Skip to main contentSkip to navigationSkip to navigation
Craig Dawson (No 15) rises highest to send a fine header into the Stockport County net and send West Ham through to the fourth round of the FA Cup.
Craig Dawson (No 15) rises highest to send a fine header into the Stockport County net and send West Ham through to the fourth round of the FA Cup. Photograph: Martin Rickett/Reuters
Craig Dawson (No 15) rises highest to send a fine header into the Stockport County net and send West Ham through to the fourth round of the FA Cup. Photograph: Martin Rickett/Reuters

Craig Dawson's first West Ham goal ends stubborn Stockport resistance

This article is more than 3 years old
  • Stockport 0-1 West Ham
  • Late header by defender Dawson settles tie on boggy pitch

West Ham broke a doughty Stockport County right at the end, Craig Dawson’s header preventing extra time and earning David Moyes’s side the right to face Doncaster Rovers at home in the fourth round.

The centre-back’s rise in the rain, meeting Jarrod Bowen’s cross from a crowd of players, epitomised a hard-fought tie on a boggy surface that might have gone either way.

On loan from Watford, it was Dawson’s first West Ham goal. The 30-year-old was born in Rochdale and his career began at Radcliffe FC, a few miles from here in Greater Manchester.

“It was tough tonight,” he said. “It’s been a while since I’ve played in conditions like that but it’s great to get a goal at the end. The goal was something we worked on in training. The lads put in a great shift and it was a great clean sheet. Stockport are doing great in their league and it’s not easy coming to these grounds – so a great performance from the lads tonight.”

Stockport found this defeat hard to swallow and understandably so: the refusal of Jim Gannon’s team to bow down until the very end was in keeping with a weekend of fine FA Cup action, and might have earned them a further 30 minutes at least.

“The players are disappointed but I think that’s a testimony to how they played,” said Gannon. “West Ham had lots of possession but the lads did really well. They gave us a chance of getting a goal and possibly winning the game with the opportunities we had. It was always a stretch for us but the performance showed we are a cut above this level [National League].”

The match was momentarily stopped by fireworks. Photograph: Martin Rickett/Reuters

Declan Rice was the standout player, a midfielder whose box-to-box contribution ensured the Hammers’ attitude was right. It was the England man who created the first chance – a heavy touch bringing an opportunity to a skate along the right and cross. Saïd Benrahma’s skill took him into space and his shot clipped Ben Hinchliffe’s left post.

After 15 minutes a volley of fireworks went off outside the ground, behind Darren Randolph’s goal, which prompted the referee Mike Dean to pause the match, and on resumption the game had an entertaining tempo and flashes of quality.

Andriy Yarmolenko roved inside and attempted an eye-of-the-needle pass for Michail Antonio that was intercepted. Then Manuel Lanzini let fly and Hinchliffe clutched the ball gratefully. Stockport’s centre-backs Jordan Keane and Liam Hogan were finding Antonio a handful. The latter was the target again with a high ball and Keane got in the way. Antonio then appeared to finally be in when West Ham next attacked, but Mark Kitching nipped in from left-back and stuck boot on ball.

Quick Guide

Marine's Kengni back to day job after day with Bale and co

Show

On Sunday Neil Kengni gave Tottenham a scare when his shot hit the bar in the 20th minute of Marine's FA Cup tie. On Monday he attended a Zoom tutorial on health and safety for his apprentice plumbing course from his home in Manchester. 

The 20-year-old Kengni said he was still digesting his moment in the spotlight, describing it as “a bit surreal” to be playing against some of the top players in the world whom he would normally spend his weekends watching on TV. He recounts chatting to Dele Alli and Lucas Moura, describing them as “sound guys”. 

The player from the eighth-tier club says he is “gutted” that his shot didn’t go in though, as he replays the moment over and over again. “I think I hit it too high.” He hopes the Marine players still made everyone proud, despite the eventual 5-0 defeat by Spurs, adding: “We still kept on going until the last minute.” 

Kengni’s family moved from Cameroon to the UK when he was 10, settling in Wythenshawe, famously home to United’s Marcus Rashford, another hero of his. “Watching him grow through football to become one of the best players in the world is amazing. And hopefully, in God’s hands, I can do the same.” So Kengni hopes to follow in his footsteps?

“Yes”, he says, “I‘m hoping to be a professional football … and hopefully still, you know, get my plumbing degree.” Maya Wolfe-Robinson

Photograph: Jon Super for The FA/Rex Features
Was this helpful?

The visitors dominated the first half but lacked the killer touch. It meant Stockport were still firmly in it and the vocal Gannon – he hardly paused for breath – had something to work with for the second half.

When the sides resumed the heavens opened as they had before kick-off. The surface was increasingly heavy and the question was: would that help Stockport? The initial answer was no as West Ham claimed a corner. But again they did not capitalise.

Now Stockport forced a free-kick – but John Rooney hit it straight at Randolph. The pitch had become close to unplayable – players and ball getting caught in divots. A West Ham attack was stymied that way, and passing the hour mark, it had become a battle of who wanted to progress most.

Rice tried to show the way forward for West Ham with a surge from near halfway that scattered blue shirts all around him before he was finally crowded out in Stockport’s penalty area.

The prospect of a smash-and-grab strike from Gannon’s men remained: Lois Maynard hoped to do precisely that but it was Rice – again – who intervened, this time in his own area. For Moyes, there may have been contentment in the application if not the execution of his players. The manager saw Dawson block a Connor Jennings pile-driver, then Lanzini cede possession lazily: West Ham’s night, thus far, in microcosm.

The tie entered squeaky posterior time. A mistake might be joyous for one side, heartbreak the other. Gannon tried swapping his focal point – Alex Reid – for Richard Bennett, while, for the closing stages, Moyes replaced Ben Johnson with Aaron Cresswell. Then came Dawson’s late intervention.

Comments (…)

Sign in or create your Guardian account to join the discussion

Most viewed

Most viewed