Christian Dailly's second goal of the season earned West Ham a deserved
victory in a keenly-contested Nationwide First Division encounter at Upton
Park.
The Scotland international defender capitalised on some shoddy defending to
head the ball past stranded goalkeeper Mike Pollitt just before the half hour.
It was always going to be an uphill struggle for the visitors, but manager
Ronnie Moore will be fuming with the two goals his side conceded as Brian
Deane's 15th-minute opener could also have been prevented had Rotherham's
defence had the composure to deal with Michael Carrick's inswinging corner.
Defender Tomas Repka handed Rotherham a gift-wrapped equaliser with a farcical
own goal after 23 minutes as Rotherham fans sensed an upset.
However, although the Millers plugged away valiantly all afternoon, the gulf
in class was there for all to see and Dailly's fine finish was ultimately enough
to secure all three points.
And as a welcome footnote to the victory, Hammers boss Alan Pardew will be
buoyed by the performances of Nigel Reo-Coker and substitute Adam Nowland who
both signed from Wimbledon last week and look to have big futures at Upton Park
on today's evidence.
By utilising three strikers in their starting XI - Marlon Harewood, Deane and
David Connolly - the Hammers were going to cause even the most miserly of
defences problems and so it proved as Deane opened the scoring after quarter of
an hour.
Carrick's delivery was not dealt with by United's defence and the former Leeds
striker rose unmarked with a fine header into the right-hand corner of the net.
Rotherham were on the ropes, and their supporters could have been forgiven for
fearing the worst.
But Moore's men refused to buckle and, somewhat against the run of play,
restored parity after 23 minutes through Repka's howler.
Richie Barker's header was unconvincingly parried by Stephen Bywater and with
the ball trickling towards the goalline, Repka inexplicably spooned his
clearance into the back of his own net.
The Hammers finished the half well on top but Rotherham were quite happy to
sit back and defend with characteristic steel until the break.
However, Rotherham's resilience was finally broken a minute before the hour as
Dailly scored what proved the winning goal.
Matthew Etherington's precise corner caused no end of problems for United's
defence and Dailly took full advantage with a crisp header from 12 yards that
nestled into the bottom left hand corner of the net.
Pardew replaced Harewood with Nowland shortly afterwards, and his intricate
link-up play with Reo-Coker almost earned the Hammers a third with eight minutes
remaining.
Nowland's deft through ball found the young midfielder in space in the
Rotherham penalty area but only the width of the post prevented him sealing an
excellent debut with a goal.
Teams:
West Ham: Bywater, Repka, Dailly, Mullins, Harley, Carrick, Reo-Coker, Etherington, Connolly, Deane (Melville 90), Harewood (Nowland 70).
Subs Not Used: Shaaban, Ferdinand, Horlock.
Goals: Deane 15, Dailly 59.
Rotherham: Pollitt, Shaun Barker, Swailes, Baudet, Minto, Sedgwick, Garner, Mullin, Hurst (Monkhouse 78), Byfield (Warne 78), Richard Barker.
Subs Not Used: Montgomery, Talbot.
Booked: Warne.
Goals: Repka 23 og.
Att: 34,483
Ref: G Hegley (Hertfordshire).
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