Carl Fletcher headed a dramatic late winner for West Ham to secure a
fortuitous victory against resurgent Cardiff and end a dismal three-match losing
streak.
The victory grants under-fire manager Alan Pardew some much-needed respite and
moves the Hammers to within a single point of the play-off places.
Cardiff's stubborn resistance had looked like earning them the point which
their grit and determination deserved, but Fletcher nodded home Chris Powell's
left-wing cross with just one minute remaining to steal all three points.
The Bluebirds had arrived in east London in a rich vein of form and unbeaten
during their previous five Championship encounters.
Three wins and a draw last month, conceding just one goal along the way, saw
manager Lennie Lawrence this week named the manager of the month for January.
Cardiff made the brighter start with Peter Thorne, back in the side after
recovering from a dead leg, firing at Hammers goalkeeper Stephen Bywater in the
fifth minute with a shot from the edge of the box.
The return of Thorne, who replaced Andy Campbell in attack, was Cardiff's only
change from the side which beat Burnley 2-0 a fortnight ago.
The Bluebirds, who beat the Hammers 4-1 at Ninian Park back in November,
continued to press and Junichi Inamoto, on loan from West Brom, hit a fierce
effort from 20 yards which again forced Bywater into action as the Bluebirds
went in search of a league double over their opponents.
Fielding a three-pronged attack of Teddy Sheringham, Marlon Harewood and
Bobby Zamora, the hosts slowly began to gain a foothold on the contest.
Sheringham fired over the bar and Malky Mackay headed over from Mark Noble's
corner.
The visitors remained a threat on the counter-attack, however, and Bywater was
forced to tip Alan Lee's effort from the edge of the box around the post.
Zamora then played a delightful one-two with Sheringham before seeing his
effort blocked by Danny Gabbidon.
Sheringham just failed to connect with Harewood's vicious low cross, but City
keeper Neil Alexander remained largely untroubled during the opening period.
Nine minutes after the restart, Lee fired narrowly wide again from the edge of
the box as both sides struggled desperately to break the monotony.
West Ham attempted to move up a gear and find the elusive opening goal through
a succession of teasing crosses by Zamora and Powell.
But it was too predictable and the visitors were content to sit back and soak
up the pressure.
Pardew hauled off the ineffective Zamora on the hour mark and replaced him
with Luke Chadwick in a bid to breath new life into his side's attack.
Shortly after, Hayden Mullins swung in a dangerous delivery, but Harewood
could only contrive to send his header wide as frustrations among the home
supporters grew.
Noble curled an effort from the edge of the box narrowly wide before Mackay
again headed wide from a Noble corner.
In a final throw of the dice from Pardew, Sergei Rebrov entered the fray in
place of Noble with five minutes remaining.
With just one minute remaining, Fletcher was on hand to nod home Powell's
delivery to finally break Cardiff's resistance and hand the Hammers all three
points.
Teams
West Ham Bywater, Mullins, Ferdinand, Mackay, Powell,
Noble (Rebrov 84), Reo-Coker, Fletcher, Sheringham, Harewood,
Zamora (Chadwick 61).
Subs Not Used: Walker, Brevett, McClenahan.
Goals: Fletcher 89.
Cardiff Alexander, Weston (Vidmar 77), Gabbidon, Lee, Langley,
Barker, Collins, McAnuff, Kavanagh, Thorne, Inamoto (Ledley 86).
Subs Not Used: Warner, Bullock, Fleetwood.
Booked: Gabbidon.
Att: 23,716
Ref: K Stroud (Dorset).
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