It was Allardyce’s chance to move up to fifth place in the league table but the Hammers were met by a stubborn Stoke City who snatched an early goal courtesy of Jonathan Walters. The Hammers equalised via Joey O’Brien of all people and thus took a share of the spoils that the Boleyn Ground had to offer.
Stoke were their usual self and always pose an arial threat whether it’s against the Hammers or Man United. Stoke could have thumped in a second which would have knocked the wind out of our boys for sure when Steven N’Zonzi’s half volley clattered against Jussi’s crossbar just before half time. That would have been goal of the season, too!
Stoke were looking for their first away win and looked pretty much up for the task in hand. The early goal by Walters gave Stoke some breathing room and allowed them to play a little. The Irons had an uphill task on their hands and it didn’t look like it was going to be a walk in the park.
For most of the first half the Hammers struggled to create chances and Stoke looked like they might snatch the full 3 points.
Promising second half
The second half proved much more promising for Allardyce’s boys as West Ham pushed Stoke City. Although Stoke were always going to be a threat in the air, the Hammers pushed them and Joey O’Brien scored his second goal for the club.
The Hammers should have had an equaliser in the bag just after the break though. Mohamed Diame combined nicely with Modibo Maiga down the left side to set loose McCartney. The defender’s cross was inch perfect for Nolan but the Hammers’ captain put his header far too close to the Stoke City keeper.
West Ham levelled the match just moments after when Maiga had his strike charged down and Gary O’Neil was able to assist from the right side of play for Joey O’Brien to convert from the middle of the goal.
The equaliser appeared to have ruffled Stoke City’s feathers and Maiga came very close to putting the hammers ahead with just over half an hour to play. Mark Noble’s corner was won in the air by and knocked down by big Andy Carroll for Maiga to latch onto but could not beat keeper Begovic who made a decent save.
The Hammers‘ scorer O’Brien was then replaced by Guy Demel with 13 minutes remaining on the clock. He then had a decent effort that went just wide of Begovic’s goal six minutes later. Winston Reid also had a good chance to claim three points for the irons with a header late in the game but the New Zealand international did not get enough power on his effort and was wasted much to the dismay of the Boleyn Ground.
Ok, so we’ve snatched just a point which could have or should have been three. We’ve missed the chance to move up to fifth place and it would have given us some room to breathe as we have some tough games in the weeks to follow.
