Carling Cup
Tottenham 1 West Ham United 0

Wednesday, 29th October 2003
by Ryan McGill

The interminable law of the ex haunted West Ham last night, as Hammer’s fan and former youth teamer Bobby Zamora decided a closely fought derby in favour of Tottenham.

West Ham fans can hold their head up high today as a greatly weakened team more than matched their supposedly superior neighbours only to be let down, not for the first time this season, by poor finishing and a lack of forward options.

Injuries and suspensions had decimated Alan Pardew's already threadbare squad, with the lack of numbers highlighted in a starting back four that contained only one West Ham player, Christian Dailly (Stockdale, Kilgallon and Quinn all being loan signings). You have to wonder how many absentees there needs to be before Anton ?EUR~the new Rio?EUR(TM) Ferdinand is given his chance at centre back?

One bright spot was the unexpected return for injury of Kevin Horlock, enabling Pardew to deploy a 4-5-1 formation with ?EUR~target man?EUR(TM) Defoe supported by Etherington and Hutchinson. Pardew sprung a surprise by starting Etherington wide on the right of midfield, either to test the returning left back Ziege (starting his first game for a year following serious injury), or to allow Etherington to shoot with his left foot when following his regular habit of meandering inside.

The opening 25 minutes were dominated by Spurs, with Ricketts and Konchesky providing attacking width and the elusive Keane dribbling and tricking his way around the Hammer?EUR(TM)s rearguard. West Ham were pinned back inside their own half for long periods, with Defoe physically unable to provide an outlet further up the pitch to relieve the almost constant pressure.

An early victim of the stream of Spurs attacks was right-back Robbie Stockdale. A muscle injury in the 22nd minute saw the on-loan Middlesboro man limp off to be replaced by Anton Ferdinand. Stockdale has spoken openly of his desire to sign permanently for West Ham, so let?EUR(TM)s hope he recovers sufficiently to impress during what remains of his loan spell.

Despite their territorial supremacy Spurs were finding the partnership of Dailly and Kilgallon an impressively solid barrier to goal. Eyebrows were raised at his selection, but no one could fail to be impressed with Kilgallon?EUR(TM)s steadiness in the tackle, bravery and accurate distribution, while Dailly continued this season?EUR(TM)s renaissance by cutting out Zamora?EUR(TM)s 27th minute shot that had looked destined for goal.

Having weathered the early storm the Hammers began to exert some pressure from the half hour mark, using their extra man in centre of the park to out muscle and out play what looked a lightweight Tottenham midfield four. Lee and Etherington were regularly swapping flanks to good effect, Carrick was in playmaking form, and Hutchinson was breaking from deep to support Defoe.

West Ham were now running the game, and should have opened the scoring on 38 minutes when Defoe followed up some excellent close control to released the onrushing Lee with a chip into the Spurs box. The veteran took one touch before guiding a left footed strike past Keller, only to see it rebound back to the ?EUR~keeper off the inside of the far post.

Roared on by the impressively vocal West Ham support the visitors continued to dominate, with Spurs relived to hear the half-time whistle.

The Hammers continued their good form into the second half, outnumbering the home team in midfield and probing for breaks in an increasingly shaky looking Spurs back four. Lee was again unlucky not to score when he ran onto an Etherington through ball, only to see his heavy first touch pass the ball to the grateful Keller.

West Ham?EUR(TM)s central midfield three of Carrick, Horlock and Lee were controlling the game, retaining possession and distributing intelligently to Defoe, now closely supported on the flanks by Etherington and Hutchinson. Spurs were being overrun, as David Pleat acknowledged by introducing Mabizela and Blondel to his midfield.

Despite the changes West Ham?EUR(TM)s mastery continued and on 65 minutes they created the chance of the game. A Carrick grasscutter from the centre of the park put Deofe clear of the lumbering Doherty, for a one-on-one with Casey Keller. Defoe appeared to have too much time to think, and having moved to round the ?EUR~keeper, chose instead to shoot straight at him. It was a golden chance to open the scoring.

If the contrast in resources available to the two clubs wasn?EUR(TM)t obvious enough it was illustrated starkly around the 70 minute mark. Alan Pardew replaced the tiring Lee with Richard Garcia, while Pleat brought on the ??7M, UEFA Cup winning Portuguese international striker Helder Postiga. Spurs now had three international (if you count Zamora?EUR(TM)s U21 caps) forwards on the pitch, and were going all out for the win in normal time.

Unsurprisingly, given the high tempo of the game and the number of players recently returning from injury, West Ham were tiring badly in the final 10 minutes of the game. Playing for extra time every player except Defoe was pulled back into the West Ham half, and James had to pull off some international class saves to deny Keane and Zamora.

