Championship: West Ham 2 Blackpool 1

West Ham United secured an immediate return to the English Premier League after a 2-1 play-off victory over Blackpool at Wembley Stadium.

Ricardo Vaz Te fired the Hammers into the lead with three minutes to play on Saturday, following Blackpool’s equaliser shortly after half-time.

Vaz Te’s goal secured a narrow win in a match between two teams relegated last season, and earned West Ham a multi-million pound promotion back to England’s top flight from the Championship.

Carlton Cole scored the opener for West Ham and he played a big part in the winner, knocking the ball into the path of the onrushing Vaz Te, who lashed his finish into the roof of the net.

Blackpool were the better side for much of the match but could not transfer their second-half dominance into a winning goal.

They were also left to bemoan two apparent fouls which were not given in the lead-up to both of West Ham’s goals.

Ian Holloway’s Blackpool side were more inventive in the early stages and found space in behind the West Ham defence three times in the opening 20 minutes.

Matt Phillips was played through one-on-one 14 minutes in but his tame shot was easily saved by West Ham goalkeeper Rob Green.

Just a minute later Phillips had another glorious chance after bursting into the middle of the box but curled his shot past the post.

Cole scored with West Ham’s first shot on target when he controlled a beautiful cross from Matt Taylor and finished well past Matthew Gilks in the 35th minute.

Vaz Te had a great chance to make it 2-0 before half-time but could not find the target on his weaker side.

Thomas Ince scored a deserved equaliser form an almost identical position as Cole’s goal just minutes after the break.

Matt Phillips provided the long ball which Ince finished well across Green to make it 1-1.

Blackpool continued to press for much of the second half and enjoyed the majority of the possession but could not keep West Ham out during a late surge from Sam Allardyce’s players.

Kevin Nolan almost scored for West Ham with an expertly taken volley which crashed off the bar.

And their pressure paid off when Vaz Te followed up Cole’s bullocking work to smash home the winner.

Relative minnows Blackpool enjoyed their first foray into the Premier League at the start of the 2010/11 season but were relegated along with West Ham last year.