Rovers battle back for a point

Blackburn came from a goal down to secure a deserved share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw against West Ham.

Andrews cancels out Noble's opener at Ewood

Blackburn Rovers came from a goal down to secure a deserved share of the spoils in a 1-1 draw against West Ham. The Hammers deservedly led at half-time courtesy of Mark Noble's expert finish, but it was a game of two halves as Blackburn dominated after the break. Substitute Keith Andrews levelled matters within six minutes of the re-start after being at the right place at the right time to slot home at the near post. It was all Rovers for the rest of the game and although El-Hadji Diouf had the ball in the back of the net on more than one occasion it finished a fair result. The point sees keeps West Ham seventh in the table a point clear of Fulham while Rovers have dropped a place following Stoke's win over Middlesbrough.

Bright start

The absence of Roque Santa Cruz will have been noted in the opening stages with Rovers guilty of wasting too much possession up front and letting the Hammers off the hook in an otherwise bright start. Benni McCarthy saw an early effort blocked in the box by James Tomkins and there were also chances for El-Hadji Diouf and Jason Roberts as the home side continued to press. The Hammers finally fashioned a shot on target in the 16th minute when Noble played David di Michele into space on the right and the Italian's sweeping shot was comfortably gathered by Paul Robinson. Robinson then had to race from his goal to beat Diego Tristan to a long ball by Di Michele as the Hammers showed signs of improvement against a Rovers team in danger of paying for their missed opportunities. The home side had a lucky escape in the 25th minute when Noble's cross from the right prompted a mix-up between Robinson and Christopher Samba which allowed the ball to spring free in the box with no visiting player lurking. Diouf thought he had put Rovers in front in the 31st minute when he hooked home a corner from Morten Gamst Pedersen but referee Chris Foy rightly ruled the Senegalese striker offside.

Breakthrough

The Hammers grabbed the opener in the 35th minute when Tristan's neat pass across the box set up Noble to sweep a low shot across Robinson and into the corner of the net from the right. The home side replaced Andre Ooijer with Andrews at the break and almost grabbed an equaliser in the 50th minute when Roberts drove a goal-bound shot which struck Tomkins. But Rovers were level moments later when Pedersen's long throw caused problems in the Hammers box and the ball came to Andrews who fired home. With their confidence fully restored the home side continued to threaten, McCarthy flicking on a cross from the lively Diouf into the path of Pedersen, who crashed an effort just wide. Diouf netted his second disallowed strike of the game in the 62nd minute, prodding home at close-range after Green palmed a low McCarthy effort into his path, but once again he was clearly offside. Two minutes later Roberts flicked Pedersen's cross across the face of goal and the lurking Diouf was inches away from getting the touch he needed to finally make an effort count. Rovers pushed frantically for a winner with McCarthy's effort blocked almost on the goal-line and a rising effort from Roberts screwed off-target as the home side all but camped in the visitors' half.

Blackburn Rovers	Team Statistics	West Ham United
1	Goals	1
0	1st Half Goals	1
3	Shots on Target	2
5	Shots off Target	4
11	Blocked Shots	0
7	Corners	1
14	Fouls	10
4	Offsides	5
2	Yellow Cards	1
0	Red Cards	0
64.3	Passing Success	71.6
24	Tackles	22
75	Tackles Success	81.8
50.9	Possession	49.1
66.8	Territorial Advantage	33.2