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Southampton
v West Bromwich Albion
St Mary's Stadium,
Southampton. 6th November 2004, 3.00pm. |
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Match
Preview |
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| Result |
Southampton |
2 - 2 |
West Bromwich Albion |
| Scorers |
Anders Svensson (28)
Anders Svensson (87) |
Robert Earnshaw (29)
Robert Earnshaw (37) |
| Attendance |
31,057 |
| Teams |
4-4-2
28 - Alan Blayney (GK)
6 - Andreas Jakobsson
22 - Darren Kenton
5 - Claus Lundekvam
4 - Jelle van Damme
18 - Rory Delap
35 - Mikael Nilsson
12 - Anders Svensson
33 - Paul Telfer
24 - Dexter Blackstock
7 - Kevin Phillips |
4-4-2
(GK) Russell Hoult - 1
Neil Clement - 19
Darren Moore - 5
Darren Purse - 6
Paul Robinson - 3
Riccardo Scimeca - 2
Jonathan Greening - 8
Andy Johnson - 10
Robert Earnshaw - 34
Zoltan Gera - 11
Nwankwo Kanu - 25
|
| Substitutes |
25 - Michael Poke (GK)
19 - Danny Higginbotham
10 - Neil McCann
20 - David Prutton
36 - Brett Ormerod |
(GK) Tomasz Kuszczak
- 29
Martin Albrechtsen - 14
Lloyd Dyer - 18
Jason Koumas - 7
Geoff Horsfield - 9 |
| Substitutions |
N McCann for A Jakobsson
(60)
B Ormerod for D Blackstock (63)
D Prutton for M Nilsson (84) |
G Horsfield for N Kanu
(77)
J Koumas for Z Gera (83) |
| Yellow Cards |
Dexter Blackstock (36)
Darren Kenton (83) |
None |
| Red Cards |
None |
None |
| Referee |
S Bennett (Orpington) |
My feelings at the
end of the game were ones of frustration and disappointment that
we failed to hang on to what would've been a crucial three points.
But at the end of the day, a draw was a fair result, and there were
big bonuses in that Earnie got off the mark and the performance
was much improved.
The biggest surprise of the day for me was that, for the first time
this season, I managed to predict the starting line-up correctly!
Gera managed to recover from his stomach bug to start, and Thomas
Gaardsoe was dropped for the first time in his Albion career and
apparently didn't travel to Southampton.
I didn't predict that Gera and Greening would swap flanks, however,
as Burrows had Gera on the left and Greening on the right to start
with. They did appear to alternate on occasion, however.
The early stages of the game was indicative of the fact that this
was a nervous basement battle. Neither side created much although
it was the home side that had most of the possession. Albion took
time to settle and struggled to keep possession. Blackstock tested
Hoult with a fierce shot from a tight angle, but the Saints' opener
on 28 minutes was the second attempt on target from either side.
Robinson made a good tackle to stop a Saints surge into the box,
but the ball fell to Telfer. He swing in a cross to the back post
and, with Gera half asleep, Svensson was left unmarked and he headed
past Hoult to give the home side the lead.
Albion responded instantly. They launched their first sustained
attack of the game immediately from the restart, and Gera swung
in a cross that was met by the head of Greening, and as the ball
headed goalwards, Earnshaw managed to get the slightest of touches
to divert the ball past stand-in 'keeper Blayney. Earnie celebrated
with a trademark somersault as Greening looked on somewhat bemused,
thinking it was his goal.
For the remainder of the first half, Albion were on top. Eight minutes
later, Earnshaw put the home defence under pressure and Greening
managed to get on the ball and push into the box. He squared the
ball into the box and the ball rebounded to Earnshaw, and the Welshman
hit it first time into the net to grab his second goal of the game.
Both sides had chances before half time, Earnshaw failing to connect
with a Greening centre and Johnson deflecting a shot from Delap
over the bar.
Albion started the second half brightly with Clement testing Blayney
with a long shot before Earnshaw almost grabbed his hat-trick. Blayney
parried another shot, this one from Greening, and the ball went
up into the area and Earnie tried an overhead kick from close range
that was only inches wide. It was a missed chance Albion would come
to rue.
As the game went on, Albion dropped deeper and deeper to protect
their lead. With Kanu not on song and Earnie just too short to impose
himself, the balls up field were coming straight back. Albion were
defending well, with Moore and Purse repelling everything that came
their way. As the minutes ticked away, it seemed like Albion were
going to hang on.
But then, with four minutes left, Svensson drove into the box, through
Greening's challenge and fired in a shot that Robinson got a foot
to, only to deflect it just inside Hoult's left hand post. It was
unlucky on Robinson, and the Baggies, but it was probably a fair
result in the end.
With Norwich and Blackburn also drawing, Albion remain outside the
bottom three, but the next three fixtures are tough and this game
was probably the Baggies' best chance of a win in November. It's
disappointing to get so close and fail, but we can only hope that
whoever the new manager is, he will come in and inject whatever
is necessary to get some results.
Marks
Russell Hoult - 6 - One or two good saves, but his distribution
wasn't the best.
Neil Clement - 5 - OK, but he still doesn't think quick enough.
Darren Moore - 8 - MOM. Another top performance from Big Dave.
Darren Purse - 7 - A good return from Darren.
Paul Robinson - 6 - Some excellent moments in defence, but his distribution
leaves a lot to be desired.
Riccardo Scimeca - 6 - Did OK.
Jonathan Greening - 7 - Another good performance.
Andy Johnson - 4 - Please, please let the new manager see that he
can't cut it at this level.
Robert Earnshaw - 7 - Two goals and he looked more confident; good
display overall.
Zoltan Gera - 5 - Looked as if he might not have been fully recovered
after all.
Nwankwo Kanu - 5 - One or tow moments, but below par overall.
Jason Koumas - 6 - Did OK it what little time he had.
Geoff Horsfield - 6 - Ditto.
Frank Burrows - 7 - He's got the players focused despite the off-field
problems, and he was unlucky not to be celebrating his first win
today.
Jon Want, 7th November 2004.
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