West Ham United v Chelsea
Barclays Premier Reserve League South
Woodside Park, Bishop's Stortford FC
Wednesday 24 February 2010
Kick-off: 7pm
Referee: A Davies
Final score: 2-1
There goes the full-time whistle and it is a well-deserved victory for Alex Dyer's men. Goals from Anthony Edgar and Olly Lee proved enough on a night when Manuel da Costa picked up a red card and automatic three-match suspension for an off-the-ball incident. Kieron Dyer got a welcome hour under his belt while the likes of Jordan Spence and George Moncur did well in difficult conditions.
90min - 'Gala stays firm as Mitrovic looks set to latch on to a ball over the top. The defender read that situation well. We are playing three minutes of added time.
89min - Another yellow card. This time Abdulla's late challenge on Mitrovic sees him punished.
87min - Edgar earns a corner but it is to be his last contribution. Subuola is coming on for the No11. The new arrival makes an instant impact and wins another corner.
86min - Stech claims a high cross from McEachran. Danny Subuola is about to come on.
83min - Mellis was so close their to an equaliser. He did well to connect with a fierce low cross from the left but could not divert his effort on target. Moncur is off to be replaced by Danny Kearns.
81min - Moncur does brilliantly to stop Ben Morgan. The No10, still only 16, has been lively tonight and is one of the better performers.
78min - Edgar is the next to be booked for kicking the ball away. Chelsea meanwhile have a chance to play a free-kick into the penalty area. Gokhan Tore tries to collect the forward pass but it runs out of play.
76min - Chelsea are trying to pick up the pace with their substitutes working hard. Lee nearly plays his team into trouble with a back-pass that holds up on the sodden turf but Stech just about clears in time.
73min - Well played 'Gala. He just stepped in front of Mitrovic to deny the Chelsea No9 after a low cross into the box had the home defence in trouble. Ofori-Twumasi is off for the visitors in their final change.
71min - Gokhan Tore is coming on for Chelsea. The man to be replaced is Lalkovic.
68min - The Hammers have had to reorganise since going down to ten men. Spence has moved into the middle with Lee at right-back.
66min - Da Costa is then shown a straight red for stepping in too strongly when the Chelsea players took exception to the tackle. The defender was not the only one who appeared to be pushing and shoving but is the only man dismissed. Wearen is also booked for his part in the proceedings.
65min - West Ham are making their exoerience count. An eight-pass move is only broken down by a last-ditch tackle. Mellis then surges forward and is brought down by Edgar.
62min - Only a saving tackle from Magnay denies Abdulla a chance to make it 3-1. Corner to West Ham.
59min - Dyer's night is over. Eoin Wearen is on in his place after a solid hour from the West Ham No7.
58min - Olly Lee does brilliantly to convert from close range after a fine raking cross by Spence. The No2 had surged up the right flank to meet an Edgar ball out wide before whipping into the near post for Lee to poke home. A good goal that.
57min - Dyer is just beaten to the ball by Lalkovic, who then senses a chance to shoot. His curled effort has Stech worried but it drifts just past the post.
55min - Dyer does well before freeing Moncur. He slips it to Da Costa, up from the back, who has a go from distance but it is a tame effort in truth that goes well wide.
54min - A late challenge by Ofori-Twumasi on Stanislas leaves the No8 flat on the floor. That sums up the second half so far.
52min - Neither side has really threatened in this half.
49min - Dyer finds Edgar with a precise pass. The Hammers goalscorer than surges past one challenge but is then stopped by a second. The ball comes out to Spence who gets forward again on the right wing but his low cross comes to nothing.
48min - It has been scrappy in the opening minutes, although thankfully the rain has eased off. It is still coming down but is more of a trickle than a torrent.
46min - Chelsea get us under way with Nikki Ahamed on for Nemanja Matic.
Half-time - 1-1
45min - We are playing one minute of added time. It has been a fairly even first half although the Hammers have had the better of the opportunities and will feel they should be in front.
43min - Mellis tries his luck with a long-range shot but Stech watches it bobble wide. Looks like it might be honours even at half-time. A talking to and a yellow card for Clifford, Daprela was too quick for him and drew another foul from the No7.
42min - Dyer has kept things ticking over at the heart of the midfield, with Moncur using the opportunity to play in a more advanced position.
40min - Great play by Daprela turns Clifford inside out before he slips the ball through to Abdulla. He gets to the byline and crosses but the visitors scramble the ball away. Abdulla then has a go when the ball falls to him again but it does not trouble Taylor.
39min - Da Costa is relishing this battle with the Chelsea No9 Mitrovic. He wins the ball and then spreads the play neatly to Daprela on the opposite flank.
36min - Da Costa thumps the ball away after a Chelsea attack and in so doing takes a whack from Mitrovic. The Portuguese defender was not happy at that. 'Gala is then penalised for a foul on Mellis, giving the Blues the chance to send a free-kick into the box. Josh McEachran takes it but Mitrovic cannot convert at the back post and the ball runs behind.
34min - Mellis is just flagged offside after Lalkovic thought he had beaten the Hammers' offside trip.
