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Walsall
v West Bromwich Albion
Bescot Stadium,
Walsall. 9th August 2003, 3.00pm. |
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I couldn't make it to the Bescot, seems like I was lucky in hindsight.
A hugely disappointing start to the season. Here is a guest match
report from ALEX TILSLEY, who was unlucky enough to be present.
With six summer acquisitions, the three thousand Albion fans had
high expectations as they travelled to the Bescot Stadium for this
opening day fixture. But it was a player that Gary Megson had the
chance to sign, but rejected, that stole the show.
Even with four new signings in the first eleven Megson stuck with
the tried and tested 3-5-2 formation.
It was Albion who started brightly, with Volmer sending a header
over the bar from a Koumas corner. The Albion faithful were in full
voice and expected this to be the first of many opportunities on
the way to three opening day points.
On a hot day, the first goal was going to be vital as chasing the
game would be energy sapping. Unfortunately the star of the show,
Paul Merson, broke this deadlock in the 18th minute. Steve Corica
got past Haas down the right wing to cross for MERSON to latch onto
to sweetly volley past Russell Hoult from 18 yards.
Five minutes later, Koumas again was the provider, this time for
Rob Hulse to head into the side netting. Just sixty seconds later,
James O'Connor had a perfect opportunity to get West Brom back into
the game when he was through on goal only for his shot to be parried
by Walker for a corner.
However, the six minute period before half time things went from
bad to worse for the Albion. Firstly, MERSON was fed by Jorge Leitao
to shoot from 20 yards in off the bar, giving Hoult no chance. Then,
on the stroke of half time, LEITAO was first to react to a shot
by Osborn, which hit the post, and slotted into an empty net.
The half time whistle sounded, and the Albion players went into
the dressing rooms well and truly shell shocked.
The second half saw a change to 4-4-2, but surprisingly O'Connor
was placed on the unfamiliar right wing and Johnson on the left.
This change saw a temporary increase in Albion's tempo with the
ever busy and creative Koumas force Walker into a save from a 20
yard effort. Scott Dobie also arrived in the 54th minute to replace
the ineffective Dichio.
But the 57th minute saw Walsall wrap up their impressive victory
when Merson set up CORICA for the Aussie to volley home into the
far corner from 20 yards. Sixty seconds later, he had the chance
to double his tally only for Gregan to chop him down for his first,
and probably not the last, booking of the season.
With twenty minutes to go, KOUMAS gave the Albion fans a reason
to cheer with a magical 20 yard effort leaving Walker stranded.
Just minutes, later Koumas again had the ball on the half way line
and, with the lack of options given to him from his teammates, he
proceeded to take on half the Walsall team only for his excellent
shot to be turned away by the impressive Walker.
The final 15 minutes saw Sakiri make his long awaited debut, but
the damage was already done, and at the final whistle the only applause
from the away supporters was solely reserved for Jason Koumas, who
did not deserve to be on the losing side. Just how long can West
Brom hold onto the Welsh wizard?
RESULT - WALSALL 4 WEST BROMWICH
ALBION 1
Marks
Hoult - 6 - Had no chance with any of the goals.
Sigurdsson - 5 - Got forward down the right flank but lacked pace
at the back.
Volmer - 6 - Looked comfortable on the ball, but got caught out
on a few occasions.
Gregan - 5 - Probably his worst game for the team, caught out of
position on a number of times.
Haas - 4 - Looked lazy at times and often caught out of position,
as well as poor distribution.
Koumas - 9 - MOM. Star of a poor team performance, ran with the
ball, took on players, had three shots well saved, and scored with
one, lacked support from fellow midfielders.
O'Connor - 6 - Ok debut, busy throughout the first half and should
of scored, but forced to play out of position in the second half,
a tough tackling midfielder on the right wing?
Johnson - 4 - Ran around but very ineffective, can't understand
how he stayed on for the full 90 minutes.
Clement - 5 - Seemed to drift in-field too much instead of looking
for width, and was taken on too often.
Dichio - 6 - No service to feed onto.
Hulse - 6 - Had a few good runs and openings, looks showed potential.
Wallwork - 6 - Unfortunate to be taken off, forced to play in two
positions and distributed the ball well, but will Megson ever give
the guy a chance?
Dobie - 6 - Like the other strikers, a lack of service restricted
his game.
Sakiri - 7 - Given little time to impress, but a few crosses from
the left wing showed promise.
The Manager - 5 - Forced players to play out of position, mainly
O'Connor, and took Wallwork off when in my opinion it should have
been Johnson. Will he also put behind him feuds with Roberts and
Marshall and let them do their talking on the pitch?? Hopefully
the coming weeks will see improvements!!
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Walsall
(3-5-1-1):
Walker; Hay, Emblen, Roper (Wrack 13); Bazeley, Osborn, Samways,
Merson (Oakes 89), Aranalde; Corica; Leitao (Birch 72). Subs not
used: Kerr (GK), Matias. |
West
Bromwich Albion (3-5-2):
Hoult; Sigurdsson (Wallwork 35, Sakiri 72), Gregan, Volmer; Haas,
Koumas, O'Connor, Johnson, Clement; Dichio (Dobie 54), Hulse. Subs
not used: Murphy (GK), Gilchrist.
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Scoring: Merson (18)
1-0, Merson (39) 2-0, Leitao (45) 3-0, Corica (57) 4-0, Koumas (70)
4-1.
Bookings: Walsall - Samways (dissent 17). West Bromwich Albion -
Gregan (foul 58).
Referee: T Bates (Stoke)
Attendance: 11,030 |
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