West Ham United 1 Manchester United 1

Sunday, 17th November 2002
by Dickie Thornton

Another home game, another home loss.... well, not this time, but only just. In what turned out to be an eventful day down at the Boleyn Ground a plucky West Ham fought to the end to get a valuable point and more importantly a much needed boost to morale.

Another home defeat would have left the Hammers rock bottom after Bolton's win at Leeds and Sunderland's 'adventurous' approach at Anfield had yielded them a point. Instead West Ham can go into the forthcoming away trip to Villa Park and a return to Upton Park against Southampton with confidence.

There are signs that perhaps the team has turned the corner following last weeks rejuvenated second half comeback against Leeds and now this spirited performance against a strong Man Utd side, even without the likes of Beckham, Rio 'I paid for West Ham's West Stand' Ferdinand and the Brothers Grim, the Neville's.

Taggart could still turn out a team which included Scholes, ??30 million Vwrong, Horsehead Van Nistelrooy and a glut of other internationals. For West Ham, Roeder decided to stick with the same back four that finished the game against Leeds, meaning no place for the out-of-sorts Repka or Minto.

In midfield, Lomas was still out injured allowing Cisse to play in the centre midfield alongside Carrick, with Cole and Sinclair operating down the wings. With Kanoute still out and Camara still fat, the forward line is picking itself and Defoe and Di Canio once against fronted the attack.

Due to the game being on SKY the match kicked off at the TV-decided time of 4.05pm in front of what was once again a packed house. For a team playing well below their potential and languishing in the bottom three for most of the season that says a lot about the loyalty and support of the fans.

Something which a certain Mr. Brown should take note of instead of continuing to alienate himself from everyone associated with the club apart from the fat cat board members. Anyway, we will come back to Mr. Brown later on. Back to the match then.

West Ham started the brightest with Defoe at the heart of most of West Ham's attacking play, running his socks off from the first minute and causing the Man Utd back four some early problems.
Supported ably by the passionate Di Canio and lively Cole there was a real sense that this could just be West Ham's day to end that awful home run of seven league games without a win.

For the first 25 minutes West Ham appeared to be in control of the game and indeed had the ball in the back of the next after a Cole header had rebounded back off a post for Defoe to prod in with a knee. Sadly, after I and thousands of others had danced for joy and given the 'away' fans some ammo for p*ss-taking ("you thought you had scored, you were wrong" and so on...), we all noticed the linesman flag had been up and Defoe was judged to have been offside. TV replay's later showed the decision to be a correct one.

Further 'nearly' moments followed with some good passing football from West Ham with everyone playing their part, although Man Utd started to settle and come into the game. The Mancs best chances all afternoon came from set-pieces and mainly off the boot of Vwrong, finally getting a chance to take corners and free-kicks now that Beckham is injured.

Two corners in the first half in particular caused heart-in-mouth
moments for the fans and saw James flap and miss on more than once occasion. For the next 20 minutes until half-time Man Utd had the upper-hand and this was confirmed when the West Ham defence appeared to stop dead to allow Solskjaer's tame pass across the face of the goal reach the Horseshead who duly finished with a delicate chip over James.

It was on the cards but perhaps a touch unfair on the Hammers. The signs were there though especially after James had a moment of madness and dribbled out of his box, spanked the kick into a
Utd player who deflected the ball into the path of Solskjaer With more time than he though the little Norwegian seemed slip over and ended up shooting wide with an open goal at his mercy. Certainly a let off for James and West Ham.

The rest of the half petered out with the Hammers allowing Man Utd rather too easily to stroke the ball around and keep possession.

Half time came and out rolled the Hammerettes. Not before a bizarre marriage proposal and penalty kick game at the Bobby Moore end of the ground. Luckily for the bloke asking his girlfriend, she said 'yes' (I presume it was his girlfriend and not someone else's) but it was followed by shouts of "You don't know what your doing!", including one from the resident PA announcer. Hopefully they will have more luck in love than West Ham have had at home this season.

