West Ham duo free ball boy from under collapsed hoarding amid fan celebrations

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Andrew Feinberg

White House Correspondent

West Ham captain Jarrod Bowen and team-mate Tomas Soucek helped a ball boy from being trapped under an advertising board after fans spilled onto the Selhurst Park pitch during the Hammers’ 2-0 win at Crystal Palace.

Soucek and Bowen were both on the scoresheet in south London, both goals coming within five second-half minutes, as Julen Lopetegui celebrated his first victory as West Ham boss.

However, there was a moment for concern as Soucek celebrated West Ham’s opener in the 67th minute and their jubilant away fans rushed towards the midfielder on the corner of the pitch.

The mass of supporters edged closer which in turn knocked over an electronic advertising hoarding, falling on top of a youngster who was sat on a stool performing ball-boy duties.

The West Ham pair cut short their celebrations after noticing the distressed child, with Soucek quickly lifting the advertising hoarding, despite away fans still pushing forward, so Bowen could pull the youngster to safety.

The England international returned to see the ball boy after the match and gifted him one of his match shirts, to the delight of the child.

Speaking to the club’s social media channels after the match, Bowen, with Soucek stood next to him, said: “I’ve seen him and I think it’s just instinct, especially when you’re parents now as well.

“You see anything with a child and you try and rush to the rescue, but I think I just managed to get him out, of course it’s a celebration in front of the away fans, so it was obviously not nice to see.

“But when you score in front of the away fans, they’re going to celebrate like they do.

“The main thing was the kid is alright. He got my shirt, whether he wanted it or not, and I think he said to me he’s got a football game tomorrow, so he said he’s ready for that. Yeah, it’s all good.

“It could’ve been worse, but we managed to get him out.”