33min - Edgar and Daprela combine well before Stanislas is sent free into the box again. Another cross and another clearance, this time to Moncur whose 20-yarder is deflected wide. Edgar then has a go with a shot that hits the side-netting.
32min - Olly Lee's raking pass gives Moncur space to the right of the penalty area before he is fouled. Stanislas takes the free-kick and is close to picking out Daprela before Chelsea get the ball away.
30min - 'Gala blocks from Lalkovic after Dyer had been out-muscled by two Chelsea forwards.
28min - 'Gala shows his strength to tidy up after Chelsea looked like building something in midfield. The defender was not going to lose in that battle.
27min - Moncur is fouled by Clifford. Da Costa took exception to the tackle and is being spoken to the referee for something he said in response.
26min - Spence is down after a terrific run down the right wing saw him reach the corner and cross into the six-yard box. It looks like he clattered into an advertising hoarding but he is given the all-clear to continue after about 30 seconds of treatment.
25min - Mitrovic goes down claiming a blow in the face from 'Gala. There appeared very little contact and the referee waves play on.
22min - Now Mellis has a go from long range. This time the shot is well wide of Stech's right-hand post.
21min - Clifford tests Stech with a 25-yearder but Stech is able to save comfortably.
18min - GOAL!- Marko Mitrovic converts from close range after good work from Milan Lalkovic had worked an opening on the left wing before crossing low in front of Marek Stech. The Czech keeper could do little to prevent the goal.
16min - Carl Magnay fouls Abdulla. From the resulting free-kick, Dyer plays a slide-rule pass down the left wing for Stanislas. He does brilliantly to cut into the box before zipping a low centre into the area that only just evades Abdulla. Lovely stuff.
15min - Daprela and Edgar show some neat footwork before Conor Clifford closes out the Hammers spell of possession. The home side are on top.
13min - Da Cosa steps into save a corner and then shows neat footwork to set the Hammers away. A lovely flowing move sees the ball worked out to the right wing before running out of play. The groundstaff have done a great job to get the game on but this weather is making things difficult.
10min - Stanislas tracks back to help Daprela on the left wing but his clearance goes for a Chelsea corner. Mellis takes but Jordan Spence is able to head clear.
9min - 'Gala does well to block Jacob Melis off just as the Chelsea No10 looked to have worked an opening in the penalty area. Marek Stech then collects before being fouled. The rain, meanwhile, continues to pelt down here.
7min - Alex Dyer will be pleased with the start his team have made, especially as they possess more experience than their visitors in terms of Premier League know-how. Manuel da Costa and Junior Stanislas are the others on view to have played in the top flight while skipper Daprela played in the FA Cup third-round tie with Arsenal.
5min - GOAL! - Edgar races clear again and shoots low. Rhys Taylor manages to save but spills the ball into the path of the on-rushing Edgar who makes no mistake at the second atttempt.
3min - Dyer surges forward and splits the Chelsea defence with a diagonal pass. Chelsea are able to clear through Seth Ofori-Twumasi. Chelsea counter and a mis-placed clearance from Bondz 'Gala nearly gifts the visitors an opportunity before the Hammers recover.
2min - Edgar races through but the assistant referee's flag is up already. Kieron Dyer is easily th emost experienced performer on view with the England man in a deep-lying central midfield position.
1min - Ahmed Abdulla and Anthony Edgar get us under way. The Hammers are captained by Fabio Daprela this evening, fresh from his appearance on the bench for the first team last night at Old Trafford.
Kick-off
Alex Dyer's side will be looking to secure their first win since beating Stoke City 5-2 here back on 24 November - exactly three months ago. In that time, West Ham United's reserves have contested just three matches, losing out to Birmingham City and Arsenal before drawing with Portsmouth on 20 January.
The Hammers will be boosted tonight by the presence of England midfielder Kieron Dyer, who scored twice in the victory over Stoke. The 31-year-old came through 15 minutes as a substitute for the first team at Manchester United on Tuesday - his first appearance since 15 December at Bolton Wanderers.
A number of other first-team squad members will line up alongside Dyer, including goalkeeper Marek Stech, defenders Manuel da Costa, Fabio Daprela and Bondz 'Gala and midfielder Junior Stanislas.
At the other end of the spectrum, 16-year-old first-year scholar George Moncur - the son of former Hammers midfielder John - will make his competitive debut at reserve-team level. Fellow scholar Ahmed Abdulla is also named in the starting lineup.
With Chelsea's first team in UEFA Champions League action against Internazionale this evening, the Blues have named a young team. Included is highly-rated striker Marko Mitrovic, who netted a hat-trick in Chelsea's thrilling 4-3 Academy League victory over West Ham on 23 January.
West Ham United reserves: Stech, Spence, 'Gala, Da Costa (sent off 66), Daprela, Dyer (Wearen 59), Lee, Moncur (Kearns 83), Stanislas, Abdulla, Edgar (Subuola 87)
Subs: Cowler, Brown
Chelsea reserves: Taylor, Ofori-Twumasi, Gordon, McEachran, Bridcutt, Magnay, Clifford, Matic (Ahamed 46), Lalkovic (Tore 71), Mellis, Mitrovic
Subs: Sebek, Philliskirk, Sala,