West Ham United extended their unbeaten run to five matches and climbed out of the Premier League's relegation zone with a 3-0 win over Wimbledon on this day in 1995.
The Hammers kicked-off this Thursday night fixture at the Boleyn Ground sitting 20th in the 22-team table, having dropped back into the bottom four after drawing 1-1 at high-flying Nottingham Forest the previous weekend.
But Harry Redknapp's side ignored any pressure to thrash the mid-table Dons, going ahead four minutes before half-time when Matty Holmes was fouled by Kenny Cunningham and Julian Dicks thumped the resulting penalty into the net.
Any nerves were finally settled by two goals in three minutes late on. First, on 76, Michael Hughes wriggled into the area and crossed for Jeroen Boere, who headed home. Then, the Northern Ireland midfielder played in the overlapping Tim Breacker, who fed Cottee to convert a neat first-time finish from 12 yards.
Cottee lauded the strength of Redknapp's squad after the game and his optimism was well-founded, as the Irons lost just one of their closing eleven matches to finish 14th, denying Manchester United the title with a 1-1 draw on the final day.
