So the year is coming to an end and we have had our ups and downs, we have felt the pain of being relegated and we have felt the joys of being promoted. It has been an up and down year but let me take the time to talk about my 5 favourite West Ham goals of 2012.
- · Joey O’Brien vs Stoke City – Now this is not the most emphatic goal you will see but for me this has to be in there. Joey came to West Ham with, let’s be honest, most of us thinking what the hell are we doing? Well Joey has become West Hams Mr Consistent and he has had to over come some major injury scares in his short career already. When that ball hit the back of the net against Stoke you saw what it meant to him and how happy every player was for him. It showed togetherness that I have not seen at West Ham for a while.
- · Jack Collison’s 2 goals vs Cardiff First Leg – I picked these two goals because they just set us up for what was a hard draw in the play offs against a tough Cardiff team. The first was a bursting run into the box which Collison got on the end of, it brought a good save from Marshall who tipped it on to the cross bar, but like any good player was there for the follow up to nod it home. The second came from a corner which was headed out to just outside the 18 yard box where Collison was there and hit it on the half volley to smash home an excellent 2-0 victory to set us up for an easier second leg.
- · Kevin Nolan vs Fulham – Well this goal after 1 minute of play just sums up what we can hope for once Carroll is fit. The long ball played up field which Andy Carroll won (no surprise there), flicks it on to Ricardo Vaz Te who tees up Kevin Nolan, who hit it first time on the volley in to the bottom corner given Mark Schwarzer no chance. I picked this goal because with Carroll in the team he gives the best aerial threat in the Premier League and he links up so well with Nolan who just knows immediately what he is going to do. I think with Carroll, Vaz Te and Nolan its going to be deadly.
- · Mohamed Diame vs Chelsea – Diame proved in this game how much of an important player he is for us and how much we are going to miss him until he recovers from his injury. When Diame came on after half time he instantly dictated the pace of the game, he controlled the middle and with the score lying at 1-1 he popped up with a vital goal. Carlton Cole held the ball up well with two Chelsea defenders round him, played the ball back toward the 18 yard box where Diame was waiting, he hit it low and hard and gave Cech no chance and also give West Ham the upper hand in the game which ended 3-1 to the Hammers.
- · Ricardo Vaz Te vs Blackpool Play off Final – My top goal of 2012 must go to Ricardo Vaz Te for his winner in the Championship Play off final to send us back to the big time. It was a game that could have went either way. Blackpool started the quicker of the two teams and a string of saves by Rob Green kept us there before Carlton Cole put us in the lead on the 35th minute. After half time Blackpool hit us straight from the off with Thomas Ince pulling the score back to 1-1, then it was a to and fro game until the 87th minute where the ball was played in to the box. Carlton Cole worked hard to keep it alive and it fell to Vaz Te who smashed it into the roof of the net to send us to where West Ham belongs – the Premier League. I have never celebrated as hard as I did that day and I will forever sing Vaz Te’s name for that goal.
These are my top five goals of 2012 and these are the key goals of the year that I will take with me. I just hope for 2013 to be even better than 2012 and I have no doubt it will be filled with many ups and downs and plenty to talk about and I look forward to it.
Carl Bateson
Follow me on Twitter @BatesonCarl for comments, feedback and general West Ham Banter.
loved diame’s goal