West Ham United kept their automatic promotion hopes alive by thrashing Barnsley 4-0 this evening.

The Hammers only had to wait until the seventh minute to open the scoring when captain Kevin Nolan tapped in from a yard out.

West Ham doubled their lead midway through the half when striker Nicky Maynard hammered in a long-range strike.

Sam Allardyce's side killed off the game as early as the 35th minute after home keeper David Button came out and lost the ball. Mark Noble took full advantage by chipping the ball into the empty net.

West Ham scored a fourth early on in the second half when former Barnsley striker Ricardo Vaz Te volleyed in from close range.