Ouch! Blooming Doncaster Rovers had to get in on the act, didn’t they? Hammers’ Kevin Nolan put the home side ahead early in the first half and although the irons had a lot of the game it was a confident Doncaster who stuck one in on 74 minutes in front of a packed Upton Park.
This puts a dent in the Hammers’ promotion campaign but I’m sure they will “carry on regardless”. Tuesday night’s game for Rovers against Nottingham Forest must have gave them oodles of confidence as they showed it at Upton Park in front of a crowd of 34,650. These are amazing crowds and I think it’s a glimmer of what’s to come for when the Irons get back to the Premier League.
Doncaster seemed to control most of the game but you would never have thought it the way the Hammers left their traps! It was 100 mph stuff in the first ten minutes but alas it was to be short lived by a quality Rovers performance.
Ricardo Vaz Te nearly struck for the hosts from a Kevin Nolan pass only for the ref to disallow the goal for a foul on Rovers’ Pascal Chimbonda. Carlton Cole then struck the crossbar with a lovely curling shot from the edge of the box.
All this piled on pressure from the Hammers paid off as on 9 minutes. Rovers’ keeper Carl Ikeme parried James Tomkins’ header from Vaz Te’s cross and Kevin Nolan was around to bundle the ball home from close range.
This now looked like a West Ham win all the way but as it turned out this was the Hammers best spell of the game and it had just passed!
Doncaster’s best chance of the half came five minutes from half time when Giles Barnes got up well and turned Diouf’s inviting cross just over the crossbar.
After the break it was pretty much the same story and West Ham took ten minutes to even register a chance when Carlton Cole turned a header over the bar from close range. Rovers continued to pile on the pressure and it was beginning to show on West Ham.
But as just when it looked as though lady luck would evade Doncaster Rovers, they stole the equaliser with 74 minutes on the clock.
Diouf’s low cross scuffed off Gillett’s boot as he tried to turn it in but it bounced away from Green allowing Coppinger to scramble it home.
Rovers deserved a goal and they nearly got number two into the bargain if it weren’t for keeper Rob Green doing a great job and producing an awesome save.
In the late stages of the game, the Hammers did manage to put some pressure on Rovers but without really testing Ikeme.
The Iron’s best chance came when a corner fell to Jack Collison who found himself in acres of space just ten yards out but struck wide. That was it from Upton Park. What do you think, are we going up to the Premiership on this performance or what?
West Ham: Robert Green, George McCartney, Kevin Nolan (Danny Collins, 80), James Tomkins, Jack Collison, Ricardo Vaz Te (Sam Baldock, 23), Matt Taylor, Abdoulaye Faye, Mark Noble, Henri Lansbury (Gary O’Neil, 57), Carlton Cole
Substitutes not used: Nicky Maynard, Ravel Morrison.
Doncaster Rovers: Carl Ikeme, Pascal Chimbonda, Shelton Martis (Sam Hird, 75), Habib Beye, Tommy Spurr, Kyle Bennett, Giles Barnes, Simon Gillett, James Coppinger, El Hadji Diouf, Mamadou Bagayoko (John Oster, 61).
Substitutes not used: James Hayter, Fabien Robert, Herita Ilunga.
Referee: Andy D’Urso.
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