Dagenham & Redbridge 0-1 West Ham United
Pre-season Match, Chigwell Construction Stadium, Saturday 20 July 2024, 3pm BST
Andy Irving curled West Ham United to a 1-0 victory at Dagenham & Redbridge in Head Coach Julen Lopetegui’s first match in charge on English soil.
The former Scotland U21 international midfielder struck James Ward-Prowse’s squad ball high past Daggers goalkeeper Elliot Justham five minutes after being introduced as a half-time substitute.
An enthusiastic 4,347-strong Chigwell Construction Stadium crowd were entertained by a competitive game, and clearly enjoyed the opportunity to see many of their Hammers heroes in action at close quarters, with the loudest cheer of the afternoon welcoming Mohammed Kudus’s introduction as a second-half substitute.
The opening half was typical pre-season fare, with the superior side, West Ham, enjoying the lion’s share of possession and the non-league hosts giving everything to keep the game goalless. The Irons’ interplay was neat at times, and it was on those occasions that they went closest to opening the scoring.
Chances-wise, the clearest were created by Ward-Prowse. The first, inside three minutes, saw Freddie Potts curl the England international’s layoff over the crossbar.
The second, on 26 minutes, saw Ward-Prowse flick Maximilian Kilman’s diagonal ball into the path of Luis Guilherme, who saw his rising, rasping drive well tipped over by Justham.
The third, two minutes before the break, saw Ward-Prowse’s own diagonal pass cushion volleyed by Kaelan Casey into the path of Maxwel Cornet, whose right-foot shot was diverted past the post by the onrushing Justham.
There were other opportunities, too, as Luis Guilherme, Ward-Prowse and Potts all saw shots blocked, before Kilman drove past the angle from all of 35 yards.
Dagenham held firm, though, and could even have got their own noses in front. A Potts stumble in the fifth minute let in former Republic of Ireland U21 international Reece Grego-Cox, but the striker curled his shot too close to Łukasz Fabiański. And, on 19, left-back Frank Vincent droves a low shot across the face of Fabiański’s goal.
The Daggers’ resistance was broken five minutes into the second half. Danny Ings held the ball up and, when his shot was blocked into the path of Ward-Prowse, the No7 calmly rolled square for Irving, who whipped an unerring first-time finish past Justham from 20 yards.
Having made eight half-time changes, Lopetegui saw his team play with greater intensity early in the second period, and further opportunities followed as George Earthy saw a shot blocked and Dinos Mavropanos powered a header over from a corner.
Kudus’s introduction just past the hour-mark was warmly welcomed and the Ghana star showed why he is so popular with a number of strong runs, one of which ended with substitute goalkeeper Josh Strizovic parrying his cross-shot to safety.
The Hammers will fly out to Florida on Sunday for their two-week Sunshine State Tour, during which Lopetegui’s players will get more important pre-season work in, in hot and humid conditions, and face Premier League rivals Wolverhampton Wanderers and Crystal Palace in the Stateside Cup. For more information about our visit to the United States, and to buy tickets now, click HERE.
Dagenham & Redbridge: Justham © (Strizovic 70), Rendall (Trialist B 61), Eastman, Phipps (Day 70), Vincent, N'Guessan (Rutherford 54), Rees, Pereira (Trialist C 85), Hill (Terry 88), Remy (Kalambayi HT), Grego-Cox (Trialist B HT)
West Ham United: Fabiański (Foderingham HT), Casey (Kodua HT), Zouma © (Mavropanos HT), Kilman (Aguerd HT), Emerson (Scarles 63), Potts (Irving HT), Orford (Kelly 63), Ward-Prowse (Kudus 63), Luis Guilherme (Earthy HT), Cornet (Cresswell HT), Marshall (Ings HT)
Subs not used: Terry (GK), Robinson
Goal: Irving 50
Referee: Morgan Conn
Attendance: 4,347
