Archive for May 15, 2022
Winner of “Up the Writers!” Revealed
RapidHammer has been shortlisted for the West Ham Writers’ Award, and now the winner is known. Tim Crane, who founded the award last year, has informed that it was a close run thing and the judges made cases for three or four of the entries.
I have enjoyed writing an entry for this year’s competition very much and I was delighted to have made the shortlist of six ! I think I will try again next year to share some of my West Ham memories!
Over time a rich body of work relating to our Club’s history should be amassed through this competition – “the most worthwhile pursuit of all in my opinion,” says the founder of the award, Tim Crane.
Here is this year’s winner, “RECOLLECTIONS” by SIMON BENJAMIN. You can download it here:
Congratulations to the winner! Come on you Irons!
Mark Noble’s Last Kick
This was Mark Noble’s last free-kick on the London Stadium pitch. After 24 years at West Ham and almost 18 years after his first team debut, “Mr. West Ham” said good-bye to the “family of 60,000 I have here”.
Thank you, Mark Noble! Thank you, captain!
West Ham sensationally lead 2-0 against almost-champions Manchester City before the interval, courtesy to two goals from Jarrod Bowen. Then Jack Grealish pulled one back immediately after the break. But West Ham held firm and had some more chances of their own, so Man City needed an own-goal to get level, when Coufal unfortunately headed the ball into the own net.
When Noble came into the game in the 77th minute, the fans stood up and applauded as they had done in the 16th minute to honour a man of their own. Declan Rice handed the armband to him and the fans sang again: “Stand up if you love Mark Noble”.
But City were not standing on ceremony. We thought we had lost the game when a VAR check showed that Dawson had fouled a ManCity player in the box, but it was fabulous Fabianski who saved Mahrez’s penalty in the 86th minute and made sure that Mark Noble’s send-away ended without defeat. In the end it was a heroic 2-2 Premier League draw in Mark Noble’s final home game in which he kicked his last ball on home pitch in injury time which stretched to six minutes, before a deserved point came West Ham’s and Mark Noble’s way.
West Ham have held the champions-elect with the same result which Liverpool have made against Manchester City on 10 April at their ground; the last time Manchester City lost in the Premier League was by mid-February, three months ago. With this draw West Ham have made sure that they qualify again for Europe, and the title race between Man City and Liverpool will not be decided before the last day of the season!
It’s great how far West Ham have come this season!
West Ham 2 Man City 2 ▶️ goals
‘Leaders made to wait as Hammers spoil party’ ▶️ BBC match report
Mark Noble, A Kid from Canning Town, poem by James Sneddon ▶️ Green Street Hammers
Mark Noble ▶️ Wikipedia
EXTRA TIME 
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