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West
Bromwich Albion v Millwall
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 30th September 2003, 7.45pm. |
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This wasn't really
a bogey match as such, but with Millwall having completed the double
over the Albion in our last season in Division One, it was nice
to get the three points. The first half performance was probably
the best I have seen by the Baggies this season, although it was
spoiled by a sloppy goal in injury time (that's four injury time
goals conceded in five games). The second half was more of a struggle,
but Albion remained the better side although there were a few hairy
moments along the way.
The starting line up was unchanged from Saturday with Hughes recalled
to the bench after recovering from illness.
Albion started well once more, and took the lead as early as the
fifth minute. KOUMAS collected the ball on the right hand side about
30 yards from goal, danced his way across the edge of the box before
planting a superb left foot shot into the corner. It was a superb
strike for which Warner in the Lions goal failed to move an inch.
A few minutes later, Koumas was challenged by Cahill on the edge
of the box, many felt unfairly, but he was left sprawled on the
floor as play continued. When he did receive treatment, it proved
to be in vain as he hobbled off the pitch. He was holding his hamstring
so it may have been as minor as a dead leg - let's hope so.
With Gregan moving into midfield (as he had done against Stoke)
and Berthe slotting into the back three, I feared the worse but,
to my surprise, Albion's attacking play was not stunted.
Gaardsoe had a good shot saved after being put through by O'Connor
and Johnson really should have made it two when he had a clean sight
of goal after good work from Hulse. AJ could only shoot straight
at Warner, but I suppose he did hit the target (one must be thankful
for small mercies!!).
With Albion well on top, their lead was extended on 25 minutes.
Nethercott misjudged a cross from Haas and the ball looped off his
head invitingly for DOBIE, who headed the ball over Warner and into
the corner of the net, with Hulse diving at the ball in a selfish,
but unsuccessful, attempt to get the last touch.
Millwall's first real opportunity came moments later when Ifill
broke into the box and pulled the ball back to Harris but, as I
watched for the net to bulge, the Lions striker could only shoot
straight at the grateful Russell Hoult.
However, it was still the Baggies who looked the more threatening
and after the Millwall defence failed to clear a Clement corner,
Gaardsoe had his second shot on target of the evening when he swivelled
to fire the ball straight at Warner from 12 yards. Hulse combined
with Johnson minutes later, but once again the midfielder could
only fire straight at the Lions' 'keeper.
Warner was brought into action once again when Hulse burst through
the Millwall defence and struck a powerful shot that the 'keeper
could only parry.
As the half moved into stoppage time, a long ball was flicked on
by Peeters as he got ahead of Gaardsoe and fell for Harris, clean
through on goal. Once again he could only fire straight at Hoult
who deflected the ball away for a corner. Wise put the ball across
and, after the Albion defence failed to clear, it fell into a clutch
of players. First to react was NETHERCOTT who stabbed the ball home
for an undeserved goal for the visitors.
After the break, Millwall were much improved but Albion always looked
the most dangerous. Haas and Clement both tested the 'keeper with
firm shots as the home side continued to probe the visitors' defence
through the second half. The Baggies always looked the more potent
force, but Millwall kept the ball well in midfield and, as time
went on, the worries that the one goal lead would not be enough
began to surface.
On more than one occasion, Berthe was on hand to tidy up after mistakes
from his fellow defenders as he produced an extremely impressive
home debut. Haas and Hulse both went close before the end before
Dichio replaced Dobie, thereby ending Albion's attacking play for
the evening.
Hoult had only one save to make in the second half when Ifill fired
in a shot from 20 yards, but Albion looked fairly comfortable in
the last ten minutes and held on to maintain their 100% home record
this season.
The result was just what was required before a tough trip to Gillingham
on Saturday. Hopefully the injury to Koumas won't be too severe
although I was pleasantly surprised by our attacking options after
he left the field. There were some impressive performances, particularly
from Hulse and O'Connor, but I thought Berthe was outstanding at
the back and didn't make a single mistake all evening.
RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2 MILLWALL
1
Marks
Hoult - 7 - Solid when required.
Gregan - 7 - After being moved into midfield once again, he performed
much better than on Saturday.
Gaardsoe - 7 - Good solid performance.
Gilchrist - 7 - Another good game; Volmer will struggle to get back
in on this form.
Haas - 7 - One or two defensive lapses, but a generally good performance.
Koumas - 8 - For the goal alone, it was superb. Let's hope the injury
is not too severe.
Johnson - 6 - Busy but without making too much impact.
O'Connor - 8 - Excellent once more.
Clement - 7 - Pretty solid showing from Clem.
Dobie - 7 - Took his goal well, good lively showing.
Hulse - 8 - Took a right battering but stood up well to produce
a superb performance.
Berthe - 9 - MOM. It was my first look at Sekou, and boy was I impressed.
Outstanding performance getting us out of jail on numerous occasions.
Dichio - 5 - Another wasted substitution.
The Manager - 6 - I wouldn't have put Greegs in the middle after
Saturday when Koumas was injured, but with his improvement and Berthe's
excellent performance, I can't complain. However, the second half
needed a substitution much earlier to inject some life, and Dichio
was not the man to bring on - he was awful again. Hughesie would've
at least injected some pace into the attack to get Millwall worrying
about us for a while.
|
West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Gregan, Gaardsoe, Gilchrist; Haas, Koumas (Berthe 10), Johnson,
O'Connor, Clement; Dobie (Dichio 79), Hulse. Subs not used: Murphy
(GK), Hughes, Sakiri.
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Millwall
(4-4-2):
Warner; Lawrence, Nethercott, Ward, Craig (Whelan 45); Ifill, Wise,
Cahill, Livermore; Peeters, Harris (Robinson 67). Subs not used:
Gueret (GK), Roberts, Dunne. |
Scoring: Koumas (5)
1-0, Dobie (25) 2-0, Nethercott (45+1) 2-1.
Bookings: West Bromwich Albion - O'Connor (foul 34), Gregan (foul
63). Millwall - Lawrence (foul 66), Peeters (diving 84).
Referee: C Webster (Tyne & Wear).
Attendance: 22,909 |
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