Blackpool 1-2 West Ham: Hammers Win Play-off Final
Sam Allardyce has guided West Ham United back into the Premier League after a 2-1 Championship play-off final victory in front of 78,523 fans at Wembley Stadium this afternoon.
Sam Allardyce has guided West Ham United back into the Premier League after a 2-1 Championship play-off final victory in front of 78,523 fans at Wembley Stadium this afternoon. Hammers striker Ricardo Vaz Te scored the lucrative winner in the 87th minute, finding the back of the net from close range high into the middle of Matt Gilks' goal. West Ham had probably deserved the victory after edging the game over the 90 minutes. They scored the opening goal in the 35th minute from a Carlton Cole strike in the six yard box. It was 1-0 at half time but Ian Holloway's men had a perfect start to the second half when Tom Ince equalised when he cooly finished in the bottom left hand corner of Robert Green's goal. But in the end it is West Ham United and not Blackpool who are promoted straight back into the Premier League at the first time of asking. A jubilant Sam Allardyce told reporters directly after the game;
"I told you it was going to be difficult and Blackpool were every bit as good as we were. But we just swung it in our favour. It's 49 games this season and it's the first time we've won a game in the last few minutes. David Sullivan had been having a go at me about that. "I'm just delighted to be back in the Premier League. It means everything to me. I had been in the Premier League for 10 years or so. It was difficult at the start to turn this club around but we have come good at the end."