Nouble marks Irons debut with goal

Frank Nouble scored on his first outing in claret and blue as a West Ham XI including Gianfranco Zola's son beat Thurrock 3-2 on Friday night.

Nouble only signed from Chelsea in midweek, but he managed the full 90 minutes against the non-leaguers and capped off a good performance with a last-minute winner.

West Ham fell behind early on when Phil Anderson converted from close range in the 18th minute, but German trialist Sebastian Huke produced a cool 15-yard finish nine minutes later to level things up.

16-year-old Eoin Wearen headed the Irons in front on 79 but Thurrock looked to have earned a share of the spoils when David Knight fired home with just four minutes later.

It was not to be, however, and Nouble marked his first game of pre-season with a tidy finish into the bottom corner after Cristian Montano danced past two defenders.

Zola Jr played the first 45 minutes in midfield, with the second string boosted by the presence of Calum Davenport and Nigel Quashie, who both played the full 90 minutes for Alex Dyer's side.