Anyway, on to the second half. Roeder made no significant changes at half-time, keeping the same players to try to get back the all important equaliser. Taggart kept with his lot too so it was as you were for the next 45 minutes.

Man Utd started the better of the two teams and Blanc was looking untroubled at the back alongside Tango Man Brown. Defoe and Di Canio kept working though and the former would get his rewards later in the day. Cisse and Carrick gradually began to get a grip of the midfield and West Ham once again rose in confidence and started to play some attractive stuff.

Cole, whilst not having the best of days, worked tirelessly and produced a moment or two of pure trickery with some show-boating moves. With Schemmel an able support down the right hand side, West Ham looked dangerous. On the left, Sinclair continued to create openings and Winterburn was as always a willing runner.

Defensively West Ham appeared to be ok, with only the odd Man Utd counter attack to deal with as it became what seemed like one-way traffic for long spells. Chances though remained scarce but when one did finally come it fell to Defoe.

A long punt up field from James was flicked and Defoe suddenly found himself in acres of space and through on goal. Out came the advancing Barthez but Defoe managed to chip the ball over the Frenchman's head and it hung in the air for what must of been three days before dropping agonisingly onto the top of the bar and to safety. A great chance for the equaliser and at that point it seemed West Ham's luck was out.

A month or so ago Defoe would have stuck that chance away but with confidence not as high as it could be, the young striker looked a bit shy in front of goal. The rest of his play though could not be faulted.

With time running out and Man Utd starting to look shaky West Ham continued to pile forward with chances falling to Defoe again and some scrambles in the box which just wouldn't fall to a player in claret 'n blue. At the other end Vwrong went close with a free-kick and further corners caused more problems but West Ham survived.

Then with only a minute or so of normal time remaining some slick close passing between Carrick and Di Canio resulted in the Italian playing a ball in to Carrick's feet on the edge of the box. After what initially looked like a lucky break through two players (TV showed it to be a clever through-pass from Carrick) the ball fell to the unmarked (and offside) Defoe to coolly finish past the despairing Barthez.

The place erupted and I was sent into a moment of orgasmic joy. It may have only been an equaliser but it is rare for West Ham to get back into a game after being behind at home this season and the performance and effort from the Hammers deserved it. Di Canio showed his delight by nearly stage-diving into the crowd and all the players engulfed Defoe who was a worthy goal scorer.

So a point in the bag and surely West Ham would play out the last few injury time minutes and settle for a point. So you would like to think but no. Man Utd immediately launched an attack down the left with Giggs, whose pass into the box looks like a poor one, which Dailly will cut out. Instead, Dailly slips on an imaginary banana skin and lets in Solskjaer who always scores from these positions.

Not this time, thank God. James sprawled himself and saved the shot with the inside of his thigh and prevented a certain goal. The resulting corner was cleared but then Di Canio gave away a silly
free-kick outside the box and I sparked up my hundredth cigarette in the last two minutes and prayed.

Vwrong delivered a great ball into the box which was met with a thumping goal-bound header from Blanc. Somehow James stuck out an arm in a moment of brilliant reaction and made the save. From this point onwards I can only relay what happened according to the SKY TV cameras because from where I sit, sorry stand, in the BM lower I couldn't see a thing.

The ball had bounced back up from James' arm into the path of Horseshead and Silvestre who just needed to head the ball home. Both got in each others way and the ball fell in what was I am sure slow motion at the time into the hands of James. I heard cheers, presumed it was the Man Utd fans and then saw a football booted into the sky and realised James had taken a kick. To my relief it was still 1-1 and that's how it stayed.

Apart from a valuable point the day also saw the handing out of 'Brown Out' cards, banners and other materials for fans to show their contempt for the faceless man. Before the kick-off, at half-time and again at full-time these were all held up in the direction of the directors seats and accompanied by chants of 'Brown Out! Brown Out!' and 'Sack the Board'.

