Bishop's Stortford v West Ham United XI
Woodside Park
Friendly match
Thursday 29 July 2010
Full-time - Bishop's Stortford 0-4 West Ham United
90min - The referee blows the full-time whistle on what has been a professional and clinical display from the Hammers. Freddie Sears was the star of the show but there was plenty of attacking intent throughout the side.
88min - Fry steps in again just as Antonine was ready to pounce. Brown then tidies up with a header back to Kurucz, who has been largely untroubled. A quick counterattack sees Montano slipped in by Edgar but he is flagged offside.
86min - A sixty-yard pass from Lee gets Montano in behind. The Colombian attacker hits it first time and produces a smart stop from Morgan. From the resulting corner, Edgar plays in a speculative shot that actually hits the post and rebounds to safety. Another corner, sees Fry head over.
85min - Fry does the job at the back again. He has stayed strong despite the physical strength of the home strikers.
84min - It is all West Ham and Montano has just shown a lovely piece of trickery on the halfway line to flick the ball to his team-mate while looking the other way.
83min - Montano does well again and supplies Sears for the volley. The striker gets a whack on the boot and is unable to connect.
81min - Montano is too hot to handle and he only just misses out on supplying Hall.
80min - Free-kick West Ham in a menacing position on the corner of the area. Montano was too tricky for his marker. Edgar takes but blasts it against the wall.
77min - Well up Fry. He beat the imposing Antoine with ease. The defenders have done their job tonight. On the counter, Montano tries to win a penalty but the referee waves it away. Lette Jalow is off for Chi Ebreadu.
75min - Edgar does well to pick out Hall but he is crowded out. The ball eventually finds its way to Sears but he misjudges it. When the play eventually shifts to Spence, he has a go from range but it is well over. Angus is off for Chris Sargent.
73min - Sears is the star of the show but there has been some strong supporting performances. Abdulla has certainly weighed in.
72min - Kim Seok Beom is on for Kim Jin Gu as the hosts make another change.
70min - Robert Hall is on for Moncur. Hall is straight on the attack and looks lively.
69min - Great play by Abdulla along the touchline and into the area. He slips the ball into the six-yard box and Sears is on hand to flick the ball nonchantly into the net.
69min - GOAL! Can you guess who?
68min - Moncur has been impressive. He must be one of the youngest players on the pitch but has been dominant and shown a lovely range of passing.
67min - Unlucky Montano. He fires just wide of the goal after being picked out at the back post by Abdulla. He hit with some force and the keeper was worried.
64min - Deflected shot from Sears, He still wants a fourth it seems despite having bagged three already.
62min - There are 464 fans here tonight and they will hope to see a few more goals before the end.
61min - Cynical foul on Edgar. Substitution for Bishop's Stortford. Ted Llewellyn is on for Querry.
60min - Fry heads away the danger. He has been given a testing evening by Lai Mas Lette Jallow. Kurucz throws the ball 60 yards to Abdulla in midfield. Impressive that.
58min - Home captain Matt Jones is off with Ritchie Jones on.
57min - Wasted ball there from Jin Gu, just as the hosts had worked their way into the Hammers half. It just has not clicked for Bishop's Stortford in the final third tonight.
55min - Sears fires in again but Morgan saves. The striker had played a superb one-two with Spence before jinking past two defenders to find room for the shot.
54min - Montano gets in behind again. His pull-back is not strong enough though and Angus heads away.
52min - Some neat passing their from the home side. Another change here for them with Scott Smith on for Prestedge.
51min - Sears just draws a few gasps from the crowd with a neat bit of skill to beat his marker. He has not put a foot wrong.
50min - Another strong attack sees Montano just fail to connect with a ball on the edge of the six-yard box. Again Brown was involved up the left wing.
48min - Brown is fouled tidying up at the back after a Fry foul had put the hosts in a good position.
