Following chanting (on the side of banter, rather than "torrid abuse" as claimed by the ever-excitable Mail) aimed at former England captain Terry, the Chelsea man began bending over towards the Irons supporters as he warmed up on the touchline and then started lifting imaginary trophies. However, as reviled ex-Hammer Lampard celebrated scoring the game's opening goal, a succession of objects were allegedly flung from the away end; one of which was set to strike Terry. A complaint was made to the Metropolitan Police following the game, and Chelsea are now set to study CCTV of the game in order to identify the possible culprits.
Lampard's celebrations came right in front of the West Ham fans; a coincidence according to him. This seems unlikely, given the midfielder's past behaviour in this fixture. This is the man who once said that he'd "like to score the goal that sent West Ham down" and makes a point of celebrating goals and wins directly in front of Hammers fans every time they occur. The Guardian's reporting of the incident makes reference to Lampard's deliberate provocation of the travelling Irons supporters; the Mail's coverage does not.
The nature of the missiles was believed to be a succession of coins and, amusingly, a hot dog. Typically, the Mail have failed to see the funny side of the latter missile and have gone into full "birch 'em all" mode but personally, this journalist finds the idea that a football fan could be potentially banned from football matches for life for throwing a snack onto the pitch hilarious. Equally hilarious is the failure of the Mail to see the bitter irony in their outraged stance on fans getting caught up in the atmosphere of a London derby- given the role said newspaper plays in stoking up tensions before such games. Over and out, just a little bit saucy.
By Alex Shilling, News Editor
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