Half Time West Ham 3 Brighton 0 - But Still Worrying Signs!

First off, the good. Vaz Te. Credit where credit is due, the guy has been a revelation in recent weeks. He has the pace we have been crying out for, he has the skill, and boy does he know where the goal is. If we are to go on a late charge and pip Southampton, or if we are to successfully negotiate the play offs, this guy will be crucial. The Brighton keeper was probably at fault for the first goal, but there's no taking away from the power of the shot. I might have been tempted to take evasive action to be honest!

3-0 up inside 15 minutes, it's unheard of! Have we slayed the Boleyn Hoodoo at last? Let's bloody hope so. Certainly the gods were looking kindly on Captain Kev when he did his level best to clear the crossbar of an open goal from one yard out! His heart must have been in his mouth as he saw the ball spin high, higher, higher still!

Going forward we have looked superb, but when Brighton have progressed into our half, the same old problems persist, particularly at set pieces. Green was forced into one brilliant save, and Brighton were allowed another clear cut chance when a player was left completely unmarked at a corner. Fortunately, his connection was even worse than Nolan's and the ball spun wide of the post. On another day, against a better team, that would have nestled in the back of our net. Why can't we mark up on corners for God's sake? I thought Allardyce was the set piece master!

3-0 isn't good enough. Goal difference may yet be a factor and Southampton are way ahead of us. I can't see any of their opponents significantly denting their goal difference so we have to win our games by wide margins. I hope Allardyce is alive to that fact! The nagging worry is that Brighton score early in the second half, we could yet end up hanging on! The target should be a six goal victory!