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West
Bromwich Albion v Walsall
The Hawthorns,
West Bromwich. 9th January 2004, 7.45pm. |
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Finally, Albion produced
a performance to be proud of, and a result to match. It may not
have been the best showing of the season, but there was some good
football, plenty of effort and endeavour, two goals, a clean sheet
and, most importantly, three points.
Megson kept the 4-4-2 formation bringing Gregan in for O'Connor
and Dobie for Hulse. As it turned out, it was a flat midfield rather
than the diamond employed at Forest.
It looked like being another night to forget early on as the visitors
took the game to Albion early on. Wrack had an excellent chance
within three minutes but failed to connect properly, and a couple
of minutes later, Birch had a free header as Haas was caught ball-watching.
Everything for Walsall was coming through Merson, who was being
given far too much time on the ball. But after about ten minutes,
Moore took it upon himself to pick the former Arsenal man up, which
lead to him being pulled out of defence on occasion but it certainly
had the desired effect.
Horsfield and Dobie were looking much more lively as a front two
and after Dobie almost got to Sakiri's throughball, it was Horsfield's
turn to shine. He picked the ball up wide on the right and ran at
the Walsall defence before firing a fierce shot just wide.
Walker had to be alert to prevent Horsfield from connecting with
a Clement header, and minutes later, the former Wigan man sent a
header just wide from a Koumas cross.
Koumas, looking much more influential than of late, looked to have
given Dobie an easy chance, but Vincent just got a challenge in
with the Scottish international about to tap the ball in.
It was an exciting game, with Walsall playing plenty of neat football
although most of it was in their own half. They did break once or
twice, however, and Wrack should've done better when he dropped
back of the Albion defence to receive Osborn's pull-back - he could
only fire weakly wide.
Then the game took a controversial turn with probably the worst
refereeing decision I have ever seen. Horsfield once more ran at
the Walsall defence and was clearly tripped inside the box by Roper.
Amazingly, referee Barry Knight booked Horsfield for diving - the
player himself was unaware as he was nursing the injury that he'd
received when Roper kicked him.
Horsfield should've opened his Baggies account a couple of minutes
later when he intercepted a ball from Roper and ran through on goal
- as he approached Walker, he cut back inside and shot but the 'keeper's
legs deflected the ball wide.
The half ended with the referee leaving the field to a chorus of
disapproval from the Albion fans.
Albion continued to lay siege to the Walsall goal in the second
half with Walsall playing on the break with limited success. But
the game didn't really come alive until just after the hour mark.
Horsfield went down under challenge on the edge of the box, and
the referee gave the free kick - it was perhaps a dubious decision,
but it was one of many from Mr Knight. The shot from KOUMAS deflected
off the feet of Vincent and, although Walker got a hand to it, the
ball found the corner of the net.
Dobie and Horsfield both went close to extending the lead, before
Megson made a change bringing Dyer on for Sakiri.
The youngster, making his league debut for the Baggies, made an
immediate impact. He picked up the ball from Clement, knocked it
past Bazeley and sprinted past the full back before lifting a beautiful
cross towards Dobie. Dobie nodded it goalwards but HORSFIELD made
sure with a header from a foot out for his first goal for the Baggies.
The game then petered out as Albion contained Walsall without much
difficulty. The only other moment of interest was an injury to Koumas
he received making a challenge he didn't really have to make. The
Welshman was stretchered off, although it is not thought to be serious.
It was a relief to end the winless home run, and it was overall
a good display from the Baggies. Horsfield finally produced the
performance that we've seen him produce in a Blues and Wigan shirt,
but had so far eluded him since his move to the Hawthorns. Other
positives included an excellent display from Gregan, a better showing
from Koumas and we obviously have an exciting prospect in Lloyd
Dyer.
RESULT - WEST BROMWICH ALBION 2 WALSALL
0
Marks
Hoult - 7 - Solid display.
Haas - 7 - Steady performance.
Gaardsoe - 8 - Another rock-like showing.
Moore - 7 - Generally solid, although he looks to have lost a bit
of pace over the first two yards.
Robinson - 7 - Looks more comfortable as a full back.
Koumas - 7 - Looked far more interested, and made some excellent
runs and passes.
Gregan - 8 - Looked much more like the player we saw last year;
a commanding performance.
Clement - 6 - Looked a little lost on occasions in central midfield,
but his ball retention was good.
Sakiri - 7 - Some beautiful touches and passes, particularly in
the first half, but not quite up to the pace yet. Maybe needs a
few more games.
Horsfield - 9 - MOM. Tireless, exciting and dangerous; everything
he had so far failed to be. Tremendous performance.
Dobie - 7 - Combined well with Horsfield but faded late on.
Dyer - 8 - Pace and purpose, raw talent. Will probably be a regular
on the bench now.
Hulse - 6 - Not on long enough to make an impact.
O'Connor - 7 - Looked quite good on the right wing.
The Manager - 8 - Stuck with the 4-4-2, but with a flat midfield.
He was right to start with Dobie, and Dyer's introduction was a
master stroke.
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West
Bromwich Albion (4-4-2):
Hoult; Haas, Gaardsoe, Moore, Robinson; Koumas (O'Connor 78), Gregan,
Clement, Sakiri (Dyer 70); Dobie (Hulse 90), Horsfield. Subs not
used: Murphy (GK), Gilchrist.
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Walsall
(4-4-2):
Walker; Bazeley, Roper, Ritchie (Emblen 81), Vincent; Wrack, Merson,
Samways, Osborn (Aranalde); Leitao, Birch. Subs not used: Allaway
(GK), Lawrence, Oakes.
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Scoring: Koumas (62)
1-0, Horsfield (72) 2-0.
Bookings: Horsfield (diving 40).
Referee: B Knight (Orpington).
Attendance: 24,558. |
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