Rice and Bowen save lacklustre Hammers

Kidderminster Harriers 1 West Ham 2 (aet) (FA Cup)

Up against a plucky non-league side in a live TV game — what could possibly go wrong? Quite a lot it seems. From the kick off Zouma hoofs the ball out of play and it gets worse. Diop is slow to everything, Kral is ineffective in midfield, Yarmolenko is getting hustled off the ball and the side just don't look up for it against a side that chases everything. 

Kidderminster take a deserved lead when Areola comes out but fails to gather a free kick and Penny calmly slots home the loose ball. The half is summed up by a stupid short corner from Noble and Johnson then booting the ball into touch.

At least Moyes removes Diop and Kral for Rice and Dawson at half-time and the Irons improve a little, even if the build-up is painfully slow. Kidderminster keeper Simpson has to make a smart double save from Bowen and Benrahma forces a great block from Preston.

The only good thing is that Robert Plant is in the crowd, allowing for Nigel to quip on WhatsApp that West Ham look Dazed and Confused after a Communication Breakdown. And I think I can hear my pal Matt shouting at the TV in Holloway.

With ten minutes left a desperate Yarmolenko performs an embarrassing dive in the box. Soucek, Cresswell and Fornals have come on but it still looks like being an epic giantkilling victory for Kidderminster until added time. Declan Rice is in his own half when he finds Fornals, but gallops upfield to take the return ball, turn inside a defender and wallop it into the roof of the net, before celebrating in front of the massively relieved away fans. Thank goodness we have a world-class player in Declan. The Cup Final Breakfast at Nigel's gaff in Kew remains on — just.

To their credit Kidderminster still make it hard for the Irons in extra time. Bowen has a goal disallowed for offside, Zouma goes down injured, and it looks like an inevitable penalty shoot-out. That's until added time again, when Yarmolenko, who has at least kept going, plays in a deflected cross to Cresswell, whose cross is turned in by Bowen at the far post. VAR might have called it offside, but Jon Moss gives it and the Hammers are through, though the players look almost apologetic after an embarrassing victory.

Great credit to sixth-tier Kidderminster for their showing. The only positive is that the Hammers did show some resilience to escape the worst result in WHU history. But this game made the lack of new WHU signings look even more shortsighted. Noble and Yarmolenko are ageing and Diop, Kral, Vlasic and Fredericks don't look good enough on this showing. Though with luck like this maybe we'll go on and win it now...