West Ham strengthened their promotion challenge as Matthew Etherington's
second-half strike secured a deserved victory against struggling Gillingham.
The Hammers got back to winning ways following the disappointment of last
week's 4-1 drubbing at London rivals Millwall as Etherington finally ended
Gillingham's stubborn resistance.
Bobby Zamora had given the home side a dream start with his third-minute
opener but Danny Spiller's equaliser threatened to earn the Gills a point until
Etherington's 76th-minute goal condemned them to a third successive away
defeat.
Zamora's goal came from a corner on the right when Michael Carrick's high
cross was headed down by Marlon Harewood for the former Brighton and Tottenham
striker to fire home in a crowded box from 10 yards.
Gillingham immediately pressed forward in search of an equaliser and almost
hit straight back two minutes later when Patrick Agyemang's shot curled narrowly
wide.
West Ham again threatened from a corner in the 16th minute, but Andy Melville
failed to keep his header on target and Zamora missed a chance to double the
advantage when he headed wide from Etherington's cross.
Zamora was proving to be a constant thorn in Gillingham's side and had a shot
blocked by Richard Rose before heading wide from another Etherington cross. But
West Ham's failure to add to their early goal proved costly when Gillingham
grabbed a shock equaliser just after the half hour.
Rose launched a long free-kick forward, Chris Hope headed down and Spiller
unleashed a terrific 12-yard volley into the roof of the net.
West Ham dominated the rest of the half but David Connolly and Zamora both
failed to restore their lead, with Nigel Reo-Coker also shooting wide with a
tame effort at the start of the second half.
Hammers keeper Stephen Bywater was called into action in the 54th minute when
he kept out Andy Hessenthaler's free-kick after Mamady Sidibe had been fouled by
Melville.
At the other end Gills keeper Steve Banks denied Etherington after he fired in
a left-foot shot before Zamora again headed straight at Banks.
The home side were beginning to turn up the pressure and Banks did well to tip
Zamora's 25-yard drive round the post to keep Gillingham on level terms.
West Ham boss Alan Pardew knew a point would be little use to his side and
made a double substitution in the 69th minute, with Adam Nowland and Brian Deane
replacing Connolly and Reo-Coker.
Nowland immediately began to make an impact and he set up the winner six
minutes after coming on when his throughball allowed Etherington to race clear
and beat Bywater with a cool finish.
Gillingham's best chance of a second equaliser was a 25-yard shot by Gary
Wales which was held by Bywater.
Teams:
West Ham: Bywater, Repka, Dailly, Melville, Harley, Harewood,
Carrick, Reo-Coker (Deane 69), Etherington,
Connolly (Nowland 69), Zamora.
Subs Not Used: Srnicek, Horlock, McAnuff.
Goals: Zamora 3, Etherington 76.
Gillingham: Banks, Smith (Crofts 82), Rose, Southall,
Hessenthaler, Agyemang, Leon Johnson, Hope,
Spiller (Jarvis 85), Pouton, Sidibe (Wales 71).
Subs Not Used: Bossu, James.
Booked: Pouton.
Goals: Spiller 32.
Att: 34,551
Ref: A Penn (W Midlands).
E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly
Subscribe to RSS Feed 
Post to del.icio.us
Facebook