Sydney FC condemned West Ham United to the status of the worst UK team to visit New Zealand shores at Westpac Stadium on July 26, as they deservedly downed the English Premier League side 3-1. The defeat means "The Hammers" are the only team from the United Kingdom to visit New Zealand and lose twice in matches against opponents other than the All Whites. And they were on the slippery slope to that loss as early as the third minute, ironically as a result of an attacking free-kick earned by Matt Jarvis. He was brought to ground just outside the penalty area, and the resulting Mark Noble set-piece was played short to Stewart Downing. His shot was blocked, as was the follow-up effort of Guy Demel. The rebound sparked a Sydney counter-attack, with Ali Abbas leading the charge. His driving run ultimately brought him to the edge of West Ham's penalty area, where a slide-rule pass played in Corey Gameiro, who gleefully slotted home after luring Adrian out of his goal. West Ham's cause wasn't aided when Demel had to depart the fray ten minutes later, due to injury. And they nearly found themselves two goals down soon after, James Collins recovering matters at the eleventh hour as Sebastian Ryall's teasing cross sought out Gameiro. Ryall was causing problems down "The Hammers"' left flank, but deserved better reward for beating two players when the recipient of his cross, Bernie Ibini-Isei, tried to manoeuvre the ball onto his right foot, rather than shooting first time with his left. He was swiftly closed down, and the chance was lost. West Ham finally made some in-roads in an attacking sense half-way through the first half, and inevitably it was former Liverpool winger Downing who led the way. He engineered some space in which to deliver a cross, which Sydney goalkeeper Vedran Janjetovic pawed out into the path of Jarvis. He was denied in the act of shooting by Terry Antonis' timely challenge, but United weren't done with yet. Just two minutes later, Mohamed Diame won possession in midfield and surged forward, only to undo all his good work by shooting tamely at Janjetovic, much to the 'keeper's relief - earlier in the half, his uncertainty with the ball at his feet nearly presented West Ham with an equaliser, the goalkeeper clearing his lines just before Kevin Nolan could pounce. Sydney doubled their lead in the 25th minute. Ibini-Isei led the charge, and played a well-disguised pass in behind the defence to reward Alex Brosque's supporting run. After controlling the ball, his finish was unerring, the ball arrowing across the diving figure of Adrian en route to the bottom far corner of the net. The many West Ham supporters present must have been wondering what on earth was going on, although you'd never have known it. Their support of their team was exemplary, rousing choruses of "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles" frequently ringing around the ground throughout this double-header. They deserve far better from their team than what was served up on this tour, with only Downing, Jarvis, Collins and, to some extent, Nolan and Mauro Zarate deserving of praise for their efforts over the course of both matches. On the evidence of their clashes with A-League opponents, Sam Allardyce will be looking for a new job prior to Christmas! After going two-down, two of the above-mentioned quintet sought a swift riposte. Nolan did well to win the ball near the by-line in the 28th minute, and his lay-back for Downing invited the winger to weave his way through two challenges in the penalty area before setting up Carlton Cole for a shooting opportunity. Sasa Ognenovski's timely tackle extinguished this opening. Five minutes later, a Noble free-kick was flapped at by Janjetovic. Downing steered the ball back to Nolan, whose piledriver was blocked to safety by Ryall. Mere seconds elapsed before West Ham pressed again, Downing picking out Aaron Cresswell with a cross. The substitute played a one-two with Cole before thundering a shot into the stanchion. In the shadows of the half-time whistle, United came desperately close to pulling a goal back. Downing was denied by Janjetovic after working an opening with Noble, while after Gameiro had seen his penalty claims waved away by referee Nick Waldron at the other end of the park, Cole was narrowly astray with the last shot of the half.

West Ham simply had to score next if they harboured hopes of giving their loyal supporters something to shout about, but it was Sydney who should have been given the opportunity to do so four minutes into the second spell. Gameiro again went down in the area, and this time his case was very strong, but the outcome was the same as before. "The Hammers" stormed downfield in response to this let-off, Jarvis leading the charge. His cross ricocheted off Ognenovski and arced over Janjetovic into the net - 2-1, albeit fortuitously. But they were back in it, much to their fans' delight. Abbas and half-time substitute Zarate exchanged efforts on goal inside the next ten minutes, before Gameiro undid some delightful Sydney approach play through sheer greed, rattling the side-netting when team-mates were better placed on both near and far posts - there were a few dirty looks cast in the striker's direction, make no mistake! Antonis sent one sizzling over West Ham's crossbar soon after, leaving United boss Allardyce standing in his technical area gesticulating despairingly and understandably wondering what on earth was going on! The same question could be asked of referee Waldron four minutes later, as he made a right royal mess of an incident from which Sydney scored their third goal, one which should never have stood. It all began with substitute Pedj Bojic, who burst forth from deep and used his hand to control the ball before playing a one-two with Diame, then threading a pass through for Gameiro. The striker found himself one-on-one with Adrian, and calmly took the ball round the exposed 'keeper before tucking the ball home into an empty net, despite the despairing efforts of Collins to deny him - the defender collided with the post in his attempts to keep out Gameiro's shot. As the Sydney players celebrated, those in claret and blue were making it known to referee Waldron that he couldn't possibly ignore the goal, and they were backed by the crowd, particularly after a replay of the incident clearly showed what had occurred. The referee is unable to use such technology in his decision-making, however, and waved away West Ham's protests. Before play restarted, he conferred with his officials re whether or not they had seen anything which prevented him from awarding a goal. They hadn't … cue boos galore! The crowd reaction alone should have alerted the official that something wasn't right - it probably did. But because FIFA's recognition of technology to aid in goalscoring decisions is restricted to goal-line-based equipment, Waldron's hands were tied. Gameiro's attempt to complete his hat-trick three minutes later was thwarted by a fumbled save from Adrian, after which West Ham strived to reduce the deficit. But they failed to get a single shot on target inside the final half-hour of play, Ricardo Vaz Te going closest, initially in the 74th minute after fellow substitute Diego Poyet had led the charge out of defence, then with a stoppage time free-kick. Things could have been worse for the English Premier League team, substitute 'keeper Samuel Howes only just evading the charging figure of substitute Nick Carle as he took his first touch of the ball upon entering the fray nine minutes from time. 3-1 was a humiliating enough scoreline for West Ham to bear, however, Sydney scoring a deserved win in what was effectively the third place play-off in this four-team series. And to think "The Hammers" take on Tottenham in their opening Premier League encounter in three weeks' time - they look a long way short of being ready for that contest, and their fans must be fearing a long season is in store, based on the evidence of the Football United Tour. Their loyalty deserves better reward. Sydney:     Janjetovic; Ryall (Bojic, 53), Ognenovski (Muata-Marlow, 90), Petkovic, Antonis (Gligor, 46); Dimitrijevic (Trantis, 56), Jurman (Gersbach, 81), Brosque (Carle, 53); Ibini-Isei (Burgess, 84), Gameiro (Timotheou, 90), Abbas (booked, 32) (Naumoff, 66) West Ham:     Adrian (Howes, 81); Demel (Cresswell, 13), Collins, Reid, O'Brien (Potts, 72); Diame (Poyet, 68), Noble (Whitbread, 68), Nolan; Downing (Fanimo, 80), Cole (Zarate, 46), Jarvis (Vaz Te, 59) Referee:     Nick Waldron