Daily WHUFC News - 5th March 2018

Wealthall double secures Ladies WPL Plate final spot
WHUFC>com

A second-half double for Kelly Wealthall helped West Ham United Ladies secure a deserved place in the WPL Plate final, after a 3-0 win away to Hull City. A tense first period saw the Irons create chances but fail to capitalise, although Rosie Kmita hit the post and Wealthall saw an effort ruled out for offside. On the hour mark, the striker got a deserved finish, with Wealthall coolly rounding the goalkeeper and tucking home after a sensational pass by Andria Georgiou. The forward got her second after some poor Hull defending, slotting into the net from 12 yards, before Georgiou finished the tie on 73 minutes with a stunning strike from distance. And the win means the Hammers have reached their second cup final this season, with a place in the FA WPL Plate final now in the team's calendar.

It took the Hammers just three minutes to register the first shot of the afternoon. A sensational ball between the lines by Amber Stobbs found Rosie Kmita, but the winger's effort was agonisingly wide of the far post. Hull City then appealed for a penalty, after Hannah Wheeler's challenge on Hope Knight, but the referee ruled the tackle to be fair, before Ellie Zoepfl drove the Irons into a dangerous area. Kmita attempted another two efforts from distance and then the No.7 rattled the inside of the woodwork as her corner kick evaded every other player. Some stellar defending from Leanne Mabey denied Hull the chance to score minutes before the half-time whistle, while the Irons looked to have taken the lead on 43 minutes, only for Kelly Wealthall's effort to be ruled out for offside. The forward wasn't to be denied however and got a well-taken goal on 60 minutes. Georgiou found Wealthall with an excellent pass into space, and the attacker made no mistake as she rounded the goalkeeper and slotted into the goal. Only two minutes later, the 16-year-old had her second. Defensive fragilities in the Hull penalty area saw the ball fall for Wealthall, who tucked into the near corner from twelve yards. Although Wealthall was substituted before getting the chance to score her hat-trick, the attacker played a crucial role in West Ham's third. She held the ball up well and skipped into space, before sending the ball back to Georgiou. From distance, the midfielder powered an effort into the top corner.

West Ham United Ladies: Staunton; Mackie, Wheeler, Austin, Auguste; Mabey (M Kmita 78'), Georgiou, Stobbs; Zoepfl, Wealthall (Peters 78'), R Kmita (Burr 80')
Substitutes: Peters, M Kmita, Lancaster, Burr, Chong
Goals: Wealthall 60' 62', Georgiou 73'

Hull City Ladies: Halloran; Render (Jackson 71'), Cooke, Thompson, Stamp (Jackman 71'), Symington, Beech, Knight, Tanser, Kay, Bell
Substitutes: Pedersen,, Ackroyo, Butt, Jackson, Jackman

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Wealthall: Ladies are 'buzzing' to make WPL Plate final
WHUFC.com

Two goal hero Kelly Wealthall could not contain her delight at bagging a brace in the 3-0 WPL Plate semi-final win over Hull City Ladies. West Ham United Ladies bested the Tigers on Sunday afternoon thanks to the two finishes from Wealthall in the second period, before Andria Georgiou completed a terrific afternoon with a beautiful effort from distance. The result means the Irons will take on either Luton Town Ladies or Fylde Ladies in the final of the competition, and Wealthall is thrilled she was able to play her part in the huge win. "There's no other way to say it, I'm just absolutely buzzing," Wealthall told whufc.com. "We've reached another final, which is incredible, and I also got two goals which is such a good feeling."

A tight opening 45 minutes saw the two teams go in goalless at the break, with Wealthall seeing a finish before the whistle being ruled out for offside. But the forward has hailed the West Ham coaches for their half-time team talk, which she says served as inspiration for the eventual victory. She admitted: "I didn't feel there were many opportunities in the first half. We tried to get forward and then I had the goal ruled out for offside as well, which was frustrating, but that made me even more determined to push on and score later in the game. "We picked it up in the second half. We put into plan the things the coaches told us to do, and it seemed to work really well for us. They told me to play on the shoulder of the last defender to stretch the game out a bit more, and that made a big difference.
"More balls were put through for me to run on to and that's how we opened the scoring in the end. Once that first goal went in I was really pumped up. It gave me that adrenaline rush to push on even more. It was a great ball by Dre and scoring made me want to try even harder."

With high competition for places at the Club, Wealthall believes she has given herself the best possibility of retaining her spot in the starting XI. I feel like, today, I've put my best foot forward. I got to start the game, which was really good, and I feel like I paid back that faith. There's a lot of competition for places here, and I'm only 16 so I know I've got a lot still to learn, but I don't think I did myself any harm today. "Now we're just really excited to see if we can make that last step and go and win the WPL Plate. We know we have the ability, we've just got to show it in the final match."

