Wednesday 2-4 WHU

By Nicholas Rigg
September 20 2005

Wednesday fought bravely but West Ham's Premiership quality shone through in this entertaining Carling Cup clash at Hillsborough. Two goals from Bobby Zamora and one each for Christian Dailly and debutant David Bellion were enough for the East London side.

Wednesday crashed out of the Carling Cup tonight following a 4-2 defeat at the hands of premiership new boys West Ham United.

Wednesday gave a full debut to Barry Corr, and JP McGovern played his first competitive game since his injury. Maurice Ross, Craig Rocastle, and Lee Bullen were also recalled to the team. West Ham rested captain Nigel Reo-Coker and Matthew Etherington to name a few, but kept with the strikeforce of Marlon Harewood and Bobby Zamora upfront.

The game got off to the worst possible start for the Owls, as Zamora found himself through on goal after just one minute of play. His clinical finishing put the hammers ahead, and the night was looking bleak for Paul Sturrock's side already.

Despite their bad start, the owls worked their way back in to the game but rarely troubled Shaka Hisplop in the West Ham goal. Richard Wood and Graham Coughlan carried on their impressive partnership in the centre of defence and prevented the hammers from going further ahead.

In the second half, Wednesday carried on pushing for a opening but it was West Ham who scored their second goal from a corner. Christian Dailly headed home and looked to have put Alan Pardew's men home and dry. Zamora then added a second with a subline finish that lobbed David Lucas to give the hammers a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Wednesday hadn't produced much in front of goal. A sole David Graham opportunity was well saved from Hislop. Graham Coughlan got his second goal in 3 days though from a Chris Brunt set piece, and gave the Owls a lifeline.

Just a minute later David Graham created an opportunity for himself and produced a superb finish from the edge of the box. The Hillsborough crowd believed Wednesday could get something from the match, as Graham put one of his best performances in an Owls shirt.

Graham then found himself through on goal again, but the opportunity was wasted when he hit the bar from just 6 yards. This was to be the turning point in the game. Wednesday had found chances few and far between.

West Ham made sure of their progression to the third round when David Bellion came on as a second half substitute to slot home the hammers fourth with just 5 minutes to go.

Class was the difference between the two sides on the night - the gap was there for all to see. A decent performance from Wednesday though with a weakened team fielded in preperation for the trip to Luton on Friday.

My Man Of The Match: David Graham