Boro Hope To Crush Nine Year Record At West Ham!

WEST HAM v BORO - PREMIERSHIP YEARS

2008/2009 Sat 01 Nov Middlesbrough 1 - 1 West Ham Utd. Premier League
2007/2008 Sat 22 Dec Middlesbrough 1 - 2 West Ham Utd. Premier League
Sat 15 Sep West Ham Utd. 3 - 0 Middlesbrough Premier League
2006/2007 Sat 31 Mar West Ham Utd. 2 - 0 Middlesbrough Premiership
Sat 11 Nov Middlesbrough 1 - 0 West Ham Utd. Premiership
2005/2006 Sun 23 Apr Middlesbrough 0 - 1 West Ham Utd. F.A. Cup
played at Aston Villa
Mon 17 Apr Middlesbrough 2 - 0 West Ham Utd. Premiership
Sun 23 Oct West Ham Utd. 2 - 1 Middlesbrough Premiership
2002/2003 Mon 21 Apr West Ham Utd. 1 - 0 Middlesbrough Premiership
Sat 07 Dec Middlesbrough 2 - 2 West Ham Utd. Premiership
2001/2002 Sat 23 Feb West Ham Utd. 1 - 0 Middlesbrough Premiership
Sat 15 Sep Middlesbrough 2 - 0 West Ham Utd. Premiership
2000/2001 Sat 19 May Middlesbrough 2 - 1 West Ham Utd. Premiership
Sat 02 Dec West Ham Utd. 1 - 0 Middlesbrough Premiership
1999/2000 Sat 29 Apr West Ham Utd. 0 - 1 Middlesbrough Premiership
Sun 17 Oct Middlesbrough 2 - 0 West Ham Utd. Premiership
1998/1999 Sun 16 May West Ham Utd. 4 - 0 Middlesbrough Premiership
Sat 12 Dec Middlesbrough 1 - 0 West Ham Utd. Premiership
1996/1997 Wed 09 Apr West Ham Utd. 0 - 0 Middlesbrough Premiership
Wed 04 Sep Middlesbrough 4 - 1 West Ham Utd. Premiership
1995/1996 Sat 09 Mar West Ham Utd. 2 - 0 Middlesbrough Premiership
Sat 23 Dec Middlesbrough 4 - 2 West Ham Utd. Premiership

2008/9 WEST HAM UTD 3 MIDDLESBROUGH 0

The 23-year-old striker added to second half goals from Lee Bowyer and Luke Young's own-goal as the Hammers secured back-to-back 3-0 successes.

Ashton, who missed all of last season with a broken ankle, last found the net in the 2006 FA Cup final, but he was on hand to finish a flowing 62nd-minute move to put the gloss on a fine performance from the hosts.

For Boro, Jeremie Aliadiere hit a post and Tuncay Sanli rattled the crossbar, but despite being on top for periods of the first half, the visitors were simply blown away after the interval.

West Ham, with James Collins recalled to the defence in place of Anton Ferdinand in the only change to the side which beat Reading 3-0, were on top from the start.

Matthew Etherington, the two-goal hero at the Madjeski Stadium, was quickly into the action with an early cross which was cleared by George Boateng, before Bowyer burst through the midfield only to be halted by his ex-Leeds team-mate Jonathan Woodgate on the edge of the area.

Collins then headed harmlessly wide from Etherington's corner, and Mark Noble linked well with Ashton before hitting a 20-yard shot which was deflected the wrong side of the post.

Ashton this week admitted he was out to catch the eye of England manager Steve McClaren, and with his bright red boots and bleached blond hair, he was hard to miss.

And the striker had the ball in the net after 12 minutes, only to be denied by a linesman's flag after he had latched on to Craig Bellamy's through-ball.

Boro almost broke the deadlock with their first attack in the 18th minute when Mido skilfully turned and sent Aliadiere racing clean through, but the Frenchman's shot hit Robert Green's left-hand post.

Bellamy's afternoon came to a premature end in the 26th minute when the in-form Wales striker pulled up sharply and was replaced by Carlton Cole.

Boro also had to reshuffle their strikeforce when former Hammers loan player Aliadiere limped off, with Tuncay coming on.

He almost had an instant impact when he sprung West Ham's offside trap and crossed towards the unmarked Stewart Downing, but Green dived forward to clear the danger.

Noble fizzed a shot narrowly wide with Mark Schwarzer in no-man's land in stoppage time at the end of the first half.

