Barclays Premier Reserve League South
Chelsea v West Ham United
Griffin Park
Monday 19 October
7.05pm
Full time - And the referee brings the game to a close. After an even first half, Chelsea upped the tempo in the second. Nouble's goal at the end was a slight consolation but in truth, Chelsea deserved their win in the end. Dyer's side will travel to Poland next week for a friendly before returning to league action at Fulham on 3 November.
91 min - GOAL! West Ham do get their goal and I have to say it is the best of the night. Jimenez fed Nouble and he held off his marked before turning and unleashing a superb shot right into the top corner from all of 25 yards. The scoreline may not be great but at least that will make the walk back to the dressing room all the more bearable.
90 min - Three minutes of added time will be played here.
88 min - Well the second half really has not gone West Ham's way but they are still trying. They have just a couple of minutes left if they are to get on the scoresheet themselves.
86 min - And their final change sees Borini make way for Daniel Philliskirk.
85 min - Substitution for Chelsea as McEachran makes way for Gokhan Tore.
84 min - GOAL! Borini get his second of the night when he latches on to a through ball and beats Kurucz at his near post.
78 min - GOAL! Chelsea make sure of the points as Borini smashes home a right-wing cross with Kurucz given no chance.
77 min - Final change for West Ham sees Andrea Zola come on for Ferrari.
73 min - Second change for the Hammers sees Da Costa withdrawn and Daniel Kearns brought on. Payne has dropped back into central defence in Da Costa's absence.
71 min - GOAL! Chelsea double their lead after a scramble in the West Ham area. Da Costa had picked up a knock but still managed to get across and make a vital challenge. Sadly the ball fell kindly for the hosts and Sturridge was on hand to prod the ball home.
68 min - Brookes' ball forward sends Nouble on his way but he has his heels clipped by Bruma. Dyer uses the break to make his first change and it will be Dixon to come on for his first competitive game for the Hammers. Montano makes way.
65 min - Well that is the closest Chelsea have come to making it two. Borini turned Da Cost and then fed Sala on the right of the area. He took a touch and smashed a shot against Kurucz's right-hand post. West Ham need to be careful here as another goal could put the game out of their reach.
62 min - Terry Dixon and Stech are warming up on the touchline. I wonder how soon Dyer might turn to his substitutes.
57 min - Vital tackle from Da Costa as Chelsea looked certain to double their lead. It was such a good tackle even a few of the Chelsea fans around me gave the tackle a round of applause.
55 min - Nice show of pace from Ferrari forces a Chelsea midfielder to bring him down 25 yards out. Stanislas takes the free-kick and forces Turnbull into a diving save.
53 min - We have a break in play here as Kurucz has picked up a knock and is getting some treatment. Should he need to go off, Marek Stech will be the man to replace him.
50 min - A quick bit of trivia for you now - tonight was not the first time Alex and Da Costa have shared time on a football pitch. The duo formed a central defensive partnership for PSV Eindhoven in a 1-0 UEFA Champions League win against Arsenal back in February 2007.
48 min - Chelsea go close with the first real attack of the half. A dangerous run and cross down the right evades everyone and then when the ball is played back in Borini's shot is superbly blocked by 'Gala, who has looked strong tonight.
47 min - I have just been doing my scanning of the crowd here and Steve Clarke and Kevin Keen are among the 400 or so people inside Griffin Park tonight.
46 min - Chelsea make one change at the break with Alex making way and Carl Magnay coming on.
Half-time. No there is not and the referee brings the first 45 minutes to a close. There have been chances for both teams but it is Chelsea who go into the break with their noses in front thanks to Alex's free-kick.
45 min - One more minute of added time will be played. Is there time for one more chance?
44 min - So close! Jimenez's clever flicked ball through sends Nouble one-on-one with the goalkeeper. He opts to try and flick the ball into the centre but it somehow evades both Stanislas and Jimenez. The ball makes it all the way to Payne and his cross is then headed just wide by the Chilean.
42 min - Good tracking back by Quashie there to intercept a pass that looked dangerous.
39 min - Down the other end and Sturridge has a good chance to send Chelsea in two up at the break. Once more, though, his attempted curler is too high.
36 min - Stanislas fires West Ham's best effort of the half wide. There was only one thing on the winger's mind when he picked up a loose pass 25 yards out and he duly let fly. Sadly is just went the wrong side of Turnbull's goal.
34 min - Jacopo Sala tries his luck from the edge of the area but his effort is way to high. The stands here at Griffin Park are not the tallest so I wonder if we will be losing any balls tonight.
31 min - Some neat play by Ferrari gets him out of a potentially sticky spot and nearly puts Nouble in. West Ham seemed to have re-found their touch now but are yet to turn that into chances.
