Aston Villa and West Ham shared the points and the frustration at Upton Park in a scrappy 90 minutes that failed to produce a goal. A busy West Ham midfield quartet carried Villa’s three Irish international. Mcgrath, Townsend and Houghton, who had to ensure a rendition of ‘Viva Espana’ from a section of the West Ham crowd, the biggest of the season.
In a game with not much clear cut goal scoring action, Villa at least avoided finishing the game with ten men. Mcgrath was perhaps lucky to stay on the field after wrestling Morley to the ground late in the game. It would have been an ignominious end for Ireland centre half after his midweek flirtations with the midfield.
