Highlights - Wolves 1-2 West Ham United PL2

 

Wolves 1-2 West Ham United PL2

FT: Newcastle have beaten Fulham 2-0 at St. James' Park, meaning the Hammers will face a third trip to the north east to face the Magpies this season, the two clubs' fourth meeting this campaign. It promises to be a cracker. Make sure you follow our channels for more reaction from this evening's win but for now, it's over and out from Molineux.

FT: That's it! What a late twist, and the Hammers have booked their place in the play-off final! Credit to Terry Westley's men who just kept on fighting, and it looks as though Newcastle will be the opponents, as they are currently 2-0 up against Fulham. We'll confirm that soon... 

90+3: Incredible scenes here! A minute or two to go...

90+1: GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! Incredible scenes at Molineux as the Hammers put themselves a couple of minutes away from a place in the play-off final! 

90: Penalty for West Ham! Jahmal Hector-Ingram is pushed over in the box and Samuelsen is about to step up...

89: SO CLOSE!!! A cross from the right is headed down by Hector-Ingram for Powell, and the winger stretches to clip the ball onto the post

85: A wild one from Powell ends up well over the bar. 

83: So, the U18s link-up that has been so fruitful this season has worked late on for the U23s here. Could we be heading for another 30 minutes?

80: GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLLL! Get in there! Jahmal Hector-Ingram scores with his first touch, heading home Joe Powell's beautiful cross from the right! The two subs combined superbly there, and it all came after George Dobson's lovely sweeping pass. A great goal!

76: That's Wilson's last act, as Conor Levingston replaces him. 

75: Excellent double stop from Raphael Spiegel to first deny Randall and then Wilson. Great goalkeeping!

74: Another strong stop from Spiegel, diving to his right to palm one out for a Wolves corner. Again it's Deslandes who rises highest from the set piece, but this time his header is blocked.

72: So, here come the first subs here for West Ham. Off comes Grady Diangana, who is replaced by Joe Powell, and Dan Kemp makes his way off for Jahmal Hector-Ingram, who has been in red-hot form for the U18s.

69: Kemp runs over it and leaves it to Holland who fires it with power and pace, but it's about a good over the keeper's bar.

68: Holland is upended and there's a free-kick in a good position for West Ham here. It's made for a leftie and Kemp is behind it...

65: Short break here as a Wolves player receives some treatment. We've 25 minutes to play at Molineux, and West Ham need a goal from somewhere...

59: West Ham break but Noha Sylvester's pass is too heavy for the onrushing Diangana. Frustrating.

57: In the other semi-final, Newcastle lead Fulham 2-0 and look set to progress to the final.

54: The Hammers keep the ball and eventually swing in a cross, but Diangana is caught offside.

53: Wolves have a corner but West Ham clear and break well down the right. Diangana wins a throw-in deep in Wolves' half...

51: Similar to how the first half started, it's been a bit of a midfield battle so far. No chances of yet.

46: Off we go for the second half and Diangana has an early sighter, but fires his effort wide. Goal kick, but a positive start for West Ham.

HT: That's it for the opening 45. Chances for both sides, but 1-0 to the hosts is probably a fair reflection on that half. Work to do for the Hammers.

43: A much better last five minutes for the Hammers. Holland is starting to get into gear now, as is Diangana. 

38: The midfielder then goes into the book for cynically tugging back the breaking Holland.

37: Close call. Herc lines one up from 25 yards and his deflected effort deceives Spiegel and flies just wide. Phew.

34: Having said that, what a chance for West Ham! Just like Samuelsen's second goal against West Brom, the Norwegian drifts into the box and gets the ball from a Holland delivery, but not knowing who's around him, heads well wide when he could have easily brought the ball down to finish. Great opportunity!

33: Terry Westley's youngsters are holding on a bit here. Wolves are probing down the left and look more likely to grab the game's next goal. If the visitors can get to half time with no more goals, they'd take that.

30: West Ham have responded pretty well to going behind. Samuelsen, who has been quiet so far, had his first charge down the left a moment ago but his lay-off was a little too soft to reach Diangana.

25: Goal for Wolves. Sylvain Deslandes rises highest from a corner from the right to head past Spiegel at the back post. A good nod by the left-back. The Hammers will be disappointed about the way they conceded that set piece, though there was little they could have done to stop the header. The hosts lead.

21: Excellent stop by Rapha Spiegel! Armstrong - again - is the Wolves danger man and gets in down the right. One-on-one, his low attempt is saved brilliant by Spiegel who got down quickly.

19: Herc drives forward for the hosts but his low effort is comfortable for Spiegel. Herc was the scorer, however, of a spectacular goal at Dagenham against the Hammers earlier this season in their 2-2 draw.

15: Down the left go the Hammers, and Holland's cross is cleared for a corner. It's a decent delivery from Kemp, but Wolves get a head to it and clear.

13: In news elsewhere, Newcastle lead Fulham by a goal to nil, meaning the winners of this tie will face the Magpies.

9: Bit of an opening for West Ham, as Grady Diangana's shot is charged down. It falls to Kyle Knoyle who curls the ball over. 

8: Great chance for Wolves. West Ham lose out in midfield through Dobson - though it may have been a foul - and break down the left. Eventually the ball squirms its way to Armstrong who is denied by Spiegel at a tight angle.

6: Spiegel is forced into a decent early save, but it wouldn't have counted anyway - the referee blows his whistle for a free-kick inside the box.

5: Plenty of feisty challenges in the midfield have already been made in the early minutes! Neither side is yet to control possession, though.

2: Bit of early pressure from both sides as first Wolves' winger Armstrong blocks a through ball inadvertently with his back before Holland gets the Hammers forward.

1: We're underway at Molineux. Come on you Irons!

6:58pm: The lads are out the tunnel here at Molineux and ready to go. Come on you Irons!

6:30pm: So, in terms of team selection, George Dobson returns to the side having finished his season-long loan spell at Walsall. He made 27 appearances in total for the Saddlers. He's replaced Reece Hannam in the side with Noha Sylvestre dropping back to left-back, the Hammers' only change from that win at the Hawthorns.

6:15pm: Here's how the Premier League 2 table (below) finished in the end. Thanks to our 4-0 thrashing of West Brom a fortnight ago, we squeezed into the play-offs and have a chance of promotion.

726

Wolves: Ruddy, Simpson, Deslandes, Finnie, Hayden, Johnson, Armstrong, Herc, Wilson (Levingston 76), Ennis, Randall.

Subs not used: Leak, Brown, Breslin, Carnat.

Goals: Deslandes 25

Bookings: Herc 38

West Ham United: Spiegel, Knoyle, Akinola, Rice, Sylvestre, Makasi, Dobson, Kemp (Powell 72), Diangana (Hector-Ingram 72), Holland, Samuelsen.

Subs not used: Howes, Wells, Hannam.

Goals: Hector-Ingram 80, Samuelsen 90+1

6pm: If you fancy watching that 4-0 win - which included a Toni Martinez hat-trick - now in the build up to kick-off, here it is...

6pm: Good evening! It's Wolves away tonight for our U23s who play for a spot in the Premier League 2 Division 2 play-off final. Should we beat tonight's opponents, we'll face one of Newcastle United or Fulham, who face off in the other semi this evening. Our record against Wolves is good this season, having drawn 2-2 with them at home and thrashed the side 4-0 away. Here's to hoping for another result like that tonight...