29 min - After a brief pause for some treatment for Borini, the game resumes Sturrdige hitting the free-kick just over the bar.
28 min - Another free-kick to Chelsea in a dangerous position. My guess is that Alex may get another chance here.
25 min - It looks like it is the diamond formation for West Ham tonight with Payne on the right, Stanislas on the left and Jimenez at the point.
22 min - Davide Ferrari gets lucky as his pass back is intercepted by Sturridge but he shoots a little too quickly and it flies over the crossbar.
17 min - Well played Bondz 'Gala. The West Ham captain got across the edge of his box quickly to slide in and clear the danger as Chelsea had three on two.
13 min - Stanislas takes it but it does not clear the first man.
12 min - Great play again by Jimenez as through-ball with the outside of the boot spends Nouble sprinting through. Bruma gets there to clear but only at the expense of a corner.
10 min - Jimenez works the Chelsea stopper for the second time in a couple of minutes as he twists and turns his way past Alex before firing in a low shot at the near post that the 24-year-old has to get down quickly to stop.
7 min - West Ham hit back though and a good move forward involving Ferrari, Jimenez and Montano sees the ball come back to Jimenez 25 yards from goal. He drills it first time but Turnbull is there to gather.
6 min - Well I am sure that is not the start Dyer would have wanted and he is out of his seat shouting instructions to his side. It nearly gets much worse though as Ferreira forces Kurucz into an outstanding save. The West Ham goalkeeper had to use all his size to tip a long-range effort over the bar.
3 min - GOAL! Alex makes the most of it by driving it along the floor underneath the wall and past Kurucz to give Chelsea an early lead.
3 min - Another good block by the central defender is then followed up by a late tackle which gives Chelsea a free-kick right on the edge of the area.
2 min - Brilliant defending from Da Costa there as Chelsea launch the first attack. Fabio Borini had latched on to a through-ball but the West Ham No6 used his strength to shepherd the ball back to Peter Kurucz.
1 min - Chelsea get us underway and they will be attacking the goal to my right in the first half.
7.04pm - Bondz 'Gala leads the West Ham United players out, while left-back Jeffrey Bruma will be wearing the armband for Chelsea.
6.58pm - Both sets of players have left the field now and we are under ten minutes until kick-off. Just to put the game in perspective, a win for the Hammers tonight will see them climb above their hosts tonight and into fourth.
6.55pm - There are set to be some interesting battles all over the pitch and not least up front for the Hammers. Nouble will be lining up against plenty of familiar faces as he played for Chelsea for six years before swapping west London for east London in the summer. If Alex and company did ever play alongside the England Under-19 international they may be slightly wary as his goal record at the club was impressive. He was the top scorer in the FA Premier Academy League last season, bagging 12 goals in 20 games. He also scored twice for the reserves, including one in the Blues' 4-3 defeat to West Ham last December.
6.45pm - It will be interesting to see how West Ham line up tonight. In nearly every game this season they have copied the 4-3-3 formation used by the first-team, but with Gianfranco Zola switching to a 4-4-2 diamond formation for the weekend game with Stoke, Dyer may follow suit tonight. My guess is that would probably mean Stanislas and Cristian Montano on either flank with Jimenez up front alongside Frank Nouble.
6.40pm - Both sets of players are out warming up with the visitors away on the far side of the pitch to my right. Dyer and his fitness team are running through a series of passing drills to ready the players for the game, while Chelsea are undertaking some light running exercises at the other end of the pitch.
Hello and good evening from Griffin Park.
Well the teams are in and we could be in for quite a contest here with both managers naming strong sides. Alex Dyer includes seven players with first-team experience including Manuel Da Costa, Junior Stanislas and Luis Jimenez. Terry Dixon is also fit enough to take his place on the bench and should he come on, it will be his first competitive appearance in West Ham United shirt.
For the hosts, manager Steve Holland also has plenty of Premier League experience in his side, with the likes of goalkeeper Ross Turnbull, Portuguese international Paulo Ferreira, Brazilian international defender Alex and summer signing Daniel Sturridge all featuring in the league last season.
West Ham United: Kurucz, Brookes, 'Gala, Da Costa (Kearns 73), Ferrari (Zola 77), Stanislas, Quashie, Payne, Montano (Dixon 68), Jimenez, Nouble
Subs: Stech,Grasser,
Chelsea: Turnbull, Ferreira, Bruma, Alex (Magnay 46), Gordon, Clifford, Sala, Matic, Borini (Philliskirk 86), McEachran (Tore 85), Sturridge
Subs: Sebek, Magnay, Ofori-Twumasi