FA Cup
Hartlepool United 0-2 West Ham United 

Saturday, 24th January 2009
by John Simkin

In the press conference before the game Zola made it clear that he was going to play his first-eleven against Hartlepool as he was “desperate to take West Ham all the way to Wembley.” The fact, that Faubert and Tomkins replaced Neill and Upson is therefore highly significant.



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Player Ratings

Robert Green
Missed one punch and made a reasonable save from Gary Liddle.


Julien Faubert
Another hapless display that will probably guarantee that we are stuck with him to the end of the season.


Herita Ilunga
Found a lot of space in advanced positions in the first half but failed to provide good enough crosses.


James Collins
Commanding performance from this much improved player.


James Tomkins
Started nervously but settled down to play his part in this comfortable victory.


Scott Parker
Completely controlled the mid-field and was the most important player on the pitch, and provided an excellent captain?EUR(TM)s performance.


Mark Noble
not have to be at his very best today. Looks to be a competent penalty-taker.


Jack Collison
A few nice touches but generally a fairly quiet afternoon.


Valon Behrami
Another all action performance from this extremely hard-working player. Was always a threat going forward and still found the time to protect Faubert.


Carlton Cole
Made some good runs and with a little more luck would have scored to keep his run going. Was rightly substituted when Zola made the assessment that the referee might give his robust play a second yellow card.


David Di Michele
easily knocked off the ball but he did make a couple of good defence splitting passes to Cole.



Substitutes

Luis Boa Morte
(Replaced Collison, 64 mins) Made no impression on the game except for making himself look very foolish during a short-corner routine


Hayden Mullins
(Replaced Di Michele, 75 mins) Helped to close the game down when he was brought on for Di Michele.


Fred Sears
(Replaced Cole, 78 mins) Held the ball up well and went close with his own chance of a shot.


Marek Stech
Did not play.


Lucas Neill
Did not play.


Jonathan Spector
Did not play.


Diego Tristan
Did not play.



Match Facts

West Ham United: Robert Green, Julien Faubert, Herita Ilunga, James Collins, James Tomkins, Scott Parker, Mark Noble, Jack Collison, Valon Behrami, Carlton Cole, David Di Michele.

Goals: Valon Behrami 44 Mark Noble 45                .

Booked: Carlton Cole 40 Herita Ilunga 40 James Collins 60      .

Sent off: None.

Hartlepool United: Lee-Barrett, Sweeney, Nelson, Clark, Humphreys, Monkhouse, Jones, Liddle, Robson, Mackay, Porter.

Subs not used: Budtz, McCunnie, Collins, Power, Rowell.

Goals: .

Booked: None.

Sent off: None.

Referee: Lee Mason.

Attendance: 6,849.

Man of the Match: Scott Parker.