WEST BROMWICH ALBION v WEST HAM UNITED
BARCLAYS PREMIER RESERVE LEAGUE
WEDNESDAY 9 FEBRUARY 2011
KICK-OFF: 1PM
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Final Score - West Bromwich Albion 1-4 West Ham United
94 mins - The final whistle goes and that is a great result for West Ham. Encouraging to see Hitzlsperger play for an hour after six months out. Stay tuned tn West Ham TV and whufc.com for exclusive highlights and reaction soon.
91 mins - We are into added time. We're going to have at least three extra minutes but West Ham look comfortable and capable of adding a fifth as Tombides sees his cross cut out.
90 mins - GOAL! Sears himself tucks the penalty into the net, sending Allsop the wrong way from 12 yards.
89 mins - Penalty! Montano passes wide to Sears who cuts inside before being fould by Gayle inside the box.
87 mins - Moncur crosses and the ball dropps to Lee. He shoots from 18 yards and the goalkeeper tips the ball over the bar. The corner is cleared.
84 mins - Nabi shoots from 20 yards and Boffin dives right to save.
83 mins - Driver flies down the right wing and crosses but the goalkeeper is there to make the catch.
82 mins - Lee passes right to Sears but his cross is just in front of Tombides and the ball bounces behind.
78 mins - Close to a fourth goal as Tombides crosses and Lee slides in, only for the Baggies to clear through O'Sullivan.
77 mins - Driver concedes a free-kick in a dangerous position but it comes to nothing.
76 mins - Despite the goal against, the Hammers continue to knock the ball around confidently. They look capable of adding a fourth but will not want to concede again.
73 mins - Before the restart, Dylan Tombides comes on for Hines.
73 mins - GOAL! - Nabi crosses from the left is flicked on by O'Sullivan. The ball seems to elude Boffin and trickles across the line.
69 mins - Montano flies forward down the left and wins a corner off Meite. Kovac is replaced by Abdulla for the final 20 minutes.
68 mins - Into the final quarter of the game and West Ham are looking good for a fine away win. However, West Brom are throwing more and more men forward in an attempt to get back into the match, leaving gaps at the back.
64 mins - Moncur wins a challenge on the edge of his own box before playing a one-two with Edgar and releasing Hines. Hines tries to pick out Lee in the middle, but his cross is too high and flies behind.
63 mins - West Brom make a change, with Mani O'Sullivan on for Cox.
63 mins - The corner is deep and picks out McNaughton. He heads back towards goal but Allsop catches his effort.
62 mins - Good again from West Ham as Montano and Hines combine. The latter tries to pick out the run of Sears and Meite slices behind for a corner. Before it is taken, Moncur replaces Hitzlsperger.
62 mins - Moncur is putting on his shirt and shin pads as Hitzlsperger calmly heads back to Boffin to conclude a West Brom attack. The scholar will replace the Germany international soon.
59 mins - I don't think that's a corner but the referee disagrees as Spence clears off a defender. It matters not as Boffin claims the cross.
57 mins - GOAL! Superb goal again from West Ham. Sears brings the ball forward into space before sending an inch-perfect ball through to Lee. He holds off a defender before planting a low left-foot shot past Allsop.
55 mins - Zuiverloon tries to send Cox away but the striker handles and the chance is gone. West Ham have Moncur warming up, with Hitzlsperger only scheduled to play between 60 and 65 minutes this afternoon. Berahino crosses and McNaughton clears behind via the outside of his own post. The corner comes to nothing.s
54 mins - Better from West Ham as Edgar and Kovac combine to release Hines, who wins a corner. The ball is headed clear to Hitzlsperger, who crosses for Sears, but the youngster is offside.
53 mins - Berahino this time, shooting into the side-netting when it looked easier to hit the target. The home side have been on top since the break.s
52 mins - What a miss! Berahino gets past Driver and pulls the ball back for Matsom, who contrives to side-foot over the crossbar from about eight yards with the goal gaping.
50 mins - Matsom picks out Grier's run with a superb pass. The No7 is in behind McNaughton but slices his shot horribly wide of the near post.
