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Stevenage
Borough v West Bromwich Albion
Broadhall Way,
Stevenage. 10th August 2002, 3.00pm. |
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I consider myself an avid fan of this great football club of ours,
but I'm not one to go too far out of my way for a pre-season friendly.
However, the game at Stevenage was always a banker for me - I live
less than 45 minutes away in Cheshunt and a good friend of mine,
Graeme, happens for be a Boro' supporter.
Therefore, having not seen any of the other pre-season games, it
was my first chance to see how the boys are shaping up. As I went
with Graeme, I saved myself a few quid and stood with him and the
Boro' fans on the side near the halfway line. I promptly found out
that even the Conference teams have their share of loud-mouthed
overly-biased supporters. The ground is compact and, apparently,
very good for the Conference with seating on three sides. Unusually,
the newest stand was occupied by the away fans but this was a condition
of the Football Trust grant that was used to build it.
So to the match. Albion started slowly and looked second best in
the early exchanges. Slowly they started to get into the game with
new boy Gregan looking solid and passing the ball well. Houlty had
a little juggle early on to add to the entertainment and Roberts
fired over from a good position on 15 minutes. Albion's best chance
so far fell to Johnson latching on to a fine pass by Dichio and
bringing a fine save from Westhead.
Albion continued to play neat football, but didn't look particularly
solid at the back, with Siggy and Big Dave both making elementary
errors that surely would have been punished if it were seven days
later. Boro's defence obviously remembered Roberts from his last
appearance at Broadhall Way when he scored a brace for Hayes in
their 5-1 drubbing of the home side; he always seemed to have two
or three players around him on receiving the ball and, while he
occasionally beat players with his quick feet, he was largely disappointing.
Balis was playing as he did last season providing a constant outlet.
It was from this that Albion finally took the lead seven minutes
before half time. A neat passing move freed Balis on the right and
his cross was coolly placed in the far corner by DICHIO from 12
yards. Minutes later, the ball was in the net again when a ricochet
found Dichio unmarked six yards out, but he then passed to Roberts
to finish, but he was clearly offside. This prompted a chant of
"You thought you had scored...." from the Boro' fans, which I thought
had gone out of fashion with leg warmers.
It wasn't long to wait for the second goal, though, when JOHNSON
burst through the Stevenage defence with a one-two with Dichio,
before using some neat work to beat the last man before slotting
home.
Roberts and Moore, neither having good games, were replaced by Dobie
and Wallwork at half time. Albion started the second half as they
did the first and the home side were on top for the first fifteen
minutes. The Albion defence did look more solid although Wallwork
obviously does not have the presence of Moore in the air. Gregan
worked hard and frequently broke up the Boro' attacks before finding
one of the wing backs. Stevenage never did test Hoult though.
Dichio took a knock and was replaced by Taylor on 68 minutes. Stevenage
began to run out of steam and the Baggies again took control. A
quick break saw Balis again free on the right and his cross was
finished neatly by TAYLOR in the 83rd minute, while a minute late
a refreshing CLEMENT free kick flew past, or perhaps through, Westhead's
outstretched arms. Taylor had a second goal disallowed for offside
- a great diving header from another Balis cross.
In all, a satisfying result and a decent performance, but we'll
need to play better to avoid defeat at Old Trafford. But looking
at the results of other Premiership sides at Broadhall Way this
season (Arsenal won 6-1, Spurs won 4-0 and Charlton won 2-1), it
seems encouraging. And Graeme did say that Boro' were much better
today than against Arsenal. The defence does not appear to be as
solid as last year, though, and the Roberts-Dichio partnership is
not firing.
RESULT - STEVENAGE BOROUGH 0 WEST
BROMWICH ALBION 4
Marks
Hoult - 6 - Not really tested, one dodgy moment early on.
Balis - 9 - MOM. Looks as good as last season, two assists.
Clement - 5 - And that's with a point for his free kick. Occasionally
caught out defensively and ineffective going forward.
Gilchrist - 7 - Solid.
Moore - 6 - Generally good, but not the dependable Big Dave I'm
used to.
Sigurdsson - 6 - Not his best game, but played OK.
Gregan - 8 - Very impressive debut. Tackled well and protected the
back three; distribution was excellent.
Johnson - 7 - Good performance, made some great runs, excellent
goal.
McInnes - 7 - Getting back to his best, I think Gregan took away
some of his defensive duties to allow him to get forward more.
Dichio - 7 - Good finish, one assist. Made some neat touches but
unconvincing in the air.
Roberts - 5 - Shackled well by Stirling, Boro's best player. We'll
need JR on form next week.
Wallwork - 6 - Unspectacular, neat distribution, good positioning
but suspect in the air.
Dobie - 5 - Did very little.
Taylor - 6 - Did OK when he came on, good finish for the goal(s).
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Stevenage
Borough (4-4-2):
Westhead; Travis, Goodliffe (Dreyer 70), Stirling, J Campbell; Wormull,
Cullen, Fisher (Fraser 80), Houghton (Clarke 45); Jackson (DJ Campbell
77), Sigere (Forinton 63). Subs not used: Wilson (GK) |
West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Sigurdsson, Moore (Wallwork 45), Gilchrist; Balis, McInnes,
Gregan, Johnson, Clement; Roberts (Dobie 45), Dichio (Taylor 68).
Subs not used: Murphy (GK), Jensen (GK), Jordao, A Chambers, J Chambers.
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Scoring: Dichio (38)
0-1, Johnson (42) 0-2, Taylor (83) 0-3, Clement (84) 0-4.
Bookings: None
Referee: S Chittenden (St Albans)
Attendance: 1,386 |
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