West Ham 1-2 Ipswich

 

 

 

 

Played at the Boleyn Ground on Friday 26^th December 2003

 

West Ham United managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory against Ipswich in a lunchtime kick-off at home to Ipswich Town. What was expected to be a fast-passing thriller turned out to be a terrible game.

 

The first half, like so many at West Ham this season, was dire and not a half to remember. Both sides tried to work each other out but to no avail. The wet and windy conditions certainly didn’t help matters, though.

 

The second half started with a good pace and the Irons finally put a chance away when Marlon Harewood made a fantastic run down the right, crossed into the box for Jermain Defoe to hit home, in what was probably his last home match at the Boleyn Ground.

 

West Ham trying to ‘sit on a lead’ has never worked but manager Alan Pardew has not worked this out yet. He took David Connolly, surely our hardest-working player, off the field and introduced Don Hutchison. This seemed peculiar at the time, unless Connolly was injured. Connolly had been playing well but Michael Carrick was abysmal in central midfield, and ‘Hutch’ could have been introduced in place of Carrick.

 

Pardew then paid for this mistake as a controversial penalty was awarded to Ipswich Town in front of the Bobby Moore Stand. It is the widely understood view that there was a slight push OUTSIDE of the penalty area. This push probably wasn’t even worth giving a free kick for, but somehow Barry Knight interpreted the incident as a need for a penalty kick. Pablo Counago converted the kick, and what had been a good Boxing Day atmosphere turned into a stadium where you could hear a pin drop.

 

Ipswich went for the win and were rewarded for their efforts when Martijn Reuser struck a low shot from thirty-or-more yards and Counago stuck a leg out and converted the ball into the net.

 

This was a game that should never have been lost by West Ham. There were many chances, but several of our players failed to direct the ball into the back of the net. The Hammers dropped three points today; they cannot afford to do the same at the City Ground on Sunday.

 

 

Scott (Owner)'s Player Ratings

 

James: He had a few shaky moments, biggest was when he missed the ball and Pearce cleared up.

                                                                    6/10

 

Repka: MAN OF THE MATCH, solid, fought till the end, AGAIN. Undeservedly Booked.

                                                                    8/10

 

Quinn: Best performance I've seen from him. Did his best but still punts useless balls up the field.

                                                                   7/10

 

Carrick: Not great, did what he could but just seemed off the pace.

                                                                    6/10

 

Pearce: Did brilliantly, bailed us out 4 times when we were exposed, best I've seen him play this season.

                                                                       8/10

 

Etherington: Beat a few players, and got crosses in. Think he's been our only consistent midfielder this season.

                                                                        7.5/10

 

Horlock: Poor, lost the ball a lot and didn't try to win it back, can think of 2 good shots but overall was poor.

                                                                        5/10

 

Mullins: Looks more settled at right back. Very quiet  but relatively good, I think he gets beaten to easily.

                                                                        6.5/10

 

Connolly: Worked his nuts off again, don't know why he was taken off. Only bad point was his terrible miss from 6 yards.                                                            7/10

 

Harewood: Tried hard, a few great pieces of skill. 2 great runs, one led to a goal.

                                                                        8/10

 

Defoe: Good finish for the goal, a few good attempts on goal.

                                                                        7.5/10

SUBS

 

 

Hutch: Should be starting, tried hard, but the whole team just didn't get the rub of the green.

  

                                                                         7/10

Stockdale: Barely saw him, not given enough time. I feel a rating would be harsh.

 

Mellor: Given 2 minutes on the field. No time to do anything.

 

 

 

Match Report by Phil Crook p.crook@lycos.com

Player Ratings by Scott Fautley (Owner) sfautey@f2s.com