Declan Rice and Jarrod Bowen had plenty of reasons to smile after Saturday's 2-0 Premier League win over Everton.
A double from the No20 inside seven first-half minutes put the Irons well on their way at London Stadium, just a day after his partner Dani Dyer announced the couple are expecting twins!
And Rice, who himself became a father for the first time in August last year, could hardly contain his excitement for his teammate and friend when the pair spoke to West Ham TV.
Let’s start with the football. It was an important day for Club, paying tribute to Joint-Chairman David Gold before kick-off, and with our position in the table at kick-off, and we marked it with a really deserved win?
DR: We knew the importance of today's game as a team. We've seen all the speculation around the game and obviously the position we're in, and the position Everton are in too. We knew ourselves as a bunch of players, we needed a reaction and a win. And I think you got that.
You saw the passion on the pitch today, the desire, we really gave everything. Yes, we didn't dominate the ball the whole game but two unbelievable goals from Jarrod and things can start to move for us.
It felt like things fell for us against Everton, when maybe they haven’t in recent weeks?
JB: Yeah. Sometimes when it’s not falling for you, it’s not falling for you, but you keep making the runs because you might get one out of ten times. The first goal is an example of that, you make the run hoping for a flick on and the ball drops and then even the second one as well [I kept running and got on the end of Michail Antonio's deflected cross].
I’ve not been happy, obviously, with my goals and assists output. But you know I never hide, I never slump, and I always give 100 per cent to try and score goals for this Club. To get two, I am buzzing!
The performance as well, knowing what was on the line, made it even more impressive?
DR: I said to the lads just before we went out that today was a defining moment in our season. You lose that game, and you are really struggling then – that’s the reality of it. But if you have in your mind that the only thing we're going to do is win, you can really kickstart from there.
It is poor that we are even in the position we're in. We understand the fans' frustration, but we are a bunch of players who give everything.
JB: As much as we haven't been showing our best performances, I think things haven't been dropping for us. Against Everton, the two goals dropped for us. We haven't had that in recent weeks.
So, we use today as a springboard to keep going and build on this because we as players have got ourselves in the position that we're in and it's about us as players to get ourselves back out of the position. It’s about our character, our mindset and we're a strong group. We'll never slump, we will never give up, and will always work. Two goals, a clean sheet, and three massive points.
The first goal was pretty close to being offside too, and the VAR call was pretty tight?
JB: I just thought it went all the way through to me. And then when it's not going for you, I thought it was going to get disallowed. But it got us in a good position to go one [ahead] and then we get the second goal as well before half time, which gives us a bit of confidence.
You expect Everton to have a reaction [after the goals], so we had to dig in and defend. Dec’s block onto the post before the half-time whistle, and that’s the moments, the things that have been going against us a little bit [that went our way against Everton].
Two goals and two little ones on the way as well, Jarrod?
JB: They come in twos, yeah! Announcing it yesterday properly. I have known for a few months but to properly announce it yesterday and to score two goals it was like it was written in the stars.
You usually do one thumb, but I was struggling to do two [when celebrating]. I was obviously buzzing. My missus was in the crowd as well so for me and her we are really excited. It’s exciting times.
Do you have any tips for him, Dec, as obviously you know what it's like to be a Dad?
DR: Get some sleep! No, seriously, just embrace it, enjoy it! It's the best thing ever. I can’t talk highly enough about it.
Honestly, it brightens up your day, it'll be unbelievable. He'll be a top Dad. When you've got a great personality... he's always smiling and got a good family around him, too.
