It was a nice sight yesterday watching the Hammers demolish Barnsley 4 nil away.

This result gives the Hammers some hope as it means they have both Southampton and Reading within touching distance. If this was ever a time for the “squeaky bum” syndrome, then this is it as the top two can feel the heat of the irons breathing down their necks.It was a great match and I must admit that Barnsley had a nightmare in defence which started with a goal mouth scramble and a toe poke in for the hammers’ captain to make it one nil.

With Reading beating Leeds United earlier on, the Hammers started the game 7 points behind and needed to produce the goods if they were ever to steal a promotion place. But once captain Nolan tapped the ball in from a Nicky Maynard corner they never looked back.

23 minutes into the game and it was Maynard who got onto the scoresheet after a nice piece of play with his captain. then it was Mark Noble’s turn just 12 minutes after to crash home a third for the Hammers. Noble curled the ball in from a tight angle to find the net and also helped the visitors to a new club record of 12 away wins in a season. Nice one Noble!

“We found a cutting edge and it was a fantastic, professional performance,” said the West Ham manager, Sam Allardyce.

“We’ve broken the club record for away wins in a season, which is a great achievement. It’s very pleasing because it’s always difficult to play away from home. It’s just a pity we haven’t won more games at home.”

With the second half under way Ricardo Vaz Tê added a fourth goal for the Hammers against his old side from close range. We hope with this performance, last months five straight draws in a row is a thing of the past as the Upton Park boys have seen Reading, who are the new leaders, cruise past the them.

Barnsley looked shell shocked after the game who still have a 9 point cushion to fall back on at the bottom of the league table.

“The pressure was on us after Reading won earlier in the day,” Allardyce said. “Winning was the only thing for us and we did that. We did that with style and showed we could handle the pressure situation.

“We now face Birmingham City on Monday and that will be a tough test for us. We need to try and grasp another three points and see where we go from there.”

Allardyce can spend Saturday enjoying his win but as he said, “there’s a tough game on Monday against Birmingham”. If the hammers can grab some points there then there’s hope. Surely the hammers, after beating Barnsley on their own turf at Oakwell will be well up for the game at Birmingham. Do not disappoint us lads, we are counting on you 🙂