47min - Lovely raking pass from Eyjolfsson there picked out Brown up the left wing. The Hammers win a throw-in and then play some good possession football.
46min - Should have been 4-0 after 30 seconds of the second half. Edgar played in Montano over the top, he picked out Lee in the middle but the midfielder's first-time effort was mis-hit.
46min - West Ham get us under way. Peter Kurucz is on in goal for Stech.
HALF-TIME - There goes the half-time whistle. Well done Sears. The watching Paul Groves will have been impressed with his poise and pace. Sears will hope to figure again when the first team go to Ipswich Town on Saturday.
46min - Harsh scoreline this on Bishop's Stortford. Sears has been simply devastating and his treble has underlined the great form he showed during last week's first-team training camp in Germany.
44min - GOAL! - Sears is on fire. He finds himself clean through having run from the halfway line and latched on to Abdulla's flick. Sears races into the area, looks up and tucks it away splendidly for his hat-trick. What a night for the striker.
43min - A long break for the restart as more treatment is given.
41min - GOAL! - Sears again. Lovely take and finish from a central position, but it owed much to a superb run up the left wing from Brown. The left-back cut in and found Sears, who did the rest despite being pressured by two players.
41min - The Hammers have done well, despite their youthfulness. Still a close contest, mind, and the home side are always looking a threat.
38min - Another stoppage in play, this time for treatment to Querry.
36min - Dyer is barking out the instructions during a lovely period of passing possession from the Hammers. Must have been 20 passes by now. The move breaks down with a weak cross from Brown.
35min - Montano shows lovely skill to trap a tricky pass. The teenager is having a great game.
34min - End to end stuff. Edgar picks out Sears with a 40-yard pass. The striker centres first time and Montano shoots for goal on the half-volley. Never really troubled Morgan, though.
32min - Unlucky Chick after a determined restart from the home side. The substitute meets a Tom Querry corner well and heads for goal. It needed a great save from Stech to deny him. From another Jin Gu corner, Stech is less comfortable but the Hammers clear.
31min - GOAL! - Sears steps up and strikes a lovely shot just inside Morgan's right-hand post. The keeper was never saving that.
30min - Penalty! Montano goes down in the box after a lovely take and pass from Abdulla.
28min - Abdulla fouls Stevland Angus, the former Academy defender and FA Youth Cup-winning team-mate of Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Co. Seconds later, a quick counter sees Sears chip one forward but no one had read his intentions.
26min - Eyjolfsson recovers well to break up an attack, having mis-placed a pass previously to give the visitors a chance in the first place.
25min - More good build-up play, this time from Edgar and Brown. Another dangerous cross from the left-back sees home keeper Nicky Morgan claim well.
23min - Dave Chick is on for the injured Shulton. The No10 had been struggling for some time. Also on is Leon Antoine for the No9, Matt Judge.
21min - Lovely play from Sears to hold the ball up sees him feed Spence, rushing up the right. The full-back cuts inside into the penalty area and only just fails to pick put Sears who had raced into a forward position.
20min - A notable feature of the Hammers' play has been the good feet of Moncur and Lee. Their dads John and Rob - both former Hammers' favourites - would be proud.
18min - Formation wise, the Hammers are playing with three in midfield and three in attack. Montano and Sears are right and left of Abdulla respectively at the moment, but it is anything but rigid. Actually Sears has just gone into the central role as the main striker.
17min - Late tackle by Spence is penalised. The free-kick is a quick one but Fry is alert and heads back well to Stech just as Reece Prestedge looked ready to pounce.
15min - Good spell this for the home side. Fry and Brown have to be alert to clear after another attack.
14min - Stech spares Fry's blushes as Jin Gu pounced on a loose ball just in front of the defender. The goalkeeper comes out quickly to claim and save the day.
13min - Unlucky for Montano. He takes a shot first time and just sees it flash past the post. The build-up involved Lee and Sears, with the former producing a lovely turn to beat his man in midfield. Twenty seconds later, Montano goes again. He races past his marker and tries to cross. Frightening pace from the youngster.