The Hammers had to wait just 25 seconds after the break to find the net, when Bowyer started and finished a swift move.

The midfielder headed the ball infield to Hayden Hullins and sprinted forward to get on to Cole's one-touch pass and dispatch the ball confidently past Schwarzer for his second goal of the season.

And five minutes later the hosts doubled their advantage when Cole shrugged off the attentions of Downing and aimed a precise angled pass towards Mullins, only for Luke Young to steer the ball past Schwarzer with his out-stretched right boot.

Boro should have pulled one back just before the hour when Julio Arca's long ball sent Tuncay clear.

Green came charging out to narrow the angle and Tuncay lobbed the ball over the Hammers keeper only to see it bounce off the top of the crossbar.

Tuncay was then put through by Mido, with Collins and Matthew Upson suddenly playing like strangers, but Green pulled off a fine save at his near post.

And Ashton's big moment came two minutes later, again courtesy of another superb flowing move.

Mullins swept the ball out left to Etherington, who skipped past Young and crossed for Ashton to tuck home at the far post to prompt rapturous celebrations from fans and players.

Tuncay was left red-faced when put clean through again, this time opting to shoot low past Green only to see his effort roll tamely wide of a gaping net.

And his afternoon was summed up when his shot from 16 yards was cleared off the line by Lucas Neill.

Ashton left the field to a standing ovation 10 minutes from time to be replaced by Freddie Ljungberg, who has been out since the opening-day loss to Manchester City, a result which now seemed light years away.

Cole should have capped his rare appearance with a goal at the death after being played in by Ljungberg, but got stage fright in front of goal and shot horribly wide, before Schwarzer saved well from Bowyer in stoppage time.

Ince never expects a traditional warm East End welcome at Upton Park and the self-styled Guv'nor certainly had little respect on his former manor.

His attempts to dominate the midfield battle were stifled by Frank Lampard, whose sterling service to loan striker Frederic Kanoute was the catalyst to the Hammers' early dominance.

However, Brian Deane's 60th-minute penalty ensured Ince had the last laugh to leave Harry Redknapp's hopes of again planting the claret and blue flag in European soil precariously balanced.

Kanoute has been a revelation since arriving on loan and Harry Redknapp's desire to capture his long-term signature was underlined with an attention grabbing first-half performance.

He weaved and danced through Boro tackles and even threatened to divert attention away from Paolo Di Canio.

Whilst the fiery Italian greets every referee's decision with wild staring eyes, Kanoute gives a simple Gallic shrug.

His powerful run into the heart of Mark Schwarzer's area was brought to a premature end by Gianluca Festa, with referee Barry Knight frantically waving away his team-mates seemingly justified appeals.

However, chances remained thin on the ground with Marc-Vivien Foe's early drive and Deane's speculative long-range header for the visitors, the best opportunities to break the deadlock.

Ince continued to run the gauntlet of abuse with every touch and was lucky to avoid a caution for a rash challenge on Rio Ferdinand.

But it was Juninho who sparked life in Bryan Robson's side's challenge.

He twisted and turned to shrug off the close attentions of Ferdinand but his exhaustive efforts were not supported by those around him.

A well-worked training ground combination between Ferdinand, Foe and Lampard presented the Hammers with their best scoring opportunity but in a crowded penalty area the former England Under-21 captain failed to steer his header on target.

Paulo Wanchope finally forced Schwarzer to spring into action but his late first-half shot was easily smothered by the under-worked visiting keeper.

West Ham's neat brand of passing football continued to dominate after the break but with scoring chances in short supply, it seemed inevitable the deadlock would be broken from the penalty spot.

Against the run of play Boro's Mark Summerbell split the previously unerring Hammers defence with a beautifully-weighted pass to striker Andy Campbell.

Campbell, the youngest-ever Premiership player when he made his debut two seasons ago, chased down the loose ball but his attempt to turn and shoot was curtailed by a rash challenge from keeper Ian Feuer.

Despite half-hearted Hammers pleas, Feuer earned himself a caution and Boro seized the lead with Deane's thundering penalty leaving the stand-in keeper with no chance.

With no room for mistakes in their increasingly doomed challenge for a lucrative UEFA Cup place, the Hammers recent free-scoring form dramatically dried up.

Eight goals in their last three games had given manager Harry Redknapp hope but even Di Canio, the Hammers heartbeat this season, had mislaid the key to his box of magic tricks.