A real kick in the teeth for Moyes’ boys
THERE was a rehabilitation of sorts for Joe Hart, who made two sharp saves against his home-town club which helped prevent the sun setting entirely on his reputation.
But the bigger picture was West Ham’s shocking lack of physicality and ambition which David Moyes made no bones about last night, after his side had found themselves lucky to avoid a humbling.
Two tame headers were all his players had to show from a match they never contested. The only blood flowed from Joshua Cullen — a rare bright light and Moyes’s best player — who by nightfall was in A&E, hoping that two teeth he lost when Abu Ogogo accidentally kicked him in the face could be saved. They’d been preserved in milk.
Elsewhere, there was little steel in the team. Paul Hurst’s enterprising, technically proficient League One promotion-seekers looked a yard faster and created all the chances.
Moyes’s forwards Javier Hernandez and Andre Ayew simply could not make an imprint on a game in which they found Aristote Nsiala and Mat Sadler a physically insurmountable presence. ‘I don’t think we showed any quality and the biggest thing for me was we didn’t show enough steel,’ Moyes said. ‘We didn’t compete on a lot of occasions.’ The fecklessness would have been catastrophic for West Ham had it not been for Hart’s two first-half interventions.
The goalkeeper reacted sharply to save first from Sadler and then Alex Rodman. Both chances flowed from casually surrendered possession.
Hart, made captain for the occasion, was struggling to see the ball in the bright, low sun, and discovered that team-mate Aaron Cresswell had taken his cap from his kit bag. Hart had to ask West Ham fans behind his goal to furnish him with one. ‘I would have taken a hat. I couldn’t see a thing,’ Hart said. ‘Someone threw one on. I was grateful for that.’
Moyes was satisfied enough with Hart’s second outing since late November to suggest he would play ‘lots of games in the Premier League’ this season.
For Shrewsbury, it was a monumental opportunity lost. ‘It wasn’t the toughest match we’ve had this season,’ Hurst said. The impressive Sadler shed so much blood from a head wound he was virtually mummified when he emerged bandaged up in the second half.
The chance to ensure the better side won fell to Shrewsbury’s Jon Nolan, after Max Lowe had teed up a clear strike on goal three minutes from time. But the midfielder blasted over. Hart put it best.
‘There was some terrible football played today,’ he said. ‘And we lost a lot battles.’