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West
Bromwich Albion v Birmingham City
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 19th October 2002, 3.00pm. |
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This was a game we
could have done with winning, but definitely couldn't afford to
lose. In the end it was a game we should have won, but we were grateful
for the point. The Baggies were very good in the second half and
really should have won the game comfortably. But with a late equaliser,
the point was welcome and it ended our run of defeats.
McInnes was unfortunately missing from the starting line-up following
a training ground injury and Ronnie Wallwork took his place. Hughes
was up front along side Roberts. Albion started brightly with a
succession of corners after Roberts continued his run of being the
most fouled player in the Premiership receiving kicks from both
Blues' centre backs. Vaesen was the first keeper to be tested by
Hughes' overhead kick. The Ginger Ninja looked as fit as he has
done all season.
Johnson had the next clear chance firing well over from twenty yards
after a neat Albion move. After a slow start, Marshall was becoming
the most influential midfielder with his new "go faster" highlights.
He was tackling well and his passing was intelligent and accurate.
Gregan, on the other hand, while defending well as the right side
of the back three seemed to have left his passing boots at home.
The first half wasn't as physical and exciting as Albion-Blues games
normally are - if McInnes had been squaring up to Savage in the
middle, it may have been different.
Blues had the best chance of the half when poor defending saw Lazaridis
plant a cross on to Stern John's head just six yards out, but Hoult
was equal to the effort with a fine save. Morrison had a couple
of efforts but they were way off target to the delight of the home
fans.
For the Albion, Roberts saw one shot from eighteen yards fly wide
before Balis tried to repeat his feat of scoring with his left foot
with a shot from twenty yards that didn't miss by much. Blues had
another good chance before half time when a header from John went
wide after a cross by Kenna.
The only moment of refereeing controversy came not long before the
break when Clement, having his best game of the season, beat Savage
and then Vickers to break into the box, only for Graham Poll to
pull the play back for a foul by Savage that none of us saw. The
annoying thing was that Poll had been playing the advantage very
well up to that point! To be fair though, it was the only mistake
he made in what was by far the best refereeing performance I have
seen this season.
The first half may have been tame, the second certainly was not.
It was dominated from start to finish by the home side. Roberts
had a few chances early on with Vaesen bringing off some great saves.
Marshall was controlling the midfield and keeping former team-mate
Savage quiet.
The Albion midfielder almost finished off the best move of the game
in the 58th minute. Roberts' lay-off found the impressive Clement
whose centre found Marshall six yards out but somehow Vaesen prevented
the ball from finding the net. Hughes had the next chance when he
was put clear on the right side of the box by Roberts. With Johnson
in the centre, Hughes elected to shoot but he drilled it wide, thereby
eliciting a barrage of abuse from the Welsh international - pots
and kettles come to mind given AJ's record in front of goal this
season!
Hughes was unlucky to be replaced by Dobie on 67 minutes - maybe
his fitness is not 100% yet. Just minutes later Dobie had a great
chance when a flick from Roberts put him through on goal. He only
had to lift it over the on-rushing Vaesen but he hit the keepers
arm, and then screwed the rebound high and wide. I feel Hughes may
have scored that one.
The next chance saw a Clement free kick palmed away by Vaesen after
Roberts had once again been fouled on the edge of the box. A minute
later, Albion somehow escaped a goalmouth scramble at the other
end when post, keeper and defender denied both Horsfield and Morrison.
On 82 minutes, Roberts was once again fouled by Tebily - the Blues
defender held back Roberts when he was the last man. The referee
reached for his pocket, producing a yellow rather than a red card,
but as Tebily had been booked earlier in the game, he was off anyway.
The resultant free kick from Clement flicked off the wall for a
corner. Clement took it himself and Vaesen flapped - it fell to
Johnson and for once he hit the target. Unfortunately, his Welsh
team-mate Robbie Savage was on the line to clear.
And then disaster. On 84 minutes, poor defending allowed the impressive
Darryl Powell to cross from the left. It deflected off Gregan and
headed towards Hoult, but the Albion stopper didn't react quick
enough and as he went to gather the ball hit the post and the unlucky
MOORE, before finding the net.
That sparked trouble in the East Stand when an out-of-place Blues
fan celebrated the goal. As the stewards tried to escort the offender
from the stand, a number of idiots threw punches at the now ashen-faced
visitor. The conduct of some so-called Albion fans cannot be condoned,
but the guy was somewhat ill-advised to celebrate amongst home fans
in a local derby.
But while this was going on, it all changed again. Clement found
ROBERTS with a fine through ball and the Albion striker bore down
on Vaesen, cooly side-stepped a defender's challenge before planting
a shot into the far corner of the net. It was certainly no more
than Albion deserved.
Part of me views this as two points lost because we had enough chances
to win the game comfortably. Hughes, Dobie and Johnson should all
have scored and Roberts put his one clear-cut chance away with sheer
quality. McInnes was sorely missed although Marshall and Johnson
both played well. I know it was a local derby but once again we
failed to retain the ball well enough.
RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 BIRMINGHAM
CITY 1
Marks
Hoult - 6 - Excellent apart from the goal.
Balis - 7 - Starting to look more like the player he was last year
- needs to take more players on.
Clement - 7 - Another best performance of the season, but still
not the player he can be.
Gilchrist - 7 - Another solid performance.
Moore - 7 - Can't fault him for the goal, good performance.
Gregan - 6 - Good in defence, but his distribution was uncharacteristically
poor.
Wallwork - 4 - I'm sorry but I haven't seen the "best Bosman of
the summer" yet.
Johnson - 6 - Steady, hardworking, unspectacular. Should have done
better with his chances
Marshall - 8 - By far his best performance, good tackling, insightful
passing.
Hughes - 6 - Getting better, deserves his starting place.
Roberts - 8 - MOM. Set up some great chances, excellent finish
Dobie - 5 - Poor miss, did little else.
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West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Gregan, Moore, Gilchrist; Balis, Marshall, Wallwork, Johnson,
Clement; Roberts, L Hughes (Dobie 67). Subs not used: Murphy (GK),
J Chambers, Koumas, Sigurdsson.
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Birmingham
City (4-4-2):
Vaesen; Kenna, Vickers (B Hughes 90), Tebily, Carter; Devlin (Horsfield
66), Savage, Powell, Lazaridis; John (Woodhouse 84), Morrison. Subs
not used: Bennett (GK), Kirovski. |
Scoring: Moore (o.g.
86) 0-1, Roberts (87) 1-1.
Bookings: West Bromwich Albion - Clement (foul 13), Gilchrist (foul
69), Marshall (foul 74). Birmingham City - Tibily (dissent 26),
John (deliberate handball 53).
Sending Off: Birmingham City: Tebily (foul - second yellow card
82)
Referee: G Poll (Tring)
Attendance: 27,021 |
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