West Ham - 2 Tottenham - 1: Spurs will feel queasy long after the symptoms of food-poisoning have subsided. The memory of this day will be seared into the club, but not for the reasons they had envisaged. There will be no end to the wondering over what might have happened had illness not struck. The club has finished fifth in the Premiership and scant consolation is to be scraped out of the realisation that a place in the Champions League can no longer be snatched from them by an Arsenal victory against Barcelona in this year's final.
Their north London rivals have simply struck even earlier and vaulted over Spurs in the Premiership table. It was horrible that Martin Jol's squad should be afflicted by sickness, but the pride of the players was so great that they inadvertently vindicated the administrators' decision that the fixture must go ahead. The visitors finished the afternoon more vigorously than they had begun it, as adrenaline and, ultimately, desperation took hold of them.
The Premier League verdict though reasonable, however, was cruel in its consequences. Spurs, without the disruption, might have done far better. As it was, they were always fighting against the momentum of a West Ham team that held all the advantages. The drama surrounding this fixture should not detract from the merits of the Hammers' display.
They too had players absent for admittedly humdrum reasons. With Hayden Mullins suspended, it is now clear that his place in the FA Cup final will be taken by Carl Fletcher, who opened the scoring and acquitted himself capably. Manager Alan Pardew also reflected that the absence of Matthew Etherington through injury created an opportunity for Yossi Benayoun to switch to the left of midfield spot that he prefers.
Dean Ashton, the striker with hamstring trouble, will take it easy until Thursday and only then will he attempt some jogging that should indicate whether there is any chance of recovery.
Spurs, willing as they were, might have been beaten by a larger margin. With the score at 1-1, for instance, Teemu Tainio brought down Bobby Zamora, but Paul Robinson leapt to his right and saved Teddy Sheringham's penalty after 55 minutes.
Spurs started sluggishly and in the 10th minute Robinson was beaten by a speculative swerving 25-yarder from Fletcher. Shortly before the interval he redeemed himself by reacting superbly to stop a volley from Zamora.
"If Tottenham hadn't been under the weather they would still have been in difficulty," said Pardew with justification.
Jol, who sportingly stopped short of pinning the blame for this loss on illness, was probably conscious that this was always bound to be a tough match. An inability to beat any member of the top four in the Premiership this season shows this Spurs side is still under development.
A recognition of that lingered in Jol's words. "I would like to have 68 points," he said, "but 65 is an unbelievable total for our team. I still believe we can do better and better."
There was at least one hint of high quality as Spurs pulled level. Michael Carrick fed a pass to Jermain Defoe in the 35th minute and his touch was as exquisite as his accuracy. The England striker, slipped away from Anton Ferdinand and drilled the ball into the far corner of the net. Four minutes later Aaron Lennon, who came to life only sporadically, earned a corner that Carrick delivered and Anthony Gardner headed over the bar. During that spell it looked, incredibly, as if Spurs could locate the energy to alter the course of the match.
West Ham settled the outcome with slick play after 80 minutes. Newton guided a pass to Nigel Reo-Coker and he backheeled to Benayoun. The Israeli slipped across and past Michael Dawson before wheeling to shoot high past Robinson at the near post.
This victory will have West Ham players bounding towards the Millennium Stadium, even if they realise that Liverpool are a far tougher proposition than Spurs could be yesterday. The losers will dwell on this and no one more than the supposedly healthy Danny Murphy, who was left on the bench throughout.
Guardian Service
