The Oldest Scorer in Town

After much remorse East London exudes relief. West Ham United snapped their worst run since 1932. Losses in all competitions (5 Prem, 2 UEFA, 1 Carling Cup) stacked to eight consecutive. Equating in eight hours and ten minutes of Premiership play without a goal. Make that 590 minutes of match play. Upton Park's atmosphere could only be described as fanatical. Supporters packed the stands hoping to see their lads brave a win and answering the call of under-fire manager Alan Padrew. The Blackburn Rovers attempted to exploit their confidence, best deemed fragile.

Today's match featured a fine tuned Hammers line-up. On both sides of the spectrum Pardew's starting eleven showcased G. McCartney in his premier and Teddy Sheringham attacking. As the old saying goes, matches aren't played on paper...West Ham's worst home defeat came at the hands of Blackburn 8-2 in 1963. I don't know what exactly Pardew said to his boys or what happened on the training grounds leading up to the big home match. But I do know that the mindset of West Ham's players was markedly different.

Inside the first half-hour of play Bobby Zamora headed a long ball down to Yossi Benayoun at the edge of the area. The Hope delivered the patented 'spoon pass' to Teddy Sheringham's head. The 40 year old became the oldest player in the history of the EPL to score a goal after he finished beautifully past Brad Friedel, slotting top drawer. Joy read over the expressions of teammates surrounding the Englishman in celebration. Come the 79th minute Hayden Mullins netted his first goal evoking a fist pump from Alan Padrew as the stadium exploded behind him. Solid work as a cohesive unit sealed the score line, with saves from R. Green, at 2-1. Bently scored for Blackburn in injury time while the majority of 33,833 spectator's chants rained down in sheets.

Personally, Sheringham ended a scoreless run of seven months. But the gravity of his goal may have yet sunk in the rolodex of the casual footy follower. West Ham have moved to 16th place, now clear of the bottom three. Essentially, this Sunday won't fade for some time in the memory of the faithful; who disregarded the history books to make their own.