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Byram: We can't make excuses for Saturday
WHUFC.com

Sam Byram says the Hammers cannot make any excuses for their performance on Saturday, as they fell to a disappointing 4-1 defeat at Swansea City. It was the second weekend in a row that the east Londoners had suffered a loss by that scoreline and the 24-year-old defender admitted they were hugely frustrated with how they gave the game away to the Swans. Having conceded twice from corners and from a penalty as well, Byram conceded that the Hammers have work to do in order to tighten up when they return to action against Burnley on Saturday. "We're very disappointed," he said. "It was a six-point game and now we're right down in it. We need to pick ourselves up and go again because we're in need of points.
"Saturday was a chance to get some and we didn't do that. If you look at all the goals, we'll hold our hands up and say how disappointed we are with them. We need to go back to defending how we did when the manager came in. 'We were without Angelo and Ginge, and Winston got injured during the game and they are very experienced players and have played the majority of games for us, so to lose them was frustrating. "But I don't think we can make excuses about how we played and how we conceded the goals - the squad is very capable of people playing when others can't and it's down to us now to turn it around."

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LUMP9TV – ONE STEP TOO FAR – SORRY DAVID GOLD
AUTHOR: BRIAN KNOX. PUBLISHED: 4 MARCH 2018 AT 12:56PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk

I am sure lots of you have seen the video on social media, of a handful of West Ham fans blocking in David Gold from leaving after yesterday's game against Swansea.

The supporters are rightly upset after an awful defeat to a relegation rival. They have travelled a long way, in awful weather conditions to watch a terrible team performance. However, does that make it acceptable to hassle David Gold and stop him from travelling any further?

In this short video I give my feelings on the incident and how I believe this creates nothing but a negative impression of West Ham Fans.

Don't forget to subscribe to my channel, as I will be giving away a signed West Ham shirt in the future.

https://youtu.be/ypp99l_qMsA

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WE NEED TO STICK TOGETHER, WE ARE WEST HAM UNITED
AUTHOR: EXWHUEMPLOYEE. PUBLISHED: 4 MARCH 2018 AT 5:31PM
TheWestHamWay.co.uk
Written by Kevin Slade @kevinsladeSDCC

As if the world of West Ham United wasn't exhausting enough, I'm writing this article in the desperate hope of trying to find something positive to publish. The uncomfortable truth is there isn't anything positive about our football club at the moment; it's toxic from top to bottom, inside and out. If someone had told me two years ago that we'd be in this position (on the pitch and off), in twenty four months time, I would have eaten my Sex, Drugs, & Carlton Cole hat. On the pitch, we've been in this situation many many times before. In the 26 years I've held my season ticket I've seen two relegations, god knows how many relegation fights, seen our best players flogged for next to nothing, and watched us lose many, many games. But what kept the football club alive was our fan base. The best fan base in the world. A fan base that no matter where you were, who you were with, you all felt like you were still a part of something extremely special. So special that you can't even put it into words, and you'd only understand if you were one of us. I remember going to the Boleyn Ground and seeing the same faces week in, week out. I'd never said a single word to the majority of those faces the entire time I attended the old girl, but we would always acknowledge each other with a 'nod' – Home and away. Bill Gardener is another face who I'd see every week without fail, and again we'd acknowledge each other with a 'nod'. Supporters like bill have been going a lot longer than me, but we've suffered the same emotions – mostly down, but we've suffered the same pain and minor glory. I'd never said a word to Bill in my life, but It's just what we done at West Ham. We were all a part of something great. No matter how big or small your name was, terrace legend or not, we were all West Ham & we were all equal to each other. I mean let's have it right, apart from the odd season of over achieving once a decade we've always been shit on the pitch. But off the pitch we've always been the best group of supporters out there. We carry ourselves with class and dignity, we know how to take the piss out of ourselves, and most of all, we will travel to the other side of the planet in numbers to support our boys – even without a ticket. But what saddens me is my worst nightmare is starting to become reality and I can see all of this slowly losing its grip…

After the defeat to Swansea, our fan base went into meltdown, and rightly so. Social media has become the forefront to vent frustration and anger, purely because it's so easy to just pick up your phone and let rip. It was a disgrace of a performance, and I personally point the finger at the manager and players. However, I will talk about my opinion on the match itself on Wednesday's radio show.

