Albion 3 West Ham 3

New boss Roy Hodgson watched Albion toss away a 3-0 half-time lead to gift relegation rivals West Ham a point.

The Baggies squandered two precious points at the Hawthorns as nerves paralysed them after half-time following a dominant first-half display.

They should have been out of sight at the interval with a host of excellent chances going begging.

But they still looked destined for victory as Graham Dorrans, Jerome Thomas and a Winston Reid own goal punished a woeful Hammers display in the opening period.

But it was roles reversed after the break as former Baggies target Demba Ba scored twice, either side of a goal from Carlton Cole.

It left Hodgson, who watched from the directors' box as Michael Appleton took temporary charge, in no doubt over the scale of his task with 12 games remaining to save the club from relegation – starting with next Sunday's Black Country derby.

The first half was one-way traffic as the woeful visitors were sliced open at will by the Baggies, who might have bagged half a dozen goals by the break.

It was 1-0 on three minutes when a neat move ended with Peter Odemwingie feeding Dorrans, who rifled a fabulous right-footed shot into the top corner.

They could have added a second just a minute later when Odemwingie's cross rebounded to Chris Brunt, whose goalbound shot hit team mate Marc-Antoine Fortune and stayed out.

But they did double their lead on seven minutes, as Odemwingie fed Fortune on the left and the Frenchman squared for Thomas, who had an easy side-foot into the bottom corner.

Thomas should have made it 3-0 as early as the 12th minute, pouncing on more dreadful Hammers defending and raced clear, only to stumble while preparing to shoot.

Odemwingie also should have added the third goal on 17 minutes when meeting a Dorrans cross unmarked on the edge of the six-yard box, only to head straight at goalkeeper Rob Green.

The Baggies then might have had a penalty when Brunt's free-kick bounced around the area and defender Reid used his hand to control it.

Those protests were waved away but there was no escape for Reid on 32 minutes, when Dorrans' free-kick bounced towards goal and rebounded in off the New Zealander.

Only in the closing minutes of the first-half did the Hammers apply some pressure.

Goalkeeper Boaz Myhill made an excellent save to push a Carlton Cole shot into his post with James Morrison then hooking off the line.

Gary O'Neil then rattled Myhill's crossbar with a fine 30-yard drive and Manuel Da Costa headed a corner straight at Myhill.

But, in the midst of the visitors' best spell, Green had to make a smart flying save to keep out a long-range shot from Dorrans.

However, the Hammers were on the scoresheet within five minutes of the restart when some dreadful defending from Paul Scharner allowed Ba to muscle his way onto Mark Noble's lofted ball before forcing a shot past Green.

It was 3-2 on 58 minutes when substitute Frederic Piquionne found himself unmarked to head a Mark Noble free-kick back across goal for Carlton Cole to force it home.

That left Albion struggling nervously to preserve their lead and Piquionne was again unmarked moments later to head a Wayne Bridge cross against the crossbar.

Ba then had a goal-bound shot blocked on the goalline while, at the other end, Odemwingie side-stepped away from Reid and forced Green into a smart save.

But the killer equaliser arrived with seven minutes remaining ,with the Baggies again architects of their own downfall.

They failed to respond to Bridge's short corner and Mark Noble's cross was flicked beyond the far post for Ba to score with an acrobatic kick.