Bill Robinson reports from Ship Lane…..
Thurrock out shone the young Hammers here this afternoon and deserved the win despite some close calls in the second half.
In the opening minutes West Ham looked dangerous but the solid Thurrock back four looked capable of dealing with anything that was thrown at them.
Thurrock’s goal came in the thirteenth minute with a wonder strike from midfielder Matt Bodkin, the ball was being played around the West Ham half and little danger appeared but as the ball was passed to Bodkin he volleyed a lob shot from 25 plus yards high and over the West Ham keeper who was backtracking but was unable to save a great goal.
The goal spurred the Hammers on and within minutes they had to chances to level the scores, first when Jack Wearndley found space in the Thurrock box and his left footed shot was well saved by Joe Woolley.
Just before the half hour a magical run by George Moncur put Oliver Lee through but once again a fine save by Woolley denied the Hammers.
In the second half both managers swapped a number of players as is the nature of these pre season games and within two minutes of the re-start West Ham should have equalised. The move came when a back pass from Rob Swaine was intercepted by Callum Driver, Woolley tried to tackle him but his pass found Daniel Saboula about ten yards from goal, his shot was poor which allowed Kenny Clark to scramble the ball clear.
One of Manager Hakan Hayrettin’s changes was Hassan Sulaiman on the left wing, his quick burst of speed and weaving run in the 55th minute saw him finish with a right footed shot that just failed to hit the target.
Within sixty seconds Thurrock again went close when full back Craig Pope let fly with a shot from 25 yards that thundered against the cross bar.
Near misses seemed to be the order of the day especially for West Ham, three or four times that had the beating of the Thurrock defence but just could not get the shots on target.
Paul Olima came close towards the end of the game when he was through on goal but was foiled by keeper Deniz Mehmet.
Overall it was a very impressive display Thurrock and now they eagerly await the visit of Dagenham & Redbridge on Tuesday evening.
