Hammers 2 - 1 Blackeye (390053869)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and West Ham saw a crowd turnout of 52522. Thor Mæhlum was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mikko Öhrnberg and Chihambuane Chipambere. Hammers had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Corpet - Gobin, Breitenstein, Lakatos - González, Sparks, Hand, Rutland, Ölçek - Devorst, Prieto.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Blackeye. They fielded: Fitzmaurice - Gallagher, Brandon, Baird - Fishman, van den Oever, Black, Axford, Sheppard - Brazier, Gardner.

Some great play up the middle by Hammers led to a chance for G. Devorst to score after 10 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. Hammers could have put themselves ahead after 17 minutes but D. Prieto missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. Many thought E. González ought to have been awarded a penalty 18 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around H. Fitzmaurice after a determined run through the middle. Blackeye's G. van den Oever gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 21 minutes with a superb strike from the right. 27 minutes in, Blackeye's P. Axford received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. D. Prieto of Hammers had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. D. Roldán came in to finish the match. D. Ölçek could have scored for Hammers with his free kick after 30 minutes, but the visitors' keeper just managed to get a hand on it. 0 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Hammers, who controlled the ball 57 percent of the time.

E. González made a superb strike after 50 minutes with a shot straight in front of the goal after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second and warded it off for a corner. When P. Axford made yet another studs-first tackle after 60 minutes, the referee was obliged to book the Blackeye player for the second time, sending him off the pitch. With 63 minutes played, Hammers's G. Devorst found an opening in the visitors' left side defence, but his shot was handled easily by the keeper. With 71 minutes having been played, Hammers scored to make it 1 - 1. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but D. Ölçek was marked down as the scorer. Hammers took the lead after 76 minutes as a result of D. Roldán's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 2 - 1. M. Baird of Blackeye received a yellow card after 81 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Hammers claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 63 percent.

The most dominating Hammers player was without a doubt D. Roldán. G. Sparks turned in a dismal performance, however. Blackeye's top performer was clearly H. Fitzmaurice. On the other hand, L. Sheppard's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 1.