Before
West Ham have picked a great time to find some form at last and having beaten us at home once already this season, they're going to have their tails up this afternoon. It looks like Mensah will play so that's a relief and I hope Onuaha will accompany him at the heart of our defence. There's been talk of us starting with Gyan, Welbeck and Bent upfront and I think that's our best policy as an early goal will clearly be ideal. For them Scott Parker will again be the man to watch while Carlton Cole will be playing with confidence for a change after his two goals in midweek. I think we should win and my prediction is 2-1.

After
West Brom’s 3-1 defeat of Newcastle, which I enjoyed on the T.V. in Fitzgerald's, was the perfect appetizer for the main course. However, it has to be said that this was a ragged performance and one that had most of us on edge till the final whistle blew.

Our winning goal, scored by Henderson with ten minutes to go in the first-half, was the culmination of a great move down the right where we managed to create some space for a change but I thought we badly lacked the creativity of Steed and Bolo, who sat on the bench till very late in proceedings. West Ham often moved forward strongly and Scott Parker was a class act throughout, seemingly able to move about wherever he wanted without us being able to get the ball off him. He did have one moment of madness with ten minutes left when he skied a clearance towards his own goal and Green was forced to concede a corner. Gyan hit the bar with a great lob just after we scored but Obinna hit the post with ten minutes left and with just one goal in it I was looking at the clock a great deal in the later stages.

Mensah managed to finish the game and was usually very solid while Ferdinand had a decent match, to give credit where it's due. We kept a clean sheet, which was a marked improvement on the five we've conceded in the last two games but a lot of our passing was sloppy and the crowd's frustration showed itself frequently, in the second-half particularly. Cole was lucky not to receive a second yellow for a handball but he got away with a ticking off even though we were awarded a free-kick. On a fashion note there wasn't a snood in sight and I think the half-time Hot Seat Competition must surely win the award for the most misnamed competition of the day as my seat was very cold indeed when I sat down again.

Anyway, I'm happy with the win and I believe we've moved up to seventh position. I'm writing this in the waiting room of Sunderland Station on my way back to the metropolis and London Branch stalwart Ian Todd has again showed his class by asking two policemen to move and allow the automatic doors to close and keep us all a bit warmer while we await our delayed train. See you at Fulham.

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