Parker beats pain to give Hammers shot in the arm

SCOTT PARKER defied the medics and stunned his manager Avram Grant as he played through the pain barrier to help West Ham produce their best league performance of the season and give them a fighting chance of beating the drop.

Goals from Parker, Demba Ba and Carlton Cole helped the east London club move off the bottom and you would not rule against them producing another miraculous escape by the end of the season.

But it was Parker who produced another outstanding display – even though his manager had planned the team without him after he picked up a serious shoulder injury at the end of their last training session, just 24 hours before the game got under way.

After giving a Churchillian speech to transform his team in their last league game at West Brom, when they came from three goals down to salvage a point, Parker showed his commitment to the club once again by having an injection to ease the pain.

If West Ham manage to stay in the Premier League, they will owe everything to Parker who has been their only shining light through a season of mayhem.

Grant said: “The spirit he showed was great. Three hours before the game, we thought there was no way he would play. He did it five minutes before the end of training. But we didn’t want to lose him.

“One of the things that happened with this team, despite the problems we’ve had, is that the spirit has been high. Scott is the best example of this. It was a bad, bad injury. He couldn’t walk or move his arms. The medical department were sure he couldn’t play, but they did a good job and gave him 24 hours of treatment. I prepared the game without him.

“He turned and slipped – our training pitch is not so good – but fell over. He needed more than an injection, but the medical department did brilliantly with him. He’s the type of player I like. I like some of the things from old-fashioned players. It doesn’t matter how much they earn, or whether the girlfriend is good for him or not.”

The victory was even more sweeter for Grant as he wanted to cheer up his co-owner David Gold, who was taken into hospital after being treated for cholangitis and septicaemia.

Gold was able to watch the game from his hospital room and West Ham said they would be issuing a further statement today over his health.

Grant added: “He’s such a positive and nice guy. I know that he saw the game and I’ve a feeling that he liked it. I want to wish him all the best and to get well.”

The Liverpool honeymoon period under manager Kenny Dalglish was brought to a shuddering halt as the Merseyside club suffered their first defeat in nine games.

Dalglish had no complaints over his team’s display and knew that their recent good form was going to end at some point.

Dalglish said: “They’ve been fantastic up to now. We were always going to lose sometime, unfortunately it was today. They’ll admit and be honest that they probably got what they deserved today. Nothing.”

You would never have guessed that West Ham started the day sitting bottom of the table as they matched Liverpool in every department and showed they have the fighting qualities needed to stay in the Premier League.

The home side got their just reward when they opened the scoring on 22 minutes and it was their talismanic midfielder Parker who set his side on the road to a famous victory.

The England midfielder played a neat interchange with Thomas Hitzlsperger and then flicked the ball past Pepe Reina into the corner of the net.

West Ham have been crying out for a goalscorer this season and they may have finally found one in Ba.

Following his two goals on his league debut against West Brom, the Senegal forward was back on the scoresheet on the stroke of half-time.

Gary O’Neil made good strides down the right and crossed for Ba whose diving header sailed past the stranded Reina.

Poor defending from West Ham allowed Liverpool a route back into the game on 85 minutes. Lars Jacobsen and Parker both failed to clear the ball. Luis Suarez made a clever turn inside the box and crossed in for full-back Glen Johnson, who had the easy task of knocking the ball into an empty net.

But West Ham sealed the victory in injury time when a mistake by Martin Skrtel allowed Cole a free run at goal and his swerving shot went through the hands of Reina to make it a day to remember for the east Londoners.

West Ham subs: Cole for Ba (88), Spector for Piquionne (82).

Liverpool subs: Cole for Kelly (43), Ngog for Meireles (49).