Burke And Samuelsen Caught Up In Final Day Drama As Oxford Makes Comeback
It’s that time of the week once again, time to check in with West Ham United’s five loan stars to see how they’ve been getting on over the past seven days at their various different clubs, both at home in the United Kingdom and on the continent.
This week, Reece Burke and Martin Samuelsen and their Bolton Wanderers and Burton Albion teams were involved in a thrilling Sky Bet Championship final day and Reece Oxford finally made it back onto the pitch in Germany, plus much more.
Robert Snodgrass (Aston Villa)
We start in the Championship, where fates have been decided with a full round of fixtures on the final weekend since our last Loan Report, but, with a play-off place secured, there was little to play for, for the Scottish winger and his Villa team away at Millwall.
The hosts, who narrowly missed out on the play-offs themselves, ran out winners by a single goal with Snodgrass being rested and brought on in the 75th minute, meaning that Steve Bruce’s men finished on 83 points in fourth spot, other results saw Middlesbrough end the season in fifth and that’s who they will go up against in the play-off semi-finals, the first leg has been scheduled for Saturday evening at the Riverside Stadium.
Martin Samuelsen (Burton Albion)
At the other end of the table in the second tier, it was posed to be a monumental Sunday for the Norwegian International and Nigel Clough’s Brewers as they travelled to promotion-chasing Preston North End knowing that a win would, in all likelihood, keep them afloat in the division.
Samuelsen was an unused substitute in a last-gasp 2-1 defeat for Burton, it could have been enough to avoid their relegation to Sky Bet League One, however, Bolton Wanderers had other ideas, scoring twice inside the final five minutes to keep themselves up and relegate the Midlands outfit, who finished 23rd on 41 points, the youngster will now return to East London after a few months of valuable experience.
Reece Burke (Bolton Wanderers)
On the flip side of the emotions two days ago were Phil Parkinson’s Trotters, where young defender Burke has spent much of the season on-loan, they looked all but relegated ahead of the Marcon Stadium clash with Nottingham Forest, needing three points in a tricky game and results to go their way elsewhere.
Luckily for the Lancashire men, they got both, resulting in a happy ending for the centre-back at Bolton, he may have been sat on the substitutes’ bench for the entirety, but he did watch a thrilling affair, the club recovering from a goal down and certain relegation to claim three points of the highest importance and avoid an instant relegation back to the third tier, they ended 21st on 43 points, signalling the end of the Hammer’s successful loan spell.
Reece Oxford (Borussia Monchengladbach)
In the faraway reaches of Germany and more specifically, the Bundesliga, where the domestic campaign hasn’t quite reached its conclusion just yet, the defensive prodigy Oxford finally made an appearance after weeks out through injury.
The versatile youngster made the squad for the visit of Freiburg, which Dieter Hecking’s Gladbach won convincingly, and helped his team protect the three-goal lead when he was introduced on 69 minutes, the three points meant that they ended the weekend ninth and the club will hope to carry on their strong finish in the final match of the 19-year-old’s loan, away at Hamburg next Saturday afternoon.
Antonio Martinez (Real Valladolid)
And last but not least, in the Sunny climes of Spain, prolific forward Martinez was looking to build on his first goal for Luis Cesar Sampedro’s Valladolid at home to Cadiz last weekend, when the team travelled to face Numancia on Saturday.
The promotion-chasers would come away with a valuable victory, but it was a frustrating occasion for the Spaniard in his home land as he was benched and not brought on at any stage of the game, though there is still plenty of time for him to impress further, three matches, in fact, the first of which is on Sunday at Lorca, Real are now just two points and two places behind a spot in the play-offs in the Segunda (Second) Division.
So, now that you’ve been given the full lowdown in how the Claret & Blue loanees fared over the last week, how will they get on between now and the next time we see you, as the play-offs get underway in England and leagues start to conclude in continental Europe? Join us once again early next week, to find out.
