Hammers Bellamy keeps shirt on his back
10:37am Friday 18th July 2008
West Ham United's Craig Bellamy may have escaped Hampton skipper Dean Wells' handcuffs' to bag two goals at the Beveree - but even he couldn't side step Beavers souvenir hunter Barrie Matthews.
The £7million 29-year-old Welsh international starred as the Hammers ran out 4-2 winners in Thursday's glittering pre-season friendly in front of a record 3,118 crowd.
Hampton midfielder Francis Quarm's stunning volley opened the scoring for the Blue Square South side as the part-timers held their own to lead more than £40million worth of Premier League talent for 60 seconds.
Bellamy's brace helped spare his side any blushes as they kicked-off their pre-season programme with a win before jetting out to North America today for friendlies with Columbus Crew and the MLS All-Stars.
The Hammers kitmen clearly hadn't packed enough shirts to swap with the Hampton players, but it didn't stop Matthews - a match for West Ham's Mark Noble in midfield - asking the question.
"I had a quick chat with Craig just before the second half to ask him if there was any chance of grabbing his shirt after the game, but he said they couldn't," said the 25-year-old.
"He did promise to sign one and put it in the post to me when they got back from America if I gave him my address, so that is exactly what I'll be doing.
"It was a great experience to come up against so many top professionals. We didn't want to lose by too many. We would have taken a 4-2 scoreline if you had given us that at the start."