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West
Bromwich Albion v Brentford
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 12th August 2003, 7.45pm. |
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This performance went
some way to erasing the memory of the opening day mauling at Walsall,
but it needs to be followed up with three points against Burnley
to really get the season going. In the end it was a comfortable
victory, but for some time it looked like the Baggies would be unable
to add to Rob Hulse's opener even after the Bees 'keeper was dismissed.
The introduction of Lee Hughes seemed to make the difference, and
it could have been many more than four by the end.
Megson made two changes to the line up that began the game at Walsall.
Thomas Gaardsoe had managed to shake off his ankle problem and replaced
the injured Sigurdsson in the middle of the back three with Volmer
on the left and Gregan on the right. In the middle of the park,
Sakiri was also given his first start replacing Johnson giving the
midfield a very creative feel with Koumas and O'Connor - I did wonder
whether Megson would ever go for just the one ball winner in the
middle. The wing backs were unchanged with Haas on the right making
his home debut and Clement on the left. Amazingly, Megson also left
the front line unchanged with a first competitive home start for
Hulse along side Dichio.
Albion started well with an early chance for Hulse followed up with
a neat move from a Koumas free kick culminating and a rather wayward
shot from Joost Volmer. Haas then put Hulse through on goal, but
the former Alex striker didn't connect as he would have liked and
the Bees 'keeper plucked his shot from the air.
Brentford had a couple of half chances before the Baggies grabbed
a deserved lead. Koumas picked up the ball thirty yards from goal,
beat two Brentford defenders on his passage into the box before
pulling it pack for HULSE who allowed the ball to pass between his
legs before cheekily flicking it with his heel into the net. It
was an exquisite goal.
Minutes later, a superb cross from Clement (yes, Clement!) was headed
just over by Dichio - Hulse was just behind him and probably would
have scored. O'Connor was very busy in the middle of the park and
spraying the ball about in a way that McInnes never quite managed.
He exchanged a one-two with Hulse before firing powerfully at goal,
only to see his shot parried by 'keeper Paul Smith.
Koumas, who seems to have added a bit of bite to his game to go
along with the culture, created another opportunity by releasing
Haas on the right hand side. The Swiss international squared it
for Dichio but, although he cleverly took it early, he didn't get
any power in the shot and Smith saved easily.
As half time approached, Brentford started probing the Baggies defence
once more, and had their best opportunity when Sonico headed the
ball across the goal with Hoult stranded. Somehow, Gregan managed
to get his foot around the ball to take it away from the on-rushing
Frampton. From the resulting corner, Hutchison really should have
done better with a free header six yards out after Hoult had missed
his punch.
The game changed on the stroke of half time when, after a defensive
mix up, Hulse raced onto a through ball and was met by Bees 'keeper
Paul Smith. Hulse flicked the ball on but was just caught by Smith,
contact judged by referee Beeby to be a professional foul. Smith
received his marching orders and the substitute 'keeper Alan Julian
was brought on for Mark Peters. Julian's first task was to parry
a fine Koumas free kick away from his top left hand corner.
Albion started the second half by putting the ten men under pressure.
Sakiri took his first corner on front of the Brummie Road - it was
greeted by "ooh"s as it inexplicably failed to find the net - surely
he can do it every time!
But the game started to die as a lack of movement up front prevented
any decisive attacking play from the home side. Dichio and Hulse
too often went to head the same ball or failed to read through balls.
Koumas was constantly trying to create openings and he almost scored
with a deft chip from twenty yards completely out of the blue.
More good work from Koumas saw a fierce shot from Clement parried
by Julian - Sakiri followed in but the 'keeper managed to deflect
his effort away from goal.
Megson finally made the obvious substitution on 69 minutes. Dichio
came off and it was Lee Hughes who was given the nod. As if by magic,
the game changed. Suddenly, Hughes was moving along the line of
defenders, playing on their shoulders and pulling defenders away
to create space for others.
Koumas, whose performance deserved a goal, went on yet another run
starting to the right of the penalty area, moving across the edge
of it before firing back towards the right corner, agonisingly wide.
But Hughes' introduction saw the chances begin to flow as both he
and his partner, Hulse, went close. On 74 minutes, after exchanging
passes with Sakiri, Clement miscued a cross which went along the
ground on the edge of the box and fell nicely for HAAS to fire into
the net with the outside of his right foot from 15 yards. Two minutes
later, the win was safe when an excellent cross from Koumas was
met with a stooping header by HULSE to score his second goal.
Albion continued to create chances but it was not until stoppage
time that they grabbed the fourth goal. Another fine ball from Koumas
released Hughes on the right edge of the penalty area. The Ninja
went to the byline before crossing for DOBIE, on for Hulse, to score
with a simple tap in.
A satisfying result which should hopefully put the boys in the right
frame of mind for Saturday. There were plenty of positives including
good performances from Gaardsoe, Gregan, Volmer, O'Connor and Haas,
a good ninety minutes from Sakiri and another masterful display
from the Welsh Wizard. Hopefully Megson will have learnt the lesson
that Hulse and Dichio is not a good combination and, although it
was Dobes that scored, I think Hughesey may have done enough to
earn a starting place.
RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 4 BRENTFORD
0
Marks
Hoult - 6 - Little to do but still managed a couple of hairy moments.
Gregan - 8 - Looked dodgy early on but improved as the game progressed
and ended up playing extremely well.
Gaardsoe - 7 - Good solid display, could be better than Big Dave.
Volmer - 7 - Solid performance, did nothing wrong apart from take
a good shooting opportunity away from Hughes late on.
Haas - 7 - Good solid performance, got forward well, defended well
and finished his goal nicely.
Koumas - 9 - MOM. What can you say, ran the midfield, worked hard,
tackled well, passed well, beat players, made two goals...the list
goes on.
O'Connor - 8 - Sat in the middle, won the ball well, distribution
was very good - impressive home debut.
Sakiri - 6 - Flashes of what we can expect when he's fully fit -
probably played too wide in the first half but moved more central
after the break and was more influential.
Clement - 6 - Started well but tailed off in the second half. Still
seems to be lacking in confidence going forward.
Hulse - 7 - Two good goals, particularly the first; got caught off
side too often but am I being over critical?
Dichio - 5 - Did little to warrant his place.
Hughes - 7 - Made a huge difference to the game for me, excellent
movement - did well to set up Dobie's goal.
Dobie - 7 - Looked lively, couldn't really miss the chance he had.
Johnson - 6 - Ran around a lot, didn't influence the game that much,
though!
The Manager - 7 - Should have started with Hughes or Dobie alongside
Hulse, and certainly should have made a change earlier - we could
all see the problem, why couldn't he? Pleased to see Sakiri and
Koumas both in the middle - should give the necessary creativity
to create lots of goals this season.
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West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Gregan, Gaardsoe, Volmer; Haas, Koumas, O'Connor (Johnson
79), Sakiri, Clement; Hulse (Dobie 83), Dichio (Hughes 69). Subs
not used: Murphy (GK), Gilchrist.
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Brentford
(4-3-3):
Smith; Dobson, Sonico, Frampton, Somner; Hutchison, Tabb, Smith;
Hunt (Hughes 55), Peters (Julian 44), O'Connor (Blackman 77). Subs
not used: Allen-Page, Fieldwick. |
Scoring: Hulse (18)
1-0, Haas (74) 2-0, Hulse (76) 3-0, Dobie (90+1) 4-0.
Booking: West Bromwich Albion - Sakiri (dissent 37).
Sending Off: Brentford - Smith (professional foul 44)
Referee: R Beeby (Northampton)
Attendance: 10,440 |
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