It was a case of the late, late show at Upton Park today, as an
80th minute strike from Club record signing Dean Ashton on his home
debut and one from Paul Konchesky just six minutes later secured a
2-0 victory over bottom of the Premiership Sunderland.
After the Black Cats had been reduced to 10 men after just 22 minutes, when Stephen Wright was dismissed, it was hoped that Hammers might be in for a comfortable afternoon, but the stubborn resistance of the visitors as they defended in numbers and fought for their lives meant that Alan Pardew's men had to work extremely hard for the eventual breakthrough.
The Hammers boss had made two changes to the team that started Wednesday's memorable win at Arsenal, as his two new signings made their full debuts for the Club. Ashton came in for Marlon Harewood, while Argentinian international Lionel Scaloni replaced Clive Clarke at right-back. To reinforce his attacking intent, Pards named three strikers among his substitutes, as Teddy Sheringham and Yaniv Katan joined Harewood on the bench.
Sunderland, who arrived on the back of their shock FA Cup exit at Brentford last Saturday and a 3-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in midweek, fielded former Hammers Gary Breen and Christian Bassila and were hoping to snatch only their third Premiership win of the season
That task seemed unlikely against a Hammers side high in confidence following five successive victories, and became almost impossible once Wright was shown his second yellow card for a foul on Matthew Etherington halfway through the first half. Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy responded by withdrawing striker Anthony Le Tallec and attempting to stifle the hosts' attacking prowess.
Minutes later, Konchesky's fierce cross from the left missed the boot of Zamora by inches, but that proved to be the only real goalmouth action of an opening 45 minutes that saw more bookings for the visitors than chances at either end.
At half-time, Pardew introduced Teddy Sheringham for Zamora in an attempt to add some creative guile to his team's attack, but still Hammers struggled to open up the resolute Sunderland defence.
New boy Scaloni was harshly booked for a tackle on Julio Arca six minutes into the second half, before the first real chance of the game arrived on 66 minutes, when Nigel Reo-Coker's inviting cross from the right was met by Ashton, whose point-blank header was superbly tipped over by Davis.
With 18 minutes remaining, Harewood entered the fray to form a three-pronged assault up front, and the Hammers' top scorer soon began to cause problems with his pace on the right flank. Just three minutes after arriving on the field, he appeared to have found the breakthrough when following up Ashton's low shot to tap the ball into an empty net, only for the linesman's raised flag to deny him the goal - a decision proved wrong by television replays.
However, the mistake thankfully didn't cost Hammers dear as, just five minutes later, the all-important strike finally arrived. This time it was Harewood's shot from the right that was only parried out by Davis, and Ashton was on hand to slot home his first goal in a claret and blue shirt - much to the relief and delight of the 34,705 sell-out crowd at Upton Park.
The victory was made safe just six minutes later when Konchesky advanced to the edge of the penalty area and let fly with a low effort that Davis could only help into the net. It was the left-back's first goal of his Hammers career, and ensured that his fellow defenders could see out the final few minutes comfortably to claim our first clean sheet since November 5 and, more importantly, a fourth successive Premiership victory that takes us up to eighth place in the table on 38 points.
It may be too early to start talking about European football or a top six finish at Upton Park this season, but one thing is clear…the Hammers are looking up, and riding on the crest of a wave at present.
After the Black Cats had been reduced to 10 men after just 22 minutes, when Stephen Wright was dismissed, it was hoped that Hammers might be in for a comfortable afternoon, but the stubborn resistance of the visitors as they defended in numbers and fought for their lives meant that Alan Pardew's men had to work extremely hard for the eventual breakthrough.
The Hammers boss had made two changes to the team that started Wednesday's memorable win at Arsenal, as his two new signings made their full debuts for the Club. Ashton came in for Marlon Harewood, while Argentinian international Lionel Scaloni replaced Clive Clarke at right-back. To reinforce his attacking intent, Pards named three strikers among his substitutes, as Teddy Sheringham and Yaniv Katan joined Harewood on the bench.
Sunderland, who arrived on the back of their shock FA Cup exit at Brentford last Saturday and a 3-0 home defeat to Middlesbrough in midweek, fielded former Hammers Gary Breen and Christian Bassila and were hoping to snatch only their third Premiership win of the season
That task seemed unlikely against a Hammers side high in confidence following five successive victories, and became almost impossible once Wright was shown his second yellow card for a foul on Matthew Etherington halfway through the first half. Sunderland boss Mick McCarthy responded by withdrawing striker Anthony Le Tallec and attempting to stifle the hosts' attacking prowess.
Minutes later, Konchesky's fierce cross from the left missed the boot of Zamora by inches, but that proved to be the only real goalmouth action of an opening 45 minutes that saw more bookings for the visitors than chances at either end.
At half-time, Pardew introduced Teddy Sheringham for Zamora in an attempt to add some creative guile to his team's attack, but still Hammers struggled to open up the resolute Sunderland defence.
New boy Scaloni was harshly booked for a tackle on Julio Arca six minutes into the second half, before the first real chance of the game arrived on 66 minutes, when Nigel Reo-Coker's inviting cross from the right was met by Ashton, whose point-blank header was superbly tipped over by Davis.
With 18 minutes remaining, Harewood entered the fray to form a three-pronged assault up front, and the Hammers' top scorer soon began to cause problems with his pace on the right flank. Just three minutes after arriving on the field, he appeared to have found the breakthrough when following up Ashton's low shot to tap the ball into an empty net, only for the linesman's raised flag to deny him the goal - a decision proved wrong by television replays.
However, the mistake thankfully didn't cost Hammers dear as, just five minutes later, the all-important strike finally arrived. This time it was Harewood's shot from the right that was only parried out by Davis, and Ashton was on hand to slot home his first goal in a claret and blue shirt - much to the relief and delight of the 34,705 sell-out crowd at Upton Park.
The victory was made safe just six minutes later when Konchesky advanced to the edge of the penalty area and let fly with a low effort that Davis could only help into the net. It was the left-back's first goal of his Hammers career, and ensured that his fellow defenders could see out the final few minutes comfortably to claim our first clean sheet since November 5 and, more importantly, a fourth successive Premiership victory that takes us up to eighth place in the table on 38 points.
It may be too early to start talking about European football or a top six finish at Upton Park this season, but one thing is clear…the Hammers are looking up, and riding on the crest of a wave at present.