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West
Bromwich Albion v Coventry City
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 6th March 2004, 3.00pm. |
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It wasn't the prettiest
of games by any stretch of the imagination, but it was a solid committed
performance from the Baggies which is exactly what you are looking
for at this stage of the season. It's all about results and this
was a very good one against a side in the midst of an impressive
run of form.
Megson opted to return to a 3-5-2 formation and dropped Bernt Haas
for the first time this season. The Swiss international's recent
performances had been indifferent at best, and after a man-of-the-match
showing at Norwich, James Chambers took his spot at right wing back,
with Darren Moore returning from injury. The only other change saw
Rob Hulse get his first start since he was sent off at Burnley in
January, with Facey returning to the bench.
As against Rotherham, Albion started like a train and battered the
Coventry back line in the early stages. The first clear cut opportunity
fell to Rob Hulse when Kinsella played his through with an excellent
pass, but the former Crewe striker could only fire straight at Shearer.
Koumas was looking impressive after a disappointing showing against
Rotherham, and it was from his 17th minute corner that Gaardsoe
headed goalwards. Horsfield swung a foot at the ball to try and
force it home, but he failed to connect and Shearer was able to
gather the ball on the line.
Twenty minutes of Albion pressure had failed to produce a goal once
again, but unlike the previous week, Albion kept going and got their
reward after 23 minutes. Andy Johnson, who was more than playing
his part in an excellent Albion midfield, lofted a ball over the
City defence, and Geoff HORSFIELD muscled his way past Steve Staunton
and fired the ball between Shearer's legs from an acute angle to
give Albion the lead.
Whether it was Albion relaxing after taking the lead, Coventry stepping
up the pace of the game or a combination of both I'm not sure, but
for the remainder of the half it was Coventry that dominated possession.
But although they played the ball around in midfield, there was
little in the way of penetration from the visitors and Hoult remained
untroubled. THe closest they came was when a poor header from the
usually dependable Gaardsoe put Albion under pressure, but he recovered
to make a decisive block to deflect Grainger's effort wide.
Megson looked to have fired up the hosts during the interval and
Albion came out looking for more goals, and seven minutes into the
second half, their lead was doubled.
A long throw from James Chambers from the Albion right was collected
by Horsfield, and the big striker swivelled and fired a powerful
shot that Shearer could only parry into the path of HULSE who made
no mistake with a volley from seven yards. It was the first goal
since 8th November for Albion's leading scorer.
To their credit, Coventry didn't give up and continued to press
towards the Albion goal, but the back line continued to hold firm.
Koumas, who looked to have taken a slight knock, was replaced by
Lloyd Dyer just after the hour, and he soon had the crowd on their
feet as he cut in from the left beating three players before firing
just wide of the post.
The visitors continued to fight and had a penalty appeal turned
down when McSheffrey clashed with Paul Robinson. Minutes later,
Grainger's cross sat up nicely for McSheffrey but he could only
volley well wide. And Darren Moore was on hand to bravely head away
a McSheffrey cross when substitute Adebola was waiting to convert.
Facey replaced Hulse on 74 minutes and four minutes later, the former
Bolton man broke down the right and crossed into the danger area.
City defender Pead made a complete hash of the clearance and it
fell for KINSELLA who couldn't miss from two yards out. It's the
furthest forward he's ever been in an Albion shirt, and he was delighted
to record his first strike for the Baggies.
A satisfying result was made to seem more important with the news
that Wigan had been beaten and West Ham had failed to beat Walsall.
It was an encouraging display and the sort of performance we need
to see repeated in the remaining eleven games.
RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 3 COVENTRY
CITY 0
Marks
Hoult - 7 - Had very little to do, but commanded the area well.
Gaardsoe - 7 - One or two mistakes, but a generally solid performance.
Moore - 7 - Solid game.
Gregan - 7 - Starting to look like his old self.
J Chambers - 7 - Encouraging display from James.
Johnson - 8 - An excellent showing from Jonno.
Kinsella - 8 - MOM. Ran the midfield with an excellent display.
Koumas - 8 - Looking close to his best.
Robinson - 8 - Great performance from Robbo.
Horsfield - 8 - Ran the Coventry defenders ragged.
Hulse - 7 - Good display and his goal will do his the world of good.
Dyer - 7 - Looked lively as ever.
Facey - 7 - Good cross for the final goal.
Skoubo - 6 - Had little opportunity to impress.
The Manager - 8 - Good decisions to drop Haas and bring in Hulse;
the 3-5-2 worked well. Nice to see a very attacking bench at home.
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West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Gaardsoe, Moore, Gregan; J Chambers, Johnson, Kinsella, Koumas
(Dyer 62), Robinson; Hulse (Facey 74), Horsfield (Skoubo 85). Subs
not used: Murphy (GK), Clement.
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Coventry
City (4-4-2):
Shearer; Clarke, Staunton, Davenport, Grainger; Gudjonsson (Adebola
74), Delomeaux, Doyle, Warnock (Pead 74); Joachim, McSheffrey. Subs
not used: Ward (GK), Konjic, Shaw.
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Scoring: Horsfield
(23) 1-0, Hulse (52) 2-0, Kinsella (78) 3-0.
Bookings: West Bromwich Albion - Kinsella (foul 25), Robinson (foul
45+2). Coventry City - Grainger (foul 29), Staunton (dissent 75).
Referee: M Pike (Cumbria).
Attendance: 25,414. |
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