48 mins - West Brom win a free-kick on the edge of the penalty area. Matsom's delivery clips the wall and Spence is forced to poke the ball behind for a corner. The ball comes over and Montano and Hines combine to clear before Meite is caught offside.
46 mins - We're back underway after a truncated half-time interval!
Half-time score - West Bromwich Albion 0-2 West Ham United
46 mins - After just 15 seconds of added time, the half-time whistle is blown.
45 mins - Oooh! So nearly 3-0 as Sears shoots, the ball flicks off Ibanez and floats a yard wide. Corner. Edgar delivers and Meite heads back to the No8. His second cross is caught by Allsop.
44 mins - That was some goal from Montano, who let fly with his left foot. The Colombian, remember, was the leading scorer in the youth team last season.
42 mins - GOAL! Montano! Edgar comes forward and the ball breaks to Hitzlsperger. His shot is blocked and falls to Montano 30 yards out.He takes a touch and sends a rocket shot high into Allsop's top right-hand corner. What a goal!
42 mins - Another chance for Cox and again it goes begging. The striker momentarily loses McNaughton, but his attempted lob floats well wide of the target. Another good chance as Boffin had come off his line.
40 mins - GOAL! Edgar whips over the corner and Kovac rises unmarked at the near post to power a fantastic header into the net. That was unstoppable.
40 mins - Great counter-attacking from West Ham as Boffin finds Montano, who immediately releases Sears down the left. Ibanez sticks to him and concedes a corner.
39 mins - Hines tries to turn inside his own half and is penalised for a foul on Mantom. Mantom himself takes the free-kick and Spence stoops to head clear.
36 mins - Fantastic play from Edgar, who holds off his man before poking a fine ball down the right for Driver. The right-back looks up and tries to pick out Sears at the far post, but Ibanez gets a foot to the ball to divert it behind for a corner. The ball is cleared from the resulting set-play.
35 mins - Boffin comes to the edge of his area to claim a through ball. The goalkeeper has been very commanding so far and been assured every time the ball has come near him. He has also been vocal and kept his defenders aware of what is going on around them. Good stuff all-in.
33 mins - Montano gets in well and the ball is worked by Hines to Sears wide left. West Ham also have Lee and Edgar forward, but Sears' cross is cut out. Moments later, Hines is fouled wide on the left, Edgar crosses and McNaughton sends a header high and wide of the far post. That was a very difficult chance, in fairness.
30 mins - The move nearly pays dividends as Sears finds Hitzlsperger. His header bounces over Ibanez to Hines, but the Spaniard recovers and heads back to Allsop.
30 mins - West Ham have switched to a 4-3-3 formation. Sears is on the left of the front three, with Edgar on the left and Hines through the middle.
28 mins - Good passing football from West Brom, who knock the ball from side to side a couple of times before Grier tries to spring the offside trap. He plays a one-two with Nabi, but is offside before shooting wide of the far post.
26 mins - More pressure from West Brom as one cross flies across the penalty area to Grier. He controls before centring for Manton, but the No4's header lacks neither the power or the direction to beat Boffin. The Belgian catches.
24 mins - Driver's pass for Lee is cut out and West Brom threaten through Grier, who gets in behind and shoots low, but Boffin shows good handling low to his left.
22 mins - Ibanez tries to bring the ball out of defence but is challenged. He then loses out to Kovac and pulls the Czech's shirt as West Ham come forward. Booking for the Spanish defender.
21 mins - Lee wins a corner, but Edgar's delivery is cleared at the near post. Montano cleans up and Lee finds Edgar, whose cross is cleared by Meite.
20 mins - It's been a quick, keenly-contested opening 20 minutes, with West Brom missing two decent chances to take the lead. West Ham have played some neat and tidy stuff and had a couple of corners, but they've not tested goalkeeper Ryan Allsop just yet.
17 mins - Good defending from Montano there. West Brom had threatened a counter-attack through Grier, but the left-back was there to cut out his attempted pass to Cox.
15 mins - That's another great chance for West Brom as Grier wins possession and plays in Cox, only for the striker to shoot wide from 12 yards with only Boffin to beat. He should have scored there.
13 mins - Mantom crosses and Montano heads clear. West Ham counter but Hitzlsperger's pass for Sears is just too strong and it rolls behind for a goal kick.
