
going and see where it takes us."
Hammers: Blackmore, Miller, Blackwell, N'Gala, Tomkins, Hales
(Spence, 85), Harvey, Collison, Hunt (Stanislas 75), Hines (Sears,
65) Widdowson
Subs Unused: Stech, O'Neill
By Laura Burkin