Although not my first venture to the Boleyn Ground a game which sticks in the memory is the 2-0 home win against Middlesborough in the now infamous great escape season. The team captained by Nigel Reo-Coker got off to the perfect start. The goal was scored by Bobby Zamora after just two minutes and this fleeting start was a view of things to come for the rest of the game as the Hammers dominated and came out as deserved 2-0 winners against Gareth Southgate’s Boro; a team that had reached a UEFA cup final just 10 months earlier.
The second of the goals was scored by Carlos Tevez, this just one of the games that gave the man cult hero status in this part of the world. The goal continued a run which had the Argentine scoring in his previous two games.
Other than the positive outcome of the game it has sustained a place in my memory as it gave me a glimpse into the multicultural society of football, it seemed as though the Boleyn Ground had become the home of a UN meeting with various languages and ethnicities on show the Dutch, German and other followers had ventured over land and sea to pay homage to our club and this along with the earlier mentioned points are all part of why that game in March of 2007 is still ingrained in the memory.