12 mins - Montano may be playing at left-back, but he is a winger or forward by trade. The Doris Bell Award winner beats one man before being brought down wide on the left. Edgar lifts the free-kick over but it's too close to Allsop. West Brom break and Spence concedes a free-kick as he stops Cox's run.
10 mins - Less encouraging! Lee gives the ball away and Berahino sprints down the left before picking out Cox. The striker drives into the box and pulls the ball across the face of goal for Nabi. The No10 slides in at the back post but can only smash the ball wide from an acute angle. Close!
8 mins - Edgar crosses and McNaughton gets his head on the ball but no direction. The ball bounces out to Lee but he is crowded out by two defenders before Kovac conceded a throw. Encouraging signs for Kevin Keen's side.
7 mins - Good hassling again from Lee leads to a West Ham counter-attack as the midfielder sends Sears clear down the right. His cross is put behind by Meite. The corner comes over and is not cleared properly, leading to another corner.
6 mins - Sears and Hines pressure the West Brom back four and Lee forces left-back Gayle to concede a throw. Good pressing from the Hammers. Meite then mis-controls and goalkeeper Allsop is forced to hack the ball upfield.
4 mins - Hitzlsperger's first involvement is to be fouled by Zuiverloon in the midfield. The free-kick is taken short and pumped forward by Spence.
3 mins - The free-kick is taken by Nabi and flicks off a West Ham foot and wide of the left-hand post. Sam Mantom takes the corner and Ibanez heads wide at the far post. Good start from the hosts.
2 mins - Spence gives possession away to Nabi, who finds Berahino. Lee slows him down before McNaughton brings him down on the edge of the box.
1 min - West Ham are using a diamond formation, with Edgar supporting the front two and Kovac shielding the back four.
1pm - Sears and Edgar kick-off...
12.59pm - The two captains are called forward by referee Andrew Bennett for the pre-match coin toss and handshakes. West Ham will kick-off playing from left to right...
12.55pm - The Hammers are captained today by Jordan Spence and are wearing claret and blue shirts, blue shorts and blue socks. West Brom are in their home strip of blue and white stripes, white shorts and white socks.
12.50pm - West Ham will line up with Callum Driver at right-back, Cristian Montano at left-back and with Freddie Sears partnering Zavon Hines up front. Thomas Hitzlsperger will partner Radoslav Kovac in the centre of midfield, with Jordan Spence and Callum McNaughton at centre-back and Anthony Edgar and Olly Lee filling the other midfield places. The two teams are just going through their pre-match warm-ups on the pitch.
Good afternoon and welcome to West Bromwich Albion's training ground, situated just north of the M6 in Walsall, for this afternoon's Barclays Premier Reserve League fixture.
The two sides met just a week ago in the reverse fixture at Bishop's Stortford, with Australian-born scholar Dylan Tombides bagging his first goal at reserve-team level in a keenly-contested 1-1 draw.
This afternoon, first-team coach Kevin Keen takes charge of the Hammers while the club continues its search for a permanent replacement for the recently-departed Alex Dyer, who has become assistant manager at Charlton Athletic.
Keen has an experienced squad at his disposal, with no fewer than seven of his starting XI having first-team experience. The most welcome name on the teamsheet is that of Thomas Hitzlsperger, who plays for the first time since suffering a serious thigh injury while on international duty with Germany in August 2010.
West Brom have also named an experienced starting XI, with Gianni Zuiverloon, Abdoulaye Meite, Pablo Ibanez and Simon Cox all regular first-team squad members.
West Ham go into this afternoon's match fifth in the Southern Division, having collected eleven points from eight matches. West Brom are third.
West Bromwich Albion: Allsop, Zuiverloon, Gayle, Meite, Ibanez, Mantom, Grier, O'Neil, Nabi, Cox, Berahino
Subs: Daniels, Tebbutt, Connolly, Goldsmith, O'Sullivan
West Ham United: Boffin, Lee, McNaughton, Spence, Driver, Edgar, Kovac, Hitzlsperger (Moncur 62), Montano, Hines, Sears
Subs: Mehmet, Abdulla, Hall, Tombides