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West
Bromwich Albion v Stoke City
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 27th September 2003, 3.00pm. |
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Another bogey is laid
to rest as Albion beat Stoke in a league game for the first time
since 1988, but it wasn't as easy as it should've been as the Baggies
made hard work of another victory. In a game that referee spoiled
just four minutes in by sending off two players for what appeared
to be nothing more than the sort of minor altercation that happens
at every corner kick, Albion were the better side throughout without
ever looking entirely comfortable.
Megson made the expected changes in bringing in Dobie for Hughes,
putting Gregan in the back three in place of Sigurdsson with Johnson
and O'Connor joining Koumas in the middle and Clement was restored
to the starting line-up. Sakiri was back on the bench with Volmer,
Berthe, Dichio and Murphy.
It was just four minutes in when referee Graham Laws spoiled the
game as a contest. As a corner from Koumas came across, Johnson
and Eustace "clashed" in the box. I didn't see the incident myself
but according to Lord Gary, Eustace had hold of AJ's shirt and the
Baggies midfielder attempted to shake himself free. Mr Laws saw
fit to red card both players although GM made a good point that
if Eustace's actions warranted a red card, as the first offence,
surely they warranted a penalty as well. Mr Laws opted to have the
corner re-taken.
So with both sides struggling to re-work their formation with ten
men, the first half was very scrappy in terms of the quality of
football, but plenty of chances were created at both ends. Hulse
failed to connect properly with a pass from Haas before Dobie had
a couple of good chances with Koumas the architect on each occasion
as he began to dominate the midfield.
Hoult had to save well from Darryl Russell before De Goey was forced
into the best save of the match so far as Hulse headed goalwards
from an O'Connor cross. The game petered out towards half-time,
punctuated only by the odd piece of brilliance from Koumas including
a 25-yard shot that crashed off the crossbar.
The second half started much as the first had ended - pretty scrappy.
Megson made the change that I, for one, had being crying out for
when Sakiri came on the Gregan. The skipper had been moved into
midfield once AJ had been dismissed, and he looked off the pace,
unable to tackle and unable to pass.
Albion looked a slicker outfit with the Macedonian on the field,
and it was converted to a lead just minutes later, albeit a minute
later than it should've been. Koumas received the ball 30 yards
from goal on the right hand side with two defenders in front of
him. He beat them both and broke to the byline before playing a
perfect ball across to Dobie, unmarked, three yards out with the
'keeper nowhere. Somehow he put it high and wide.
A minute later he redeemed himself by converting a much more difficult
chance. Clement, having another fairly effective game, chased down
a lost cause by the left hand corner and forced the defender into
a mistake. The ball fell to Hulse on the edge of the box, and he
slipped it to DOBIE who took it past the defender before slotting
past the 'keeper from 12 yards.
Despite the lead, Albion still failed to get hold of the game and
the game failed to spark into life for another 15 minutes. On 74
minutes, Dobie latched onto a throughball and was clean through
on goal when he was scythed down by Marcus Hall. The referee had
no option but to send the Stoke defender for an early bath. After
the resulting free kick had been moved forward after some dissent
from the visitors, Clement struck the ball through a melee of players
and somehow, more by luck than judgment, De Goey kept it out with
his feet.
Despite the one man advantage, Albion never looked completely in
control although Stoke never really looked dangerous. Hulse had
the best opportunity to kill of the game when he fired over from
18 yards but Hoult was called into action before the end to produce
a marvellous save to deny Commons. But Albion held on for the points
and another long standing sequence of results was broken.
Once more it was unconvincing, but once more the points were won.
Koumas was back to his best today and he needed to be as he was
Albion's only real creative influence although Sakiri showed some
spark after he came on. The early sendings-off had a significant
effect on the game in that AJ was missed and Gregan was hopeless
in midfield. By all reports, it would be scandalous if they were
not both expunged so we hopefully won't miss AJ due to suspension.
Another three points on Tuesday, and we can go to Gillingham next
week with the pressure off.
RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 1 STOKE
CITY 0
Marks
Hoult - 8 - One or two great saves and his kicking was, dare I say
it, faultless.
Gregan - 4 - Couldn't run, couldn't tackle, couldn't pass.
Gaardsoe - 7 - Pretty solid from the Gaard.
Gilchrist - 7 - Pretty good showing from Gilly, and unexpected.
Haas - 8 - Still managed to get forward well despite the change
to four at the back.
Koumas - 9 - MOM. Back to his best, some excellent runs and oh so
unlucky with the shot in the first half.
Johnson - 6 - Not really on long enough to comment.
O'Connor - 8 - Another excellent performance.
Clement - 7 - Seemed more restrained that Haas in the back four,
but he was instrumental for the goal.
Dobie - 8 - Took a lot of stick from the Stoke defence, but looked
lively and bright and did well, despite the miss of the season.
Hulse - 7 - Another good performance.
Sakiri - 7 - Looked sharp, keen to get on the ball, infinitely better
than Greegs.
The Manager - 8 - I would've made the change earlier and we could've
done with Hughesie on the bench to liven things up, but with him
ill, there was no other change to make. I was surprised Volmer didn't
start, but Gilly did OK.
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West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Gregan (Sakiri 55), Gaardsoe, Gilchrist; Haas, Koumas, Johnson,
O'Connor, Clement; Dobie, Hulse. Subs not used: Murphy (GK), Berthe,
Dichio, Volmer.
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Stoke
City (3-5-2):
De Goey; Thomas (Commons 57), Williams, Hall; Russell, Eustace,
Andrews, Henry, Clarke (Neal 64); Noel-Williams, Iwelumo (Akinbiyi
70). Subs not used: Cutler (GK), Hoekstra. |
Scoring: Dobie (59)
1-0.
Bookings: Stoke City - Andrews (dissent 75), Russell (foul 87).
Sendings Off: West Bromwich Albion - Johnson (violent conduct 4).
Stoke City - Eustace (violent conduct 4), Hall (professional foul
74).
Referee: G Laws (Whitley Bay).
Attendance: 24,297 |
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