DOWN IN THE DUNNY
West Ham 4 Doncaster Rovers 0
Kevin Nolan watches David Moyes’ side take the field for this fourth round FA Cup tie at London Stadium with some intrigue and personal interest beyond his role as minister in charge of the club’s tactical iPad. And why shouldn’t he be interested? After all, he scored the only goal last time West Ham played Rovers, at the Keepmoat Stadium back in August 2011, his first goal in a West Ham shirt in his second game, captain of Sam Allardyce’s side, thumping a volley into the roof of the net from a cross delivered by Jack Collison. It was also West Ham’s first goal of that promotion season. The only other relic from that game nine and a half years ago at the ground today is the player who would succeed him as captain, still playing in the number sixteen shirt, Mark Noble.
West Ham would play Doncaster Rovers one more time in 2011-12, the following March, and Kevin Nolan was again on target in a 1-1 draw, his goal also coming early in the game in the ninth minute, stabbing the ball home from close range after a goalmouth scramble. If West Ham had won that night, they’d have topped the table. As it was, it turned out to be one of many disappointing home draws late in that season that would force the Hammers down the play-off route to get back into the Premier League. The 2011-12 season was the first time West Ham had played in the same league as Doncaster Rovers since 1957-58, and Rovers themselves have since been away from the second tier of English football over the last six years since their relegation in 2013-14.
This afternoon Rovers are the third third tier team Hammers have faced in cup competitions at home this season, and although Moyes has made seven changes from the side that beat West Brom on Tuesday evening, his is a creative and attacking side that indicates he is taking the fixture seriously. If he wins this Saturday afternoon tie, the reward is a fifth round midweek journey to either Manchester United or Liverpool, whose tie is played tomorrow.
Yarmolenko and Fredericks link early on to set up Fornals to put the Hammers ahead inside two minutes. Less than ten minutes later Benrahma and Fornals link up to give Yarmolenko a chance for a spectacular finish, but the Ukrainian goes for power and not placement and the shot goes just wide. On the half hour Benrahma sets Yarmo B There up again, but this time he chips in neatly and precisely for the second.
The Doncaster Rovers’ keeper Ellery Balcombe is kept busy, and things don’t get any better for him in the second half when a corner from Mark Noble is volleyed into his own net by Andy Butler in his desperate attempt to keep it out. Although Matt Smith hits the crossbar for Rovers, debutant substitute Oladapo Afolayan makes it four towards the end, tucking away the keeper’s parrying of Fredericks’ shot.
David Moyes has succeeded again, for West Ham’s fifth successive victory out of five in 2021. It’s West Ham’s best start to a calendar year in their history. The next round’s opposition will put up more of a fight, but this is a professional job expertly executed, and no one is shaking their head when suggestions are made that this might be a really special season, with a potential domestic trophy finish.
1 Lucasz Fabianski, 4 Fabian Balbuena, 24 Ryan Fredericks, 31 Ben Johnson, 23 Issa Diop, 16 Mark Noble (captain), 28 Tomas Souček, 9 Saïd Benrahma, 10 Manuel Lanzini, 18 Pablo Fornals, 7 Andriy Yarmolenko
Substitutes: 40 Oladapo Afolayan, 34 Nathan Trott, 75 Jamal Baptiste
Scorers: 18 Pablo Fornals, 7 Andriy Yarmolenko, 21 Andy Butler (own goal), 40 Oladapo Afolayan
