Southampton 2-2 West Ham United
In-form striker Zavon Hines came off the bench to score a second-half equaliser as West Ham United fought back from two-nil down at Southampton on Friday night.
A 12,314-strong crowd at St Mary's watched the teams play in a pre-season friendly for the Ted Bates Trophy, with captains Lucas Neill and Michael Svensson sharing the spoils. After two goals from Saints youngster David McGoldrick had stunned the travelling support, who made up a quarter of the crowd but dominated the atmosphere, Calum Davenport grabbed a goal back just before the interval. Hines then pounced to make it all square midway through the second half.
Alan Curbishley fielded a strong side - with Valon Behrami making his second appearance in the space of three days. Marek Stech was given a start in goal while Davenport partnered Matthew Upson in the centre of defence as Anton Ferdinand began on the bench. Hayden Mullins was recalled to the side to partner Scott Parker in midfield with Mark Noble making way. Craig Bellamy, who netted two goals at Peterborough on Tuesday night, was alongside Carlton Cole up front.
The first real attack of the night came from the home side, when Lee Holmes sent in a flying shot which Stech did well to stop. At the other end, Neill surged into a good forward position only for his effort to be blocked, with Cole and Bellamy trying to snatch the rebound before it was cleared to safety. Bellamy then combined well with Kyel Reid to cross into the box, but the ball just fell too far in front of Julien Faubert.
Stech then gathered well with a close-range effort before McGoldrick watched a searing shot go wide. The warning had been fired. Moments later, the 20-year-old struck from close range. The striker put his side 2-0 up within five minutes, running through and putting a shot beyond Stech to make it 2-0 to Southampton.
West Ham United were not down and out though. As half-time approached, Bellamy raced through and was only just denied before Faubert's well-taken corner was met perfectly by the head of Davenport, who had been equally impressive in his more regular defensive duties. Bellamy nearly added another just before the half-time whistle with an overhead kick, but the Saints keeper got a hand to clear.
Curbishley made his first change at the start of the second half, with Noble replacing Bellamy. McGoldrick was still lively, shooting just wide after 54 minutes and then again two minutes later, when he saw his run blocked by the combination of Neill and Behrami. West Ham United made a triple substitution in the 69th minute, Ferdinand and Widdowson replacing Upson and Reid respectively while Cole walked off after a knock to give Hines his chance.
Six minutes later, Hines made his mark as he received the ball from Behrami, swivelled and lashed into the net. It was the fourth goal in as many games for the 19-year-old who is looking to make his mark in and around the first team this season, having been spurred on by the feats of Freddie Sears and performed well in a loan at the end of last season with Coventry City.
Jack Collison came on for Parker on 62 minutes, before Curbishley also brought on Tony Stokes for the industrious Faubert. Ferdinand cleared well as Southampton looked to try and get back in front and Stech made a good save from McGoldrick. The visitors finished the stronger though with Collison, Stanislas and Hines all hungry to make a contribution and, but for more composure, could have snatched victory in the final minutes.
Southampton: Bartosz Bialowski, Lloyd James, Andew Surman, Morgan Schneiderlin, Michael Svensson, Chris Perry, Jake Thomson, Simon Gillett, Adam Lallana, David McGoldrick, Lee Holmes.
Substitutes: Tommy Forecast, Aarran Racine, Paul Wootton, Joseph Mills, Bradley Wright-Phillips, Stern John, Grzegorz Rasiak, Nathan Dyer.
West Ham United: Marek Stech, Lucas Neill (c), Calum Davenport, Matthew Upson (Anton Ferdinand 59) Valon Behrami (Tony Stokes 76), Scott Parker (Jack Collison 62) Julien Faubert (Junior Stanislas 71), Craig Bellamy (Mark Noble 45), Kyel Reid (Joe Widdowson 59), Carlton Cole (Zavon Hines 60), Hayden Mullins.
Subs not used: Robert Green, Jordan Spence.