12min - So nearly an opening goal for Eyjolfsson. George Moncur picked him out at the back post with a weighted free-kick and only some last-ditch defending blocked the Icelander's headed effort.
11min - Brown is finding his feet now and wins a corner after blasting the ball off Korean winger Kim Jin Gu.
10min - Appeals for a penalty after Matt Judge blasts the ball at Spence in the area. Would have been harsh had that been given, although the ball did look to smash him in the arm. The Hammers try to counterattack but Bishop's Stortford regroup well.
9min - A stoppage in play as a Bishop's Stortford player - I think it is Shulton - is down for treatment.
8min - Jordan Brown gets forward for the first time at left-back and lofts the ball into the area. Abdulla is unable to beat his marker and the hosts clear the danger.
7min - First real attack for the Hammers. Olly Lee slides it through for Cristian Montano to the left of the area. The Colombian attacker takes a touch and then plays it across the area but Abdulla is just unable to get there.
6min - A chance to break for Scott Shulton. He runs at Matt Fry but his final ball is loose and it runs through to Marek Stech.
4min - Spence, in the right-back position, has had a lot of the ball early on. Neither side has really got going, though.
3min - Foul on Holmar Eyjolfsson by Matt Judge. Jordan Spence takes the free-kick and only just misses out on playing in Ahmed Abdulla behind the back line.
2min - After the home side were crowded out, a quick burst from Anthony Edgar sees him make 40 yards. He loses the ball midway through the Bishop's Stortford half though.
1min - Bishop's Stortford get us under way. There are about 400 people here tonight and everything is set up for a good contest.
KICK-OFF
7.10pm - The teams are in:
Bishop's Stortford: Nicky Morgan, Matt Jones (captain) (Ritchie Jones 57), Aiden Palmer, Lai Mas Lette Jallow (Chi Ebreadu 77), Lynval Duncan, Stevland Angus (Chris Sargent 75), Kim Jin Gu (Kim Seok Beom 72), Reece Prestedge (Scott Smith 52), Matt Judge (Leon Antoine 23), Scott Shulton (Dave Chick 23), Tom Querry (Ted Llewellyn 61)
Subs: Ritchie Jones, Bert Greenwood, Ellis Remy
West Ham United: Marek Stech (Peter Kurucz 46), Jordan Spence (captain), Holmar Eyjolfsson, Matt Fry, Jordan Brown, George Moncur (Robert Hall 70), Olly Lee, Anthony Edgar, Ahmed Abdulla, Freddie Sears, Cristian Montano
Subs: Filip Modelski, Callum McNaughton, Sergio Sanchez, Devann Yao, Daniel Subuola
6.50pm - Welcome to the home of Bishop's Stortford as Alex Dyer prepares to lead his team through their second reserve-team friendly of the summer. The young Hammers began their campaign with a 4-2 defeat against a strong Burton Albion side last Saturday. Bishop's Stortford, on the Essex/Herts border, play in the Conference South and have strong links with West Ham, having regularly staged the club's fixtures in the Barclays Premier Reserve League South.
Goalkeeping coach David Coles is already out on the pitch warming up with Marek Stech and Peter Kurucz. The Hammers will also boast Jordan Spence, Matthew Fry, Anthony Edgar, Cristian Montano and Freddie Sears who are hoping to force their way into Avram Grant's first-team squad this season having been part of the pre-season camp in Germany last week.
Also involved are Ahmed Abdulla and US triallist Devann Yao, who both scored at League Two club Burton at the weekend, and both will be looking to impress again as will the highly-rated Jordan Brown and Olly Lee. Alex Dyer's team will begin their Barclays Premier Reserve League South campaign at home to Manchester City on Tuesday 7 September, with kick-off at Little Heath at 2pm.