The Hammers held on for a hard fought point at Ewood Park yesterday, read on for the verdict and ratings...
It was never going to be an easy match and the first 10 minutes of the game suggested we were in for a fraught afternoon. I had not realised blackburn had become so direct in their play, relying solely on long balls and the long throws of Morten Gamst Pedersen, in the vein of Rory Delap. This was always going to be a problem for us with our first choice centre halves both out, although Tomkins and Neill turned out to be the stars of the day.
As the game wore on, we became slightly more comofrtable and offered some kind of threat with our counter attacks. One of these led to us taking the lead with a fine finish by Mark Noble who had an excelllent first half but faded somewhat in the second. However, we still clearly missed Carlton Cole and Tristan looked too rusty to be offering a real threat.
Rovers certainly caned us in the second half with an aerial bombardment, but like I said, the defence were magnificent. Their equaliser was inevitable but they could not push on for the winner. Indeed, it could have been the Hammers who stole the 3 points when Kieron Dyer, who has not lost any pace, was brought down in the penalty area but referee Chris Foy showed no interest.
Overall, it was a good point with the squad as depleted as it has been. Now we will have COle and hopefully Upson back for the next match in 2 weeks, we should be on for a stronger finish.
Player ratings;
Green - 6 - no chance with the goal, did okay
Illunga - 6 - an okay game, he tried to push forward when he could but was pre-occupied with defensive duties
Neill - 8 - my man of the match. He has been in excellent form of late but perhaps a return to his old ground pushed him on even further. Threw himself into every challenge, excellent performance
Tomkins - 7 - maturing very nicely and was up to the physical challenge presented by Rovers
Spector - 5 - out of sorts and his lack of games showed, did an okay job but not overly convincing
Noble -6 - an excellent first half but ran out of steam late on, good enough though
Kovac - 6 - starting to see more from this guy and like it, he has a good physical presence and is getting into the rhythm, needs his passing to improve though
Parker - 6 - opposite to Noble I thought Scott struggled in the first half but then did superbly in the second, especially with our 'alamo' defending
Boa-Morte - 6 - gave them something to think about and added some much needed bite to the team, a useful contribution
Tristan - 5 - pretty poor for me, nice touch for the goal but that was about it
Di Michele - 5.5 - hard shout this one, buzzed around a bit without really creating much, not the same without a true target man alongside him
Zola/Clarke - 8 - did their homework and have managed the lads superbly through a couple of games that West Ham of old would have lost. Great stuff.
Overall, glad to get that one out the way, now we have another break so hopefully we can work on Dyer's fitness and avoid any more injuries. COme on you Irons!
As the game wore on, we became slightly more comofrtable and offered some kind of threat with our counter attacks. One of these led to us taking the lead with a fine finish by Mark Noble who had an excelllent first half but faded somewhat in the second. However, we still clearly missed Carlton Cole and Tristan looked too rusty to be offering a real threat.
Rovers certainly caned us in the second half with an aerial bombardment, but like I said, the defence were magnificent. Their equaliser was inevitable but they could not push on for the winner. Indeed, it could have been the Hammers who stole the 3 points when Kieron Dyer, who has not lost any pace, was brought down in the penalty area but referee Chris Foy showed no interest.
Overall, it was a good point with the squad as depleted as it has been. Now we will have COle and hopefully Upson back for the next match in 2 weeks, we should be on for a stronger finish.
Player ratings;
Green - 6 - no chance with the goal, did okay
Illunga - 6 - an okay game, he tried to push forward when he could but was pre-occupied with defensive duties
Neill - 8 - my man of the match. He has been in excellent form of late but perhaps a return to his old ground pushed him on even further. Threw himself into every challenge, excellent performance
Tomkins - 7 - maturing very nicely and was up to the physical challenge presented by Rovers
Spector - 5 - out of sorts and his lack of games showed, did an okay job but not overly convincing
Noble -6 - an excellent first half but ran out of steam late on, good enough though
Kovac - 6 - starting to see more from this guy and like it, he has a good physical presence and is getting into the rhythm, needs his passing to improve though
Parker - 6 - opposite to Noble I thought Scott struggled in the first half but then did superbly in the second, especially with our 'alamo' defending
Boa-Morte - 6 - gave them something to think about and added some much needed bite to the team, a useful contribution
Tristan - 5 - pretty poor for me, nice touch for the goal but that was about it
Di Michele - 5.5 - hard shout this one, buzzed around a bit without really creating much, not the same without a true target man alongside him
Zola/Clarke - 8 - did their homework and have managed the lads superbly through a couple of games that West Ham of old would have lost. Great stuff.
Overall, glad to get that one out the way, now we have another break so hopefully we can work on Dyer's fitness and avoid any more injuries. COme on you Irons!
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