Bishop Stortford 0 West Ham 3

Scott Parker, Mark Noble and Jack Collison all played their first game of pre-season as the Hammers eased to a 3-0 victory over Blue Square North side Bishop’s Stortford on Saturday.

The West Ham midfield trip played the second half and Collison rounded off a promising display with a goal close to the end, but the Hammers had already carved out a 2-0 first-half lead by the time they were introduced.

A crowd of 810 braved the torrential rain both before and during this friendly clash and they were rewarded with a competent performance from a young Hammers side.

It took West Ham just 11 minutes to open the scoring. They won a free kick out on the left wing and when Junior Stanislas swung the ball in, it was missed by every defender as well as young Hammers centre half Callum McNaughton as it slipped into the net by the far post.

Stanislas was looking very lively and twice went close with shots from the edge of the box, before limping off halfway through the half with a slight groin injury.

By then West Ham had made it 2-0. Striker Frank Nouble turned his man in the area and when his low shot unluckily struck the far post, it rebounded straight into the path of Olly Lee who rammed it home.

Manager Sam Allardyce watched the game from the stand and he must have been impressed by the likes of Jordan Spence, Jordan Brown and Cristian Montano as they continued to harry the Stortford defence.

West Ham’s three star men were on from the start of the second half and for much of the second 45 minutes it was a case of keep ball for the Hammers as Stortford were left chasing the ball.

A superb turn, dribble and pass from Montano released Sebastien Lletget only for him to shoot inches wide with just the keeper to beat, but Montano’s pass proved more effective in the last couple of minutes as he picked out Collison’s timely run and the midfielder rounded the goalkeeper before touching into an empty net to complete the scoring.

Allardyce was pleased with the performance as well as getting the chance to play some of his more experienced players.

“It was good to see Mark Noble getting a game because he had a slight problem out in Switzerland,” revealed the Hammers boss.

“We were able to give him half a game today which is good and the same with Scott (Parker) and Jack (Collison).

“It was good to see them and it looks like a comfortable victory for us.”

West Ham: Stech, Spence (Sanchez), McNaughton, Reid (Fry), Brown (Driver), Abdullah (Noble), Lee (Collison), Moncur (Parker), Stanislas (Montano), Lletget (Hall), Nouble (McCallum).