Forest hold out despite late Hammers rally

West Ham 1 Nottingham Forest 2

There's a good turnout in the Best Meze Cafe for the final home match of a largely dismal season. Over chips with varying accompaniments we find Matt, Lisa, Nigel, Michael and his pal Stephen discussing why only journalists refer to Nottingham Forest as the "Tricky Trees" and asking if Palace's Eze belongs to Jesus then does this constitute third-party ownership?

Before the kick-off Aaron Wan-Bissaka receives the Hammer of the Year trophy, a fitting reward for our most successful signing from last summer. Potter has named an unchanged side from the win at Man United, leaving our biggest attacking threats, Paqueta and Fullkrug, on the bench.

West Ham make a great start. Coufal in his final home match, whips in a typical cross and Soucek heads for the top bin only to be thwarted by a great save from Sels. Vladimir Coufal has a shot deflected wide but slowly Forest impose themselves on the game. Gibbs-White controls with his chest and fires in a volley that Areola does well to save.

The Irons' bright start is undone after 11 minutes as Areola tries to play out from the back rather than kick it upfield and his pass goes straight to Gibbs-White who gratefully fires home. If in doubt hoof it. The scorer holding up a tribute shirt to the hospitalised Awonyi.

Areola has to make a decent stop to deny Chris Wood as Forest threaten to score again. Aaron Wan-Bissaka still poses problems on the left but Bowen and Kudus aren't getting anything from Forest's giant centre-backs and at the break it's still one-nil.

VAR TROUBLE

Potter has picked the wrong team and surprisingly doesn't make any changes at half-time. When he does act decisively after 58 minutes, bringing on Paqueta, Fullkrug, Alvarez and Soler, Forest have a free kick on the left. Elanga whips in the dead ball and it's deflected in off Milenkovic's shoulder. There's then a bizarre six-minute VAR stoppage while an offside is debated, with the automated offside lines not working and then a communication breakdown with ref Sam Barrott. After a major time rift in Stratford the goal is given anyway.

At least the VAR debacle gets the home crown going with a chant of "West Ham are massive!" though in truth we've been slightly less than large this season. The side looks a lot better with Fullkrug as a focal point and to the players' credit they keep going. A nice move sees Soler get in a shot that the excellent Sels tips away again.

Suddenly we're back in it after 79 minutes. Paqueta chips into the box and a defensive header falls to Jarrod Bowen who takes a touch with his thigh and swivels to fire an unstoppable volley into the top of the net.

Referee Barrott does his best to keep the atmosphere fervid as he is taken in by a lot of Forest timewasting and lets several blatant fouls go. Todibo, Bowen and Paqueta all lose patience with the ref. Even the Vicar's Son is moved to join in with the chants of "You don't know what you're doing!" and "You're not fit to referee!" 

Guilherme comes on late and troubles Forest with his speed on the left. He gets a shot away but is foiled by a fine block from Williams. At the other end AWB makes a fine block to deny Silva. There's an astonishing 16 minutes of added time as Forest get nervy. At one point the ref completely loses control of the players as there's a big fracas and he's pursued round the pitch like a harassed supply teacher. 

West Ham's final chance comes with a Soler corner and Areola up in the box. Fullkrug rises slightly higher than the Mittal Orbital and gets in a really powerful header, but again Sels punches it away.

So a very solid Forest side hold on and are in with a chance of Champions League football. All that's left is a lap of appreciation from the players as Cressy, Vlad, Fab, Ings and co say goodbye to a half-empty stadium. At least James Ward-Prowse's missus seems good at delivery as Mr and Mrs JWP bring on their four kids.

We head off for a final drink at the Eagle. Matt reveals his extensive knowledge of Highland League football, giving us anecdotes about Stranraer and some team near Banff, leading on to a discussion of Pennan, the setting for Local Hero. The film's theme was written by Mark Knopfler and recently re-recorded with guitar heroes like Brian May and Jeff Beck we learn from Wikipedia, not that any of us are into trivia. Meanwhile Nigel says that he's pleased Halifax haven't made it into the League meaning he's still a member of the 92 Club. Lisa then makes the frankly astonishing suggestion that he should visit a Halifax game for pleasure rather than as a ground to tick off. That will never catch on.

So the home season ends not with a bang but 16 minutes of added time and a VAR timeshift. Clubs like Forest have moved way ahead of WHU and Potter needs to rebuild over the summer and sign some dynamic midfielders, a leader at the back, a young striker and anyone else he can get. Meanwhile we still have to win at relegated Ipswich next week to secure 15th place. Roll on next season.

PLAYER RATINGS: Areola 4; Coufal 6, Kilman 6, Todibo 6, Cresswell 5 (Alvarez 5), Wan-Bissaka 7; Rodriguez 5 (Paqueta 6), Ward-Prowse 5 (Soler 6), Soucek 5 (Fullkrug 6); Bowen 7, Kudus 5 (Guilherme 6).