West Ham United's US tour has come to a frustrating end, finishing with a 2-2 draw against the Carolina RailHawks.

Stormy affair

Slaven Bilic was hoping his side would end their trip on a high, after their 3-0 defeat to the Seattle Sounders in their opening friendly.

It didn't get off to a bright start at the WakeMed Soccer Park, with Winston Reid putting it into his own net.

However the defender redeemed himself, scoring the equaliser before Andy Carroll's strike sent the Hammers ahead, going into the break.

Mother Nature disrupted the beginning of the second period, as lightning storms stopped the game just 15 minutes into the half.

After a 40-minute delay, play resumed and the spoils were shared when substitute Lewis Page handled the ball, which allowed Marvin Ceballos to fire past Raphael Spiegel.

Above: Andy Carroll in action for West Ham in their 2-2 draw with the Carolina RailHawks | Photo: whufc.com
Above: Andy Carroll in action for West Ham in their 2-2 draw with the Carolina RailHawks | Photo: whufc.com

Good exercise

Both Carroll and Reid were star performers, and both shared their positives of the test they had against the RailHawks.

Carroll told whufc.com “It’s good to hit the back of the net" and it was "good to go out in pre-season and get a goal and start the season off well."

He concluded: "It’s been a good trip. It got the lads back together and the new lads into it" and are "getting fitter ahead of the start of the new season."

Reid  added: "It was a good workout for us" and the trip has been "really good and we have enjoyed ourselves over here and worked hard" and are "looking forward to getting home for a few days before we fly out to Austria.”

Above: West Ham United Slaven Bilic on the sideline on their pre-season tour of the US | Photo: whufc.com
Above: West Ham United Slaven Bilic on the sideline on their pre-season tour of the US | Photo: whufc.com

Good start to preparations

The Hammers will now head home, before moving onto another training camp in Austria, with friendlies against; FC Slovacko, Rubin Kazan and Karlsruher SC.

The Hammers will begin their Premier League season against Chelsea, but Bilic has said that their trip across the Atlantic has been vital.

Bilic said: “it was a good game – a friendly with a high intensity" with a "good atmosphere and we enjoyed it. It was a good test."

He concluded: "the whole tour has been important for us" and said "it has been more like a proper pre-season for me, because we wanted the good facilities to train."

West Ham United will take on FC Slovacko on Tuesday, July 19 with kick-off at 5pm BST.

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About the author
Danial  Kennedy
Award-winning sports journalism graduate. Currently studying a PR Masters at the University of Sunderland. Writing for VAVEL since August 2014. Twitter - @ddkjournalism.