A JACK COLLISON double fired West Ham to a 2-0 win at Cardiff City in the first leg of their Championship play-off semi-final on Thursday.
Collison netted after nine and 41 minutes in Wales to give West Ham a strong advantage heading into the second leg at Upton Park on Monday.
In front of more than 23,000 fans at the Cardiff City Stadium, the hosts started well, with Peter Whittingham and Kenny Miller going close in the early stages.
West Ham responded with their first chance of the game and tellingly, it was also a goal.
Portuguese attacker Ricardo Vaz Te – who finished second top-scorer in the Championship with 20 goals in the regular season – charged onto a ball down the left side and crossed for Collison.
The midfielder saw his initial effort saved by Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall, but he nodded in the rebound to send the travelling fans wild.After surviving a spell of West Ham pressure following the goal, Cardiff responded with Liam Lawrence having a penalty appeal turned away while Miller curled a shot just wide.
With less than five minutes remaining before the interval, Collison scored again though as his 25-yard effort beat Marshall thanks to the help of a deflection from Lawrence.
Marshall had to be at his best to keep out Carlton Cole moments before half-time but West Ham still went to the break in complete control of the match.
Cole was in action to clear a Ben Turner header off the line in the early stages of the second half and Miller fired over from the edge of the penalty area.
The hosts were doing all they could to get themselves back in the game and after West Ham’s Kevin Nolan missed a header from six yards, Cardiff manager Malky Mackay introduced Stephen McPhail and Robert Earnshaw to bolster the team’s attack.Cardiff had a few half-chances in the latter stages, of which the best fell to Joe Mason.
But he could only blast his effort over from close range as West Ham held firm, making them red-hot favourites to reach the Championship play-off final.
The winners of the play-off final will earn the third and final promotion place into the English Premier League.
