Hammers returned to winning ways in their penultimate
Premiership game of the season with a 1-0 victory at relegated West
Bromwich Albion, thanks to Nigel Reo-Coker's 41st minute
strike.
The captain's fifth goal of the season was enough to secure all three points and give his team an excellent chance of securing a top 10 finish following last week's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool.
Alan Pardew made no fewer than seven changes to the team that started Wednesday's game against our FA Cup final rivals. Hayden Mullins began the first of his three-match suspension and was replaced by Carl Fletcher in the centre of midfield, while Christian Dailly and Danny Gabbidon came in for the injured Anton Ferdinand and James Collins.
There were three unforced changes, as Shaka Hislop returned between the sticks in place of Jimmy Walker, and Shaun Newton and Dean Ashton were preferred to Yossi Benayoun and Marlon Harewood, but the visitors were dealt another injury blow before a ball had even been kicked, as Matthew Etherington suffered a groin injury in the warm-up.
There was some encouragement with the news that the winger's withdrawl was said to be just precautionary, and also meant that 18-year-old Kyel Reid stepped up from the bench for his Hammers debut, becoming the latest youth academy graduate to make the progression to full first-team honour.
Unbelievably, though, there was more injury woe to come as, after a fairly quiet start to the game, Hammers saw another key player endure a premature departure, when Dean Ashton hobbled off to be replaced by Teddy Sheringham on just 20 minutes, clutching his hamstring following an awkward fall from an aerial challenge.
Perhaps it had something to do with the sight of a black cat running in front of the dug-outs during the pre-match entertainment but, wherever the bad luck was coming from, it certainly wasn't welcome for Alan Pardew.
However, after striker Nathan Ellington had wasted the first real opportunity of the game when he dragged a left-foot shot wide from close range on 30 minutes, the luck changed for Hammers as they took the lead just four minutes before the break.
And just as it had been against Liverpool last week, our goal was created by Bobby Zamora, and finished by Reo-Coker. The striker beat Steve Watson to the ball on the right hand side before cleverly cutting inside Curtis Davies and touching back for the skipper to slam home from 12 yards out to give his side a half-time lead.
Perhaps finally realising they had nothing to lose, the already-relegated hosts began a revival at the beginning of the second half and threw men forward in an attempt to take something from their final home game in the Premiership for at least another season, and quite how they didn't manage to carve out an equaliser is anyone's guess.
Ellington fired an effort just inches over the bar from 18 yards out, before Kanu saw two questionable penalty appeals turned down when he clashed with Dailly and Ward in the space of a few minutes, and Wallwork had a low shot deflected just wide for a corner.
With 12 minutes remaining, Ellington missed arguably the best chance of the night, when he somehow planted a free header wide from just eight yards out, a miss that summed up the evening for Bryan Robson's men - and probably their season.
By then, Marlon Harewood had replaced Zamora and Paul Konchesky made a welcome return, coming on with 15 minutes left as a substitute for Dailly, who did well upon his comeback from a hamstring injury sustained in the FA Cup quarter-final win at Manchester City on March 20.
And so, after a worrying start to the evening thanks to two more injuries to influential members of his team, Alan Pardew was able to finish with a smile and take positives from another hard-working victory - the impressive debut of young Reid on the left, another calm and assured display from the returning Danny Gabbidon, and an energetic and determined performance from Carl Fletcher, who certainly looks eager to grab his chance as a replacement for the absent Mullins in the coming weeks.
The captain's fifth goal of the season was enough to secure all three points and give his team an excellent chance of securing a top 10 finish following last week's 2-1 defeat at the hands of Liverpool.
Alan Pardew made no fewer than seven changes to the team that started Wednesday's game against our FA Cup final rivals. Hayden Mullins began the first of his three-match suspension and was replaced by Carl Fletcher in the centre of midfield, while Christian Dailly and Danny Gabbidon came in for the injured Anton Ferdinand and James Collins.
There were three unforced changes, as Shaka Hislop returned between the sticks in place of Jimmy Walker, and Shaun Newton and Dean Ashton were preferred to Yossi Benayoun and Marlon Harewood, but the visitors were dealt another injury blow before a ball had even been kicked, as Matthew Etherington suffered a groin injury in the warm-up.
There was some encouragement with the news that the winger's withdrawl was said to be just precautionary, and also meant that 18-year-old Kyel Reid stepped up from the bench for his Hammers debut, becoming the latest youth academy graduate to make the progression to full first-team honour.
Unbelievably, though, there was more injury woe to come as, after a fairly quiet start to the game, Hammers saw another key player endure a premature departure, when Dean Ashton hobbled off to be replaced by Teddy Sheringham on just 20 minutes, clutching his hamstring following an awkward fall from an aerial challenge.
Perhaps it had something to do with the sight of a black cat running in front of the dug-outs during the pre-match entertainment but, wherever the bad luck was coming from, it certainly wasn't welcome for Alan Pardew.
However, after striker Nathan Ellington had wasted the first real opportunity of the game when he dragged a left-foot shot wide from close range on 30 minutes, the luck changed for Hammers as they took the lead just four minutes before the break.
And just as it had been against Liverpool last week, our goal was created by Bobby Zamora, and finished by Reo-Coker. The striker beat Steve Watson to the ball on the right hand side before cleverly cutting inside Curtis Davies and touching back for the skipper to slam home from 12 yards out to give his side a half-time lead.
Perhaps finally realising they had nothing to lose, the already-relegated hosts began a revival at the beginning of the second half and threw men forward in an attempt to take something from their final home game in the Premiership for at least another season, and quite how they didn't manage to carve out an equaliser is anyone's guess.
Ellington fired an effort just inches over the bar from 18 yards out, before Kanu saw two questionable penalty appeals turned down when he clashed with Dailly and Ward in the space of a few minutes, and Wallwork had a low shot deflected just wide for a corner.
With 12 minutes remaining, Ellington missed arguably the best chance of the night, when he somehow planted a free header wide from just eight yards out, a miss that summed up the evening for Bryan Robson's men - and probably their season.
By then, Marlon Harewood had replaced Zamora and Paul Konchesky made a welcome return, coming on with 15 minutes left as a substitute for Dailly, who did well upon his comeback from a hamstring injury sustained in the FA Cup quarter-final win at Manchester City on March 20.
And so, after a worrying start to the evening thanks to two more injuries to influential members of his team, Alan Pardew was able to finish with a smile and take positives from another hard-working victory - the impressive debut of young Reid on the left, another calm and assured display from the returning Danny Gabbidon, and an energetic and determined performance from Carl Fletcher, who certainly looks eager to grab his chance as a replacement for the absent Mullins in the coming weeks.