Lucy Woolford at Turner's Cross
@lucy_whufc
A crowd of over 4000 witnessed an eight goal thriller at Turner's Cross in Cork yesterday evening. Despite the lack of Andy Carroll power up front, Big Sam put out a strong squad and a few new faces. Perhaps the biggest surprise was the inclusion of Titus Bramble in the No. 9 shirt as he continues training with the Hammers to improve his fitness ahead of the new season, and by the looks of his efforts, he's playing to keep that shirt.
As was Alou Diarra, back from his loan spell at Rennes, where he had been since January. He put the Hammers 1-0 up with a header after five minutes, and his efforts didn't dwindle in his first half showing, playing a part in Joe Cole's neat finish before Cork responded before half time to make it 2-1.
A much changed team came out for the second half, with run outs for youngsters Paul McCallum and new signing Danny Whitehead, as well as another returning loanee Ravel Morrison, coming back from a productive spell at Championship outfit Birmingham City. Local boy Mark Noble missed a penalty just after half time, before Matt Taylor powered a strike in from 25 yards.
A Ricardo Vaz Te looked a little frustrated but helped to set up Whitehead who crossed for McCallum to head in impressively. Noble atoned for his earlier poor penalty with a second chance from the spot after a blatant handball by a Cork defender, and Morrison then finally got his shooting boots on to make it 6-1.
Dan Potts also deserves a mention. He played 90 minutes, the only Irons player to do so and his efforts were noteworthy, especially going forward.
Cork played well in the second half and their hard work was rewarded with a second goal which was cheered by all of the ground which consisted half of Cork and half West Ham fans. It was easy to lose count, but the PA kindly told us that the final score was 6-2.
Great start to the pre-season calendar!
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