Ince's Rovers trail Hammers at the break

West Ham 2 Blackburn 1

A flurry of goals in the opening 22 minutes distracted West Ham fans from their taunting of Paul Ince, the Blackburn manager at Upton Park.

Calum Davenport headed in a Matthew Etherington corner and the Hammers’ second was credited to Blackburn defender Christopher Samba, under pressure from Dean Ashton.

That put Hammers in command after just 20 minutes but just as in their first home game of the season against Wigan they saw their early lead cut in half when Jason Roberts pulled one back for Ince’s Rovers.