West Ham Till I Die
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The GoatyGav Column

Our Jeroboam, Jarrod Bowen, Doesn’t Like Champagne

My cousin, John, came with me to the match on Saturday. Living in Exeter, and having looked after his dad for many years, it was the first game that he’d been to for quite some time. He certainly chose a good one to return to. As well as being overjoyed with the result I was extremely pleased for him as he’s had a genuinely tough run of it over the last couple of years and thoroughly deserved the joy that the win brought. A few of you might remember my dedication to ‘Uncle Dave’ in November and John’s brother, Alan, before that. Both were with us in spirit as we shouted the boys on from our seats on Saturday afternoon.

When Jarrod scored his goal I was so caught up in the moment I completely forgot to try and get the “Champagne Supernova” song that I wanted to sing going. It was a great moment for Jarrod, the team, the gaffer and us fans which made a significant contribution to him getting the, deserved, man of the match Champagne on the day. Unfortunately for us Jarrod, during his post match interview, let us know that he doesn’t even like bubbly.

According to my cousin he saw someone post on social media that our defending was shaky. Not too sure I concur considering we faced nine Southampton corners during the game and defended every one superbly. Added to that fact was the speed at which we got ourselves back in shape when Southampton countered, apart from their goal, I, personally, thought we looked solid with Og and Diop. For me they are the strongest Centre Back partnership that we have and now that the defence are putting David Moyes’ coaching in to practice the benefits are starting to show.

The phrase “A win works wonders for confidence,” couldn’t be more apt than when applied to the West Ham squad at the moment. As well as a shot in the arm I also noticed how the players seem to have bonded when celebrating the three goals on Saturday. Many perceive Seb Haller as a lazy player. Whatever your opinion you have to admit that he played extremely well against Southampton as well as having the team’s best interests at heart. He looked genuinely pleased for his team-mates after their goals and was first to congratulate them. His relationship with Rebic and Jovic at Frankfurt was a genuine ‘in it together’ combined effort and you get the feeling that the same is being cultivated at West Ham.
Going in to the game I felt quietly confident that we’d see a fully committed effort from our team. Southampton have been on good form, so I wasn’t sure if we were going to bag the points, however once kick off arrived and our Claret & Blue heroes got stuck in that quiet confidence grew. For years we’ve hoped for a striker capable of bagging twenty goals a season. Perhaps it was always more important to have a front line that struck up a good understanding and played to each other’s strengths. All of a sudden it appears that we have a good balance up top and genuine optimism is returning. Arsenal next Saturday will be a tough game however I think that we’re, at least, in with a shout of getting something out of it. If the boys can take that work-rate, and continue to improve, then, who knows, it could even be all three points. Fingers crossed.

Since I last posted the West Ham Women have recorded a much needed four-two win over Liverpool. Adriana Leon opened the West Ham scoring with a great goal following a swift breakaway. Martha Thomas slotted home our second when Alisha Lehmann, who was running riot down the right, squared across the eighteen yard box. Thomas got her second, and West Ham’s third, after a brilliant turn and shot across the Liverpool keeper in to the far corner before Leon also bagged her brace, in similar fashion to Jarrod Bowen’s goal, to put the game beyond Liverpool at four-nil. The Merseysiders did close the gap following a mix up in West Ham’s defence, and another scrappy goal, to complete the scoring. The ladies go up to, second from bottom, Birmingham City for their next match with confidence boosted and a further three points up for grabs. Best of luck to the Ironesses in that one.

Tonight the U23, Premier League 2, team faced second bottom Norwich City at Victoria Road. The first of the remaining five fixtures of the season was hugely important with Manchester Untied breathing down their necks while trailing three points behind, with a game in hand and a six goal inferior difference before the kick off. After a competitive first half the Hammers found themselves one up when Afolayan steered home a clever Fabian Balbuena through ball. The boys doubled their lead in the second half with a Diallo goal before putting the game beyond Norwich’s reach on seventy four mins when substitute, Adiempo Odubiko, scored on his debut after replacing Afolayan just three minutes earlier. Xande Silva added another on eighty two with a great touch and finish from Sanchez’s ball over the top to make it four-nil to the Cockney Boys before the final whistle. Stoke City ran Manchester United close but the Red Devils kept the pressure up on Halajko’s boys. Four more to go starting at home to a Swansea side, in a fortnight’s time, who’ve come off two consecutive losses that have seen them drop down to eighth place. Exciting stuff.

Have a great week all.

COYI!

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