The Hammers moved into the quarter-finals of the Coca-Cola Cup tonight and a confrontation with North London rivals Arsenal following this victory over Second Division strugglers Walsall.
A hat-trick from Frank Lampard and one from John Hartson condemned the midlanders to defeat, although the final result flattered the Hammers somewhat after a spirited performance from lowly Walsall.West Ham made their traditional start against lower division opposition as Walsall had the better of the opening quarter of an hour; the excellent French winger Peron causing us no end of trouble down the left flank. Hammers nerves were only settled when Frank Lampard latched onto an excellent through ball from Eyal Berkovic to calmly beat keeper James Walker with a low drive to the near post.
A second followed just a minute later when Eyal Berkovic found John Hartson in acres of space on the right wing. Hartson, with the option to pass to new signing Semassi Abou who was unmarked in the centre decided to take his chance, and buried the ball under the keeper with another low drive.
West Ham should have had the game won at this stage, but, as is so often, let the opposition back into the game. On the stroke of half time Walsall pulled a goal back following a goalmouth scramble resulting from a corner kick; Watson eventually finding the net.
The second half was as lively as the first; both sides had chances but it was the Hammers that made the decisive strike after 73 minutes. Again, Berkovic was creator, and his clever touch found Lampard in acres of space. Young Frank avoided the challenge of old soldier Derek Mountfield to slot his second past the keeper.
Lampards hat-trick was completed a minute later; again one-on-one with the keeper he cleverly chipped the ball into the far corner to make the scoreline 4-1.
So, a good result for the Hammers, but credit to Walsall, as they put up a mighty fight for a while.
TEAM AND RATINGS (marks out of ten)
Forrest (7) Flapped a bit for the goal but otherwise sound.l
Breacker (6) His crossing left a lot to be desired but worked hard as always.
Unsworth (7) Strong, won a lot of tackles, worked hard down the flank.
Pearce (7) His best game so far, made some crucial interceptions but still looked dodgy against the tricky winger.
Ferdinand (9) Sheer class; we know it and so does the rest of the country now.
Lampard (9) What can you say? 3 chances, 3 goals, you can't get better than that.
Moncur (5) Very poor game, spent most of the match trying to kick the opposition out of the ground.
Berkovic (8) Made three goals, excellent vision, tracked back well.
Lomas (7) Worked his socks off but really should get in some extra shooting practise.
Hartson (6) Quiet by his standards but still managed a goal.
Abou (7) Good touches, excites the crowd but needs to work a little harder on his movement. Maybe needs a little more confidence ?
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