West Ham enjoyed a comfortable 3-0 win in this afternoon's FA Cup clash with Macclesfield despite a brave performance from the Third Division club. However, the Hammers' victory was marred by the sending-off of John Moncur in the dying minutes when a flare-up ensued following Moncur's challenge on midfielder Chris Byrne.
By that stage, West Ham's place in the fourth round was already secure. The Hammers took the lead shortly before the interval when Jermain Defoe scored his sixth goal in nine starts. Macclesfield had given their Premiership opponents a stiff test in the opening 45 minutes and the Hammers will have felt somewhat fortunate to have gone in at the break with a 1-0 advantage. Joe Cole found Sebastien Schemmel on the right and his angled cross into the near post was fired back across the goalmouth and into the far corner by Defoe.
Despite this disappointing blow, Macclesfield continued to battle hard in the second-half and both sides carved out some excellent chances. However, a second goal for the in-form Defoe in the 71st minute gave Macclesfield little hope of a comeback even when the Premiership side were reduced to 10 men on 80 minutes.
Moncur's nasty challenge on Byrne resulted in a mass brawl on the pitch as Macclesfield's Danny Adams lunged in and Christian Dailly also got involved before referee Jeff Winter produced two yellow cards - believed to be for Moncur's initial challenge and his subsequent reaction - and the inevitable red card that signalled the end of Moncur's involvement in the tie. However, the Hammers still had time to notch up a third goal when Cole won a loose ball on the edge of the area and danced his way through the penalty box before firing into the bottom corner.
Afterwards, West Ham boss Glenn Roeder admitted he was relieved his side came through what was a tricky fixture. "It was a difficult game for us and I'd like to congratulate Macclesfield. They put on a terrific performance and they were a great advertisement for the Third Division. It was a hard game but thankfully we ran out comfortable winners," he said.
Filed by Amanda Fennelly
