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West Bromwich Albion v Rotherham United
The Hawthorns, West Bromwich. 28th February 2004, 3.00pm.
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After a performance and result that warmed the heart at Bramall Lane, this one sent a shiver down the spine and raised doubts as to Albion's strength of character. Maybe if Norwich had played and lost in the early kick-off, it may have been different, but the fact is the team should be approaching every game as their most important to date, and against Rotherham it was plainly not the case.

Megson made no changes to the personnel other than to recall Paul Robinson following his suspension, but there was a surprise when they lined up as Koumas and Clement had switched flanks. Koumas's stated preference for the left wing had obviously won over the manager.

And for the first twenty minutes, it was working well. Most of the attacking movement from Albion was coming through Clement even though he was forced to turn inside more often than not. And with Robinson a naturally more defensive full back than Haas, it gave Koumas more freedom to roam with fewer defensive obligations. Meanwhile, Kinsella was orchestrating play in the middle of the park with some neat intelligent football.

Koumas tested the 'keeper early on with a shot from the edge of the area before Hughes went close with a neat turn and shot from a ball from Clement.

Hoult's first action was to punch clear from a corner needlessly conceded by Darren Moore before Koumas fired over after good work from Clement and Hughes.

The closest Albion came to breaking the deadlock was when Koumas clipped a delightful ball onto Horsfield's head but the former Blues man saw his flicked header superbly saved by Pollitt.

As Albion continued to dominate proceedings, Horsfield went close twice more. First he was denied by an interception from Shaun Barker as he was about to convert a Koumas cross and then he was put through by Clement but shot inches wide.

Minutes later, Hughes was in on goal and when everybody expected the shot, he squared to Horsfield but he was unable to make the most of it.

On 24 minutes, Rotherham made a substitution with Richie Barker replacing Butler, and the game appeared to change.

Albion seemed to run out of ideas and for the remainder of the first half Rotherham slowly started to get into the game. They recorded their first attempt on goal when Sedgwick fired over on the half hour and began to look the more likely to break the deadlock.

Sedgwick went close again minutes later and then when Clement was dispossessed by Monkhouse, he ran through and crossed for Proctor who fired wide when he should have scored.

The second half started much as the first had finished with Rotherham on the attack. Hoult was forced into a brilliant save from Shaun Barker as the Albion defence stood flat-footed.

Megson wasted little time in changing things around but surprisingly played all his cards at once. Hughes, Kinsella and Robinson made way for Facey, Gregan and Volmer and while a change was needed, I think none of the players replaced were playing badly. Indeed, I think Kinsella had started many of the good things that Albion had done to that point.

The substitutions saw a switch to 3-5-2 which had proved successful against Sheffield United last week, and while it seemed to shake up things in the short term, the long term effect against Rotherham was probably negative.

The short term gain saw a Volmer free kick flicked on by Facey for Horsfield to flash a volley just wide, but then Rotherham seemed to react well to the changes and re-established control - something that the Albion side had failed to do following Ronnie Moore's change in the first half.

With the game petering out it sparked into life on 73 minutes. Hoult reacted well to intercept a long through ball, and neatly side-stepped another Millers forward before kicking straight at another Rotherham player. The ball came to Richie Barker who clashed with Moore leaving both players prone in the penalty area. As the Albion defence looked to the referee to stop the game, Rotherham played on with SEDGWICK strolling through the static defence and firing clinically into the far corner.

Thankfully, Big Dave recovered from the injury which at least meant the home side could complete the game with eleven players, and he went straight up front as Albion changed to a 3-4-3 formation in an attempt to fashion an equaliser.

Koumas came closest with a free kick that Pollitt managed to turn onto the bar and, although there were a few late scrambles in the Rotherham goalmouth, the visitors held on for all three points.

It was frustrating to see an Albion side seemingly devoid of passion, drive and ideas after the previous week's performance had promised so much. This game will not cost us promotion, it remains well within our grasp. But we cannot afford any more performances like this if an automatic spot is to be secured.

RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 0 ROTHERHAM UNITED 1

Marks

Hoult - 7 - Great to have him back.
Haas - 6 - Did OK but lacked any real penetration.
Gaardsoe - 7 - Fairly solid but not the rock we expect.
Moore - 8 - MOM. Looking to be back to his best with a sterling performance.
Robinson - 7 - Did well defensively and protected Koumas.
Koumas - 5 - Did OK for the first 20 minutes, but then became anonymous; he needs to take control of games like this.
Johnson - 6 - Didn't do much, right or wrong.
Kinsella - 7 - Another good performance, unlucky to be taken off.
Clement - 6 - Started well but faded badly.
Horsfield - 7 - Did OK with little service.
Hughes - 7 - Looked excellent in the first 20 minutes; unlucky to be taken off.

Gregan - 6 - Changed nothing.
Volmer - 5 - After a great impact last week, he looked a different player. Disappointing.
Facey - 6 - With 35 minutes, this was his big chance - he failed.

The Manager - 6 - Ronnie Moore's substitution seemed change the game, Megson's did not. Obviously the players didn't perform, but by making all three subs at once so early, he left himself with no option to change it further.
West Bromwich Albion (4-4-2):
Hoult; Haas, Gaardsoe, Moore, Robinson (Volmer 55); Koumas, Johnson, Kinsella (Gregan 55), Clement; Hughes (Facey 55), Horsfield. Subs not used: Murphy (GK), Dyer.
Rotherham United (4-4-2):
Pollitt; Stockdale, S Barker, Swailes, Hurst; Sedgwick, Garner, Mullin, Monkhouse; Butler (R Barker 24), Proctor (Warne 75). Subs not used: Montgomery (GK), Minto, Baudet.
Scoring: Sedgwick (73) 0-1.
Bookings: Rotherham United - Mullin (foul 67).
Referee: A Bates (Stoke-on-Trent).
Attendance: 24,104.
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