Hartlepool 0 West Ham 2

Hartlepool did very well for 42 minutes of the first half, then in the 43rd minute, after some good work by Collison the ball found its way to Behrami on the edge of the box and his first time left footed shot flew straight into the bottom right of the goal.

Three minutes later Michael Nelson handled the ball just outside the area and the referee decided to give a penalty. Mark Noble stepped up and scored his second goal in two weeks.

Before the goals Hartlepool had looked fairly comfortable without really troubling the West Ham goal. Their best chance of the half came from a header that Parker just managed to clear off the line.

In the second half West Ham always looked in control. Hartlepool came close only once in the half when Liddle's header from eight yards forced an instinctive save from Green.

However as the half progressed West Ham looked more and more in control and looked comfortable for their victory.