George McCartney was all smiles after becoming the latest
defender to score his first goal for the Club in Saturday's 2-1
victory against AS Roma at Upton Park.
After Jonathan Spector had notched his first strike in a Hammers shirt from the left-back position in last Tuesday's friendly win at Norwich City, this time it was George's turn to become an unlikely goalscoring hero, and he was delighted to do so.
"They don't come along very often, so it was very nice to see the ball hit the back of the net," he says. "In my eyes, it doesn't matter if it's a friendly or a league game, it's always nice to get on the scoresheet, and it's been a while since my last goal!
"Sometimes the plan at corners is for me to spin round the back and hopefully get on any flick-ons or knock-downs, but this time Freddie was putting a few balls to the back post and after going close on a couple of occasions, I managed to get my head on one and it was lovely to see the ball hit the back of the net."
Reflecting on the overall performance against the Italian Champions League contenders in our final pre-season test before next week's Premier League opener, George admits he was impressed with the way Hammers fought back against top class opposition.
"Roma are a top team who prove that every year in Serie A, and it was always going to be a tough game," he says. "They were up for it - you could tell that in the first half with the way they were passing the ball and moving quickly.
"In the second half, though, we closed them down a bit better and moved the ball well ourselves, and I thought we deserved the win in the end."
After Jonathan Spector had notched his first strike in a Hammers shirt from the left-back position in last Tuesday's friendly win at Norwich City, this time it was George's turn to become an unlikely goalscoring hero, and he was delighted to do so.
"They don't come along very often, so it was very nice to see the ball hit the back of the net," he says. "In my eyes, it doesn't matter if it's a friendly or a league game, it's always nice to get on the scoresheet, and it's been a while since my last goal!
"Sometimes the plan at corners is for me to spin round the back and hopefully get on any flick-ons or knock-downs, but this time Freddie was putting a few balls to the back post and after going close on a couple of occasions, I managed to get my head on one and it was lovely to see the ball hit the back of the net."
Reflecting on the overall performance against the Italian Champions League contenders in our final pre-season test before next week's Premier League opener, George admits he was impressed with the way Hammers fought back against top class opposition.
"Roma are a top team who prove that every year in Serie A, and it was always going to be a tough game," he says. "They were up for it - you could tell that in the first half with the way they were passing the ball and moving quickly.
"In the second half, though, we closed them down a bit better and moved the ball well ourselves, and I thought we deserved the win in the end."