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West Ham v Grays Athletic – Pre-Season Friendly

Gianfranco put out a young and inexperienced side against Grays Athletic but the team managed to complete a comfortable 2-1 win against the local side. Zola used 22 players in all throughout the match with Julien Faubert and Kieron Dyer catching the eye. However this was a day for the youngsters, with academy products Zavon Hines and Cristian Montano scoring the 2 goals for the Hammers, but as Zola stressed at the final whistle there is still room for improvement in the strikers department. For experienced first teamers like Herita Ilunga and Jack Collison it was good to get a game under the belt before the tour in Austria.

The Match

Due to the inexperience of the West Ham side it was not the most convincing of displays but a win is a win and Zavon Hines and Cristiano Montano secured the win with their goals. However for most of the game it was Kieron Dyer who produced the Grays Athletic side the most problems with his probing runs. The first goal came in the 14th minute and it was not one of Zavon Hines’s best, his toe poked effort was enough to beat the Grays keeper. By half-time it was 1-1 due to a goal from Jamie Slabber.

The second half saw many fresh faces with Junior Stanislas and Cristiano Montano showing some neat interchanges but the Grays defence kept them at bay. In the end it was Cristiano Montano who beat the Grays defence with his effort from 6 yards out in the 72nd minute.

The Positives:

Zola was pleased and rightly so at the confidence shown by the various youngsters in the side, showing that their is still a lot to come from the West Ham Academy.

Senior Players such as Herita Ilunga, Kieron Dyer and Jack Collison all came through the game wih ease.

Dean Ashton is working well on his fitness levels as he works towards a full recovery.

The Negatives

Can there really be a negative after the first pre-season win? I suppose it must be that DEANO wasn’t playing!

It was also a shame not to see Savio playing.

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The young Hammers’ side were wearing the new away kit which is starting to grow on me considering the new home kit is so hideous.

The Future

Gianfranco Zola and his West Ham players can be confident before the start of the upcoming season due to the youth system that seems to provide a few top quality players every year. There are also players like Junior Stanislas and James Tomkins who showed that they can more than compete at the top level. However, youngsters from the British Isles do not tend to give a team all the strengths they need. The signing of Luis Jiminex on loan was a good move from the West Ham coaching staff and the board as it shows the intent that they have on making West Ham a force to be reckoned with. This was demonstrated last week when Gianfranco Zola said that he and Steve Clarke were not finished with the Transfer Period.

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