Sears wins Curbs' praise
23 Mar 2008 - 13:50:51
West Ham United boss Alan Curbishley thought his side's excellent second-half display at Everton merited an unlikely victory.
The Hammers hit back to earn a point from a 1-1 draw on Merseyside and Freddie Sears almost grabbed a last-gasp winner when his shot beat Tim Howard only to come back off a post.
Curbishley said: "The way the game went after the break, we feel a little disappointed that we didn't win it.
"Certainly we grew into the game. James Tomkins made an error early on and allowed Yakubu to roll him for their goal. But he hit the bar and got better and better on his debut.
"And so did we. When we brought on Freddie Sears in the second half, it gave us all a lift again just like last week when he scored the winner on his debut.
"He gives us something different, and he could easily have scored again with that late effort against the post.
"Everton were desperate for the three points and we were hitting them on the break. We just couldn't finish it off."