I am glad to say that despite the protests the fans continued to back the team all the way and the atmosphere was once a again a credit to those who went. The game was only marred by a few complete idiots near me making racist remarks all game at players, other West Ham fans and the police. After being reported, a steward came up into the stand with a guy who had rightly complained at the comments. After the racists refused to move and laughed it off, the guy who had complained upped and left, whilst amazingly the steward stood and laughed along with these mindless idiots. Unbelievable.

Player Ratings

David James (9) With a defence such as West Ham's in front of you it means you have your work cut. Two world class saves did as much as anyone to earn the Hammers a point though. A few hairy moments in the first half but otherwise yet again a good display from the big man.

Sebastien Schemmel (7) Another good solid game and perhaps finally is starting to find the form that won him KUMB's Player of the Season award last term. Provides many attacking options and links up well with Cole. Defensively still room for improvement but should stay in the side following this and the second half performance against Leeds.

Nigel Winterburn (8) He may be 39 years old but he has the legs of a man half his age. Consistent throughout and showed a willingness to surge forward and link-up with Di Canio and Sinclair. Did his job defensively too. Life in the old dog yet.

Christian Dailly (6) Not the best of games from Dailly and a slip late on nearly let in Solskjaer for a winner. Will improve as he did last season and could yet strike up a partnership with Pearce.

Ian Pearce (7) Kept Horseshead quiet for most of the game, although could have perhaps cut out the cross that led to Man Utd's goal. Strong in the air and on the ground, now West Ham's first choice centre half.

Trevor Sinclair (7) Worked hard as usual and caused some problems to the Man Utd defence with his link-up play with Di Canio. Some fancy tricks at the wrong times perhaps spoilt his display a little but Sinclair remains a key part of the team.

Joe Cole (7) Poor distribution at times when in good positions and a tendency to over-play but his work rate was second to none again and the boy-wonder still caused a big threat as an attacking option. Plays a lot better on the right when supported by Schemmel. Some outrageous tricks as well.

Michael Carrick (8) Set-up the goal and worked hard. Showed good passing and once settled down controlled the midfield in patches. No mean feat when you are up against Vwrong and Scholes.

Edouard Cisse (6) More mobile than Lomas and a better passer of the ball but still doesn't get stuck in enough for me. Potentially a good West Ham player but needs to stamp his authority more on games. Will improve though with more games.

Jermain Defoe (8) Confidence wasn't high going into the game but will surely be after yesterdays performance. Ran his socks off for the team and created openings for himself and others. Unlucky with a chip that hit the bar but kept going and got his rewards. Certainly one of West ham's best players on the day.

Paolo Di Canio (7) Has played better in claret 'n blue but still showed the array of tricks, clever passes and link-up play with his team mates. Choruses of "Sign Up Di Canio" from nearly the whole ground said it all. An inspiration to everyone at the club and a new contract should be given to the Italian. Had a hand in the goal as well.

KUMB Stats

West Ham United: James, Schemmel, Dailly, Pearce, Winterburn, Cole, Carrick, Cisse, Sinclair, Camara, Defoe.

Subs not used: Van Der Gouw, Breen, Repka, Garcia, Camara.

Manchester United: Barthez, O'Shea, Brown, Blanc, Silvestre, Fourtune, Giggs, Scholes, Veron, Solskjaer, Van Nistelrooy

Subs not used: Ricardo, Phil Neville, Forlan, Davis, Richardson.

Booked: Cisse, Fortune.

Goals: van Nistelrooy (41), Defoe (87).

Attendance: 35,049

Referee: M.Halsey

Man of the Match: David James

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Match Facts

West Ham United: , , , , , , , , , , .

Goals: None.

Booked: None.

Sent off: None.

: .

Subs not used: .

Goals: .

Booked: .

Sent off: None.

Referee: .

Attendance: 0.

Man of the Match: .