Yesterday I had a quick surf through twitter after the game & I've never seen so much of a divide in our fan base. West Ham supporters have always had different opinions and you'd be a fool to think otherwise. But we've never ever spoken to each other like dirt, we've never offered each other out, and worst of all, we've never threatened each other. When we moved to the Olympic Stadium I had the attitude of "you can move our home and change our badge, but you can never destroy a fan base"… sadly, it looks as though it's happening… And the most frustrating thing for me is I can't put my finger on why this is happening? Is it the board? Is it the players? Is it the management? Whatever the issue is, we NEED to stick together. Because without each other, what have we got? Fuck all. We need to be the West Ham that everyone knows and loves. We've all heard the stories from our fathers and grandfathers about why this football club is so special to us, and we cannot let that die. We are responsible for protecting this football club – not David Sullivan, not David gold, not Brady, not the players, not the stadium. They might not be going anywhere for a few years, but they won't last forever. We are at the helm of this club – when we're dead & gone, our children will still be going. When they're dead & gone, their children will still be going & so on.

When I talk about West Ham to my daughter, rarely do I ever tell her that she needs to support West Ham because we're 'the best'. I tell her that being a part of West Ham United is more than just supporting a football club; it's a lifestyle. My grandparents were born into it. My dad was. I was. Now my daughter has been born into it. Born into something so special that you can't imagine your life without it. The bloodline of my family are/were all working class characters from the east end who looked out for one another, and that integrated into West Ham. We don't support West Ham by choice, it's in our blood. So please, if you're reading this think about what's being destroyed. Board in or out, respect each other's opinions because the bottom line is we'd all die for this club and We're all in the same boat. It's only us that can protect our reputation. It's only us that can keep our legacy of why we're the best supporters out there. We've never had much glory, and we've suffered so much pain. But we've always always had each other. And that's what has kept this football club alive, because without us, there would be nothing! Granted the team is diabolical at the moment, but we really need to get behind them to survive what has been a torrid season. I for one am sick of it, but what makes us different to the likes of spurs, arsenal, chelsea etc, is when the chips are down we're fucking there for our club. Rain, sleet, or snow. We're there!
COYI ⚒

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David Gold confronted by angry West Ham fans
By Matthew Treadwell
Last Updated: 04/03/18 7:39am
SSN

West Ham co-owner David Gold was involved in a confrontation with a group of fans after their 4-1 defeat at Swansea on Saturday. The incident, which was recorded and has gone viral on social media, happened after Gold stopped his car to speak with travelling Hammers supporters outside the Liberty Stadium.
The group of fans repeatedly swore at Gold after seeing their side drop below Swansea on goal difference to 14th in the Premier League table following the defeat. "I'm 82 years old," Gold said after getting out of his Rolls-Royce. "You don't understand. I'm hurting as much as you. I know it's terrible."
But furious fans hurled abuse at the co-chairman - who said he had left the game in south Wales early for "security reasons" - and urged him to leave the club.
West Ham boss David Moyes apologised to the supporters and says the players are disappointed with their own performances after a heavy defeat at Swansea.
Gold and fellow co-chairman David Sullivan have come under increasing criticism this season from fans, although some leapt to the defence of Gold after the confrontation. West Ham's defeat was their third in four Premier League matches and has left them three points above the relegation zone.

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Furious David Moyes lays into West Ham flops after dismal Swansea collapse and declares: "I'm embarrassed"
The Hammers suffered a second successive 4-1 defeat and the Scot was furious
The Mirror
ByAlex Richards
Sports Writer
18:12, 3 MAR 2018

David Moyes laid into his West Ham players and admitted feeling "embarrassed" after their 4-1 thrashing at Swansea. The Hammers suffered a fourth loss in six matches and conceded four for the second successive game against a Swans side that started the day in the drop zone, but has now leapfrogged the Moyes' boys.
Ki Sung-Yeung opened the scoring after eight minutes, before Mike van der Hoorn doubled the hosts' advantage before the half hour mark. Andy King bagged a third early in the second half, before Jordan Ayew added a penalty. Michail Antonio nabbed a late consolation, but by then many Hammers fans had already departed the away end at the Liberty Stadium after a miserable afternoon and Moyes said his side had "badly" let down their travelling support. "We played so bad. I couldn't assess it, it was that poor," declared the Scot. "The fans travelled through the snow to get here and we let them down badly. That was the poorest performance since I came here. I'm embarrassed. "We conceded from two corners and a penalty. We had no intensity in our play, we thought we could just stroll about. "We should have saved the first one, we should head the second one away and the third one is a corner and the fourth is a penalty. "We have to be much, much better. We have the players who can do it but getting them to perform is my job."
The Hammers were also hit by an injury blow in the first period, with Winston Reid taken off on a stretcher. The New Zealand international appears to have suffered a potentially serious knee injury, while Moyes revealed he was also knocked unconscious after attempting to tackle Van der Hoorn. "Winston Reid is conscious, he was knocked out, we are more worried about the injury to his knee than the knock to his head. "He's an important player for us so we hope it's not too bad."

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