Hammers hit nine in Gills win

Two goals from ex-Gillingham winger Matt Jarvis helped a West Ham United XI to a resounding 9-0 win over his former club.

There were braces for Blair Turgott and a trialist as an experienced Hammers side ran riot at Rush Green Stadium. First-team strike duo Carlton Cole and Modibo Maiga also netted a goal apiece as they enjoyed a profitable run-out before a long-range effort from Taylor Miles rounded off the scoring.

It was a thumping win for a team which also featured George McCartney, Alou Diarra and Adrian alongside a number of the Hammers' Under-21 regulars.

The game started with a bang for the Hammers, who were ahead after only three minutes as Cole released Jarvis down the left and he pulled the ball back to the edge of the box for the oncoming Turgott, who fired a first-time shot into the bottom corner.

Maiga had started the game with purpose and got his reward after 18 minutes when another Jarvis cross was met by Cole. He headed the ball into the path of the Mali frontman, who applied a neat finish to beat the keeper from a couple of yards.

The visitors were struggling to cope with the quality of West Ham's attacking contingent but did their best to strike back with Harry Grant firing in three efforts over the course of four minutes, only one of which caused Adrian any trouble.

The lead was stretched further on 33 minutes when Maiga whipped in a cross from the right-hand side which was turned past the keeper by Jarvis from six yards.

A minute before half-time, the winger had his second as he expertly dispatched a volley into the top corner of the net after Danny Whitehead had nodded the ball to him on the edge of the box.

The senior players remained on after half-time and nine minutes after the restart the Hammers celebrated their fifth as Cole flicked in Turgott's shot from a Jarvis cross.

Gillingham looked deflated and just two minutes later found themselves six down when Turgott pounced on Cole's rebounded shot to sidefoot home his second goal of the game from ten yards out.

A raft of substitutions then ensued in the 60th minute, with Adrian and Diarra the only first-team players to remain on the pitch until the final whistle.

It took the new arrivals a few moments to settle into the game, but it would just eight minutes for the trialist to make his mark, adding a seventh goal from fellow replacement Kieran Sadlier's cross. The trialist doubled his tally and hit West Ham's eighth on 79 minutes when he burst into the box, shrugged off a couple of defenders and placed a shot past goalkeeper George Howard.

The scoring was complete with five minutes left as Miles got in on the act when he blasted home a low shot from outside the box after the trialist had teed him up.

The display delighted the watching West Ham Academy players, coaches and staff, as well as midfielder Joe Cole, who turned out to keep an eye on proceedings as the goals flowed.

West Ham United: Adrian, Shaw, Ruddock (Nasha 77), Potts, McCartney (Chambers 60), Diarra, Whitehead (Miles 60), Turgott, Maiga (Sadlier 60), Jarvis (Maguire 60), Cole (Trialist 60)
Sub not used: T.Brown