Despite the evident fatigue there was still time for one last push towards the Tottenham goal in injury time. Some pinball on the edge of the Spurs area following a Quinn cross, saw the ball brake free to Defoe and the off-side looking Garcia. Garcia narrowly won the race to the ball, but delayed his shot and drilled the ball lamely into the arms of the on-rushing Keller. Seconds later the whistle blew for full-time.

Given the way Tottenham had largely dominated the end of normal time, and the increasing tiredness of the West Ham team, it was no surprise that Spurs started extra time very brightly.

Wayne Quinn?EUR(TM)s block saved a certain goal for Zamora during Tottenham?EUR(TM)s first attack, and 30 seconds later the game was won when Zamora held off Anton Ferdinand on the left edge of the box, and turned a low drive past James. The goal had been coming and no blame should be directed at Ferdinand, as the entire back four were out on their feet.

Don Hutchison pushed forward in search of an equaliser only to be denied by Keller having played a neat one-two with Garcia. Tottenham?EUR(TM)s increased numbers and quality in attack were in danger of making the game one-way traffic, with both Postiga and Zamora going close before the break.

The second half of extra time began with the long threatened introduction of Neil Mellor for Horlock, as a succession of high balls were lobbed into the Tottenham area. This tactic proved surprisingly effective, and forced a number of corners from a nervous looking Tottenham defence. One of these corners nearly produced an equaliser as Mellor headed a Defoe corner into the ground that bounced over Keller and onto the crossbar. So often our recent saviour, it was the second time in this match that West Ham had been denied by the frame of the goal.

This proved to be the final chance of note, and the whistle went for full-time soon after. Confirmation of victory caused the Spurs supporters to abandon their near two hour silent vigil, and produce a muted cheer ... sort of.

Don?EUR(TM)t be fooled by the result, this was an excellent display by West Ham full of creativity and effort, helped no doubt by the consistently excellent vocal support of the away supporters that echoed around an otherwise largely silent White Hart Lane.

However this game did highlight West Ham?EUR(TM)s recurring Achilles heel of being unable to score when on top in a match. The evidence of this season so far suggests that (even when Connelly is fit) the solution to this problem won?EUR(TM)t be found among the existing squad members. If West Ham want to play Premier League teams every week next season the time may have come to think the unthinkable and sell Defoe or Carrick to generate the finance needed to build a squad capable of promotion?

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Player Ratings

David James
Spent the entire 90 minutes on red alert. We?EUR(TM)ve come to expect the excellent shot stopping, but now the distribution has improved too.


Robbie Stockdale
Forced off with a muscle injury early in the game.


Wayne Quinn
Targeted by Spurs early on, as all their early first half dominance was directed down his side. Move to a more defensive game has stymied his attacking threat.


Christian Dailly
Fantastic display, capping what has been an excellent start to the season.


Matthew Kilgallon
Surprise selection but a commanding display against the always lively Keane. A real prospect for the future who showed Premier League class here.


Rob Lee
Always lively and committed, should have capped an impressive performance with a goal.


Kevin Horlock
Kept possession well and passed intelligently throughout.


Michael Carrick
No coincidence that playing against Premier League players rather than Div 1 battlers produced Carrick?EUR(TM)s most impressive display of the season.


Matthew Etherington
Ability to run with and retain the ball offered a vital outlet when under pressure, and gave the midfield time to get forward to support Defoe.


Don Hutchison
Offered an outlet in the air, and got forward well to support the attack.


Jermain Defoe
Constantly moving and testing the Spurs defence, will have been disappointed to have fluffed his one-on-one with Keller.



Substitutes

Anton Ferdinand
Got forward well from right-back and generally impressed. Unlucky to have been beaten by Zamora for the goal.


Richard Garcia
Introduced some zip from the right of midfield. Totally fluffed his chance in injury time, a real ?EUR~rabbit in the headlights?EUR(TM) moment.


Neil Mellor
Late entry when the play was becoming ragged, hit the crossbar.


Stephen Bywater
Did not play


Youssef Sofiane
Did not play



Match Facts

West Ham United: David James, Robbie Stockdale, Wayne Quinn, Christian Dailly, Matthew Kilgallon, Rob Lee, Kevin Horlock, Michael Carrick, Matthew Etherington, Don Hutchison, Jermain Defoe.

Goals: None.

Booked: Matthew Etherington 90          .

Sent off: None.

Tottenham: Keller, Konchesky, Gardner, Carr, King, Ziege, Dalmat, Doherty, Ricketts, Zamora, Keane.

Subs not used: Burch, Bunjevcevic.

Goals: Zamora (91).

Booked: .

Sent off: None.

Referee: Graham Barber.

Attendance: 36,053.

Man of the Match: Christian Dailly.