Boreham Wood battled to a deserved 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United this evening.

The Hammers handed the captaincy to former Wood youngster Pelly Ruddock on his return to Meadow Park.

West Ham fielded a different side in each half, in front of a bumper crowd, but included most of their first-team including skipper Kevin Nolan and new signing Jussi Jaaskelainen.

The visitors started strongly and took the lead after 27 minutes when Ricardo Vaz Te found Sam Baldock who netted his second goal of pre-season.

But the hosts nearly levelled when Graeme Montgomery's strike was well saved by Jaaskelainen.

Boreham Wood grabbed the equaliser six minutes into the second half when a poor back pass by Eoin Wearen was seized upon by Omer Riza and he set up substitute Inih Effiong for the close-range finish.

Sam Allardyce's side had two great chances to win the game late on.

Nolan headed Matt Taylor's cross against the bar. But the worst miss came in the final minute when Nicky Maynard blazed the effort wide of the target.

The Hammers travel to Southend United this weekend while Wood are at home to Stevenage.