West Ham haven’t had a lot to cheer about in recent years in cup competitions. The wrongful dismissal of Tony Gale by referee Keith Hackett against Nottingham Forest in the semi-finals which played a major part in our defeat in 1991 and of course the agony of the penalty shoot-out against Liverpool in 2006’s final but I’ve picked out a number of victories that are worth looking back on.
January 30th 1991 FA Cup 4th Round Replay
West Ham 5-0 Luton Town
Parris
Bishop
McAvennie
Morley (2)
George Parris cracked his fourth goal in four games to continue his golden run for West Ham in this FA Cup 4th Round replay at Upton Park following the two sides 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road the previous Saturday. The in-form Hammer struck a beautiful 18-yard shot almost on the half-time whistle. And West Ham soon confirmed their superiority with two goals in three minutes after the break. First skilful midfielder Ian Bishop scored a rare headed goal from Kevin Keen’s cross then Frank McAvennie made it 3-0 with a low drive. After Keen’s shot was blocked by Luton keeper Alec Chamberlain Trevor Morley scrambled home the fourth. Morley’s fantastic free-kick near the end made it 5-0 as the Hammers eliminated the visitors who at that time were a division above them in the top-tier as they set-up a 5th Round meeting with 3rd division Crewe Alexandra.
January 2001 FA Cup 4th Round
Manchester United 0-1 West Ham
Di Canio 76
West Ham pulled-off what looked an impossible task on paper, to dump red-hot favourites Manchester United out of the FA Cup. The hosts who had big-guns such as David Beckham, Roy Keane, Ryan Giggs, Teddy Sheringham and Andy Cole in their starting line-up were the sharper but couldn’t find the breakthrough as the Hammers put on a tremendous defensive display with veterans Stuart Pearce and Nigel Winterburn in the thick of it. Then on 76 minutes Freddie Kanoute delivered a low ball through the hosts defence for Paolo Di Canio who had just beaten the offside trap, as he homed in on goal Manchester United goalkeeper Fabian Barthez stood still with his hand in the air waiting for an offside flag from the linesman that never came, Di Canio didn’t hang around and buried the ball into the corner of the net to send the travelling 9,000 Hammers supporters into raptures. Despite having to endure 14 minutes of pressure from the hosts who ended-up playing with four strikers on the pitch Harry Redknapp’s resolute side survived to book a fifth round meeting with Sunderland.
April 2006 FA Cup Semi-final (Villa Park)
Middlesbrough 0-1 West Ham
Harewood 78
West Ham’s remarkable season continued as Marlon Harewood’s explosive finish not only shot Alan Pardew’s men into their first FA Cup final for 26 years but also into European football for the following campaign. Middlesbrough had the better of an un-inspiring first half with James Collins clearing off the line and keeper Shaka Hislop looking sharp to keep the goal intact. Whatever manager Pardew said to his troops in the dressing room at halftime they came out after the break with a renewed sense of purpose and they finally threatened when Dean Ashton’s header dropped onto the crossbar after he connected with Yossi Benayoun’s deep corner. Villa Park could tell the tide was turning and Nigel Reo-Coker was next to come close when he shot inches wide from 25 yards. Then twelve minutes from time the goal arrived when turbo-charged Harewood seized on Ashton’s knock-down, beat the last defender before unleashing a rocket that exploded into the roof of the net from 14 yards to put Hammers fans into dreamland. Five minutes of added time were played and Middlesbrough had a glorious chance to level but shot wide from close-range as West Ham booked a trip to Cardiff’s Millenium Stadium for the third year running.
