Laws breaks duck as Fox grabs winner over West Ham

Brian Laws claimed his first win as Burnley manager as the Clarets defeated fellow strugglers West Ham 2-1 in a relegation dogfight at Turf Moor on Saturday.

Goals from David Nugent and Danny Fox gave the Clarets three points which allowed them to leapfrog their opponents, while former Sheffield Wednesday boss Laws could enjoy a victory in his fifth game since succeeding Owen Coyle.

Just one point separated the teams before kick-off, with Burnley in the drop zone and the Hammers hovering precariously just above the relegation places.

Now it is Gianfranco Zola’s Hammers occupying a relegation spot following their fifth game without a win.

Burnley dominated the early stages and were rewarded with a Nugent goal in the 15th minute.

The on-loan striker capitalised on dreadful defending by England international centre-back Matthew Upson to nip and lob the ball over stranded Hammers goalkeeper Robert Green and into the net.

Zola’s men were stung into action and debutant South Africa forward Benni McCarthy had three glorious opportunities to restore parity.

Firstly, the former Blackburn man received the ball from Carlton Cole’s diagonal ball but skewed his left foot finish wide of the post.

The former Porto striker had an opportunity to redeem himself moments later but passed into no-man’s land when presented with a clear opening.

If McCarthy was to blame for the first two misses, a superb last ditch clearance by centre-half Leon Cort was responsible for keeping out his third effort.

A driving run by Scott Parker resulted in the midfielder releasing McCarthy who rounded Brian Jensen in the Clarets goal and stroked the ball goalwards, but was thwarted by Cort’s heroic defending.

The home team rubbed salt into the Hammers’ wounds in the 55th minute as full-back Fox doubled the lead.

The Clarets were awarded a soft free-kick on the edge of the box which the former Celtic defender, making his debut, struck sweetly into the top corner of Green’s goal.

Parker nearly hit back immediately but his goalbound shot from the edge of the penalty area was turned wide by Jensen’s fantastic save.

Ilan, a free transfer signing from French First Division side St Etienne during the transfer window, gave West Ham hope with ten minutes to go, taking advantage of Mido’s robust forward play to claim his first West Ham goal.

But Burnley’s back-four somehow resisted a late onslaught from the Hammers to secure the vital win.