| Saturday 28th November |
Sheffield Wednesday |
(0) 0 |
Albion |
(3) 4 |
|
| Attendance: |
20,824 |
Cox 23, 30 |
|||
| Albion: Carson; Zuiverloon, Meite,
Olsson, Cech; Brunt, Dorrans, Jara, Thomas (Mulumbu 67); Cox (Thorne 88), Moore
(Wood 76) Subs (not used): Kiely, Bednar, Martis, Reid |
||
| Booked: Brunt | Referee: E. Ilderton |
Reporter: Haydn Thompson |
Albion's rich vein of form continued in this match as we racked up a fourth consecutive win.
Moray and I met in the New Barrack Tavern, where real ale and good food drew a discerning crowd. The landlord was hospitable towards visiting fans, but hoped we'd be unhappy if we went back after the game. He was to be disappointed - but as he's apparently a closet Chelsea fan, probably not too much.
The Baggies' starting line-up was the same as the one that started the second half against Bristol City - in other words, Cech started in place of the injured Mattock. The good news in the week was that Mattock's injury was not as bad as first feared - but bad enough to keep him out of this one.
Albion started nervously, and both sides had chances in the opening minutes. Once again Albion's first chance fell to Luke Moore, but he blasted over from 18 yards. Then Jermaine Johnson did the same for Wednesday, from nearer 30.
But it was always Albion that looked more like scoring, and the first goal came midway through the first half. Dorrans' corner from the left seemed to deceive the entire Wednesday defence before falling to Simon Cox three yards from goal - he made no mistake.
Seven minutes later, Jerome Thomas played Chris Brunt in, and Brunt pulled it back from the goal line - a defender clipped it off Moore's toes, but once again there was no one marking Cox - in a very similar position to the first - and he fired it into the roof of the net.
Albion's third was the best of the bunch: Thomas played a neat one-two with Cox, picking up the return pass just inside the box and sweeping it inside the far post.
Second halfBy now of course it was all over, and Albion went off the boil a bit. Mulumbu replaced Thomas (who'd sustained an injury niggle during the week) midway through the second half, and then Chris Wood came on for Moore. The fourth goal came with only five minutes left, when Cox played Wood in down the left, and with the Wednesday defence stretched, Wood found Chris Brunt unmarked on the edge of the box with a long cross-field pass. Brunt finished calmly to make it fifteen goals in four games for Albion.
Brunt had announced before the game that he wouldn't be celebrating if he scored against Wednesday. It pleased the Wednesday fans of course, but for goodness' sake. It was one thing when Denis Law scored the goal that sent Manchester United into the Second Division for the first time in 36 years (and the only time in the last 70), but to make it 4-0 in the 18th game of a 46-game season is hardly a deadly blow. In fact Brunt was so mortified that he went completely to sleep for the remainder of the game, practically gifting the ball to Wednesday every time it came near him. Fortunately they were too inept to do anything with it.
That gripe apart though, this was another thoroughly professional job done by Albion. Wednesday were poor, and promotion contenders have to make short work of this sort of side; but the gulf in class between these two sides was almost embarrassing.
There was one surprise in store for us, in the form of Albion Academy star George Thorne who was brought on to replace Simon Cox with two minutes remaining. Rather like Chris Wood, Thorne is a boy in a man's body and looks far older than his 16 years (he'll be 17 on 4th January). In this brief appearance we saw far too little of him to make any sort of judgement, but any comparison with Bobby Hope - since whom he's the youngest player to appear for Albion - is surely enough to make any Baggies fan over the age of 50 sit up and take notice.
With both Wood and Thorne on the field, Albion apparently finished this game with an average age of 22. While we can't by any means take it for granted that all of these players will remain with Albion for their peak years, that has got to be a good sign for the future.
On second thoughts, I do have one more gripe, and that's about the continued lack of goals from Luke Moore. I don't think it's his attitude any more; he does seem to be trying hard, and no doubt other players are benefitting from his running. Maybe he just needs one.
If he doesn't find his scoring boots before January then Di Matteo will surely feel it necessary to draft in reinforcements. At the moment however, with plenty of goals coming from elsewhere, it seems we can afford to carry Luke Moore for a little longer, in the hope that he will come good eventually.