West Ham 1-0 Plymouth: Ashton stunner nicks it late on

The striker, who has made it clear he hopes to be part of England's plans for their Euro 2008 games next month, latched on to a long cross from substitute Kyal Reid and swept his drive into the corner of the net from outside the penalty area.

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This was a cruel blow to Plymouth boss Ian Holloway who had directed operations from the technical area like an overworked New York traffic cop. But for at least an hour last night at Upton Park there was no need for any alarm signals for his Championship side.

They certainly didn't look out of place against their Premier League opponents although they had to get over a couple of scares at the start of the second half.

Hammers debutant Scott Parker looked set to convert a loose ball until keeper Luke McCormick plunged to push it away.

And then Parker had the keeper in trouble and out of his goal, only for his defence to get him off the hook by scrambling the ball clear.

Plymouth had given West Ham as good as they got in a busy first half as the home team started nervously.

But it was the Hammers who had the first real chance of the game in the 15th minute when Plymouth wide man Peter Halmosi had to head off the goal line from a James Collins header.

Plymouth certainly had their moments and central midfielder Akos Buzsaky, once a player under Jose Mourinho at Porto, showed some good touches.

He burst into space in the 33rd minute with a dangerous shot that ended on the roof of the net.

But then West Ham missed two good chances of their own. First Lilian Nalis came up short with a pass, allowing Luis Boa Morte to go clear after a one-two with Hayden Mullins — but he shot beyond the far right post.

Next Freddie Ljungberg got in an early cross from the right for Ashton to side-foot a curling volley but McCormick sprang to his left to push the ball away.