Hooliganism mars Hammers fightback

West Ham survived a League Cup scare at the hands of London neighbours Millwall on Tuesday in a second round clash that was overshadowed by serious crowd trouble before and during the match.

Playing a quality of football that belied their current status in the third tier of English football, Millwall got within three minutes of knocking their Premier League hosts out of the competition after being given a first-half lead by Neil Harris.

But an 87th-minute equaliser from Junior Stanislas sent the tie into extra-time and a second goal from Stanislas, from the penalty spot, and a Zavon Hines strike wrapped things up for the Hammers.

An admirable display by Millwall and a gutsy fightback by their hosts was however marred by the ugly scenes surrounding the match, with one fan scarred in pre-match clashes and the game itself marred by a series of pitch invasions and crowd scuffles.

Birmingham also flirted with danger after spending most of the evening trailing another League One outfit, Southampton.

Adam Lallana had given Saints a well-deserved lead but a couple of goals in the space of three minutes from veterans Lee Bowyer and Lee Carsley sent Alex McLeish’s side into the third round draw as 2-1 winners.

Burnley went through in similar fashion with Steven Fletcher repaying a significant chunk of his three-million-pound transfer fee with a late equaliser against Hartlepool before striking the winner in extra time.

Hartlepool had taken a first-half lead through Adam Boyd but Burnley were worthy winners after having Richard Eckersley sent off in extra time.

Wolves made hard work of their encounter with Swindon but, after 120 minutes of dour action, Mick McCarthy’s side finally squeezed through with a 6-5 win in the penalty shoot-out.