By Stuart Kidson
January 30 2003

The Baggies slipped into last place in the Premiership following their one - nil defeat at the hands of Charlton at the Hawthorns. West Bromwich Albion v Charlton Athletic
Wednesday 29th January 2003

The Baggies slipped into last place in the Premiership following their one - nil defeat at the hands of Charlton at the Hawthorns. For the second time in a month, the Baggies had been by far the better side but a mixture of poor finishing, outrageous refereeing by Mr. Andy D'Urso and the inability to defend another set-piece meant the South London side took all three points. Following Saturday's embarrasing performance at Watford, Derek McInnes and Neil Clement were dropped from the starting line up in favour of Adam Chambers and Ifeyani Udeze.

Jason Koumas was immediately at the Charlton defence, when in the 5th minute he ran at Jason Euell and the backtracking defence only to see his shot sail high over the Smethwick End goal Jason Roberts then came close two minutes later when he got past Richard Rufus and Jon Fortune and had a shot at goal but Dean Kiely was on hand to stop the shot which had come in from a very acute angle.

Albion again came close in the 23rd minute when Fortune headed across the face of the Charlton goal following a Jason Koumas free kick. Andy Johnson came racing in at the far post but was unfortunate not to be able to connect with the loose ball which went out for a goal kick despite no Albion player touching it.

Charlton had their first real chance a few minutes later when they were awarded a free kick but Darren Moore was on hand to head the ball clear for the home side. It was then Sean Gregan who cleared the lines for the Baggies when Charlton were again awarded a free kick 30-yards from the Baggies goal. Claus Jensen floated the ball in only for Greegs to head over into the Brummie Road stand.

Ronnie Wallwork looked as if he was going to be opening his goal account for the Baggies in the 37th minute when Jason Roberts found Jason Koumas out wide. The Welsh midfielder sent over a superb cross to Wallwork who headed towards goal from close range only to see Dean Kiely produce a brilliant save. South African Mark Fish cleared the ball.

Jason Roberts had been a problem for the Charlton defence all throughout the first half, and his personal battle with Richard Rufus which had started down at The Valley just after Christmas continued. Every time the ball was played forward towards the Albion striker, Rufus was hanging onto Robbo's arm, neck, shirt or any other part of the strikers anatomy he could grab hold of. A crowd of 25,113 Albion fans saw them, Gary Megson saw them and the 1000 Charlton fans saw them but D'Urso did not. The home fans were incensed shortly before the break when Roberts lost his man and ran towards the Smethwick End goal only to have his legs swept from underneath him by Rufus. It was a clear penalty but D'Uso gave nothing.

Albion had been the stronger side throughout the first half and Jason Koumas sent a 25-yard volley only to see it go inches wide of the upright.

The second half started badly for the home side when key defender, Darren Moore fell awkwardly and picked up an injury to his knee. He was replaced by Derek McInnes who moved into midfield and Ronnie Wallwork dropped in Big Dave's position.

Another challenge on Jason Roberts bought a free kick well within range for Koumas and he sent a 20-yard screamer goalbound which was just inches high. Charlton made a break in the 59th minute when Jason Euell looked certain to shoot from 10-yards out until a superb last minute and perfectly timed tackle by Greegs denied him. A minute later Charlton were again making a very rare foray into the Albion half when Phil Gilchrist was adjudged to have fouled Kevin Lisbie. The resulting free-kick fell to Shaun Bartlett at the back post. His header hit Ronnie Wallwork's leg and could have gone anywhere, but unfortunately it found its way into the Baggies net.

The Baggies were straight back into the attack and it was their keeper Kiely who again denied the Albion justice, when he stopped Jason Roberts from scoring with a left footed volley on the spin. A corner for the Baggies saw Ronnie Wallwork head into the side netting from close range which had the fans in the Halfords Stand on their feet cheering as it looked as if it had gone in.

Phil Gilchrist almost added a second for Charlton when he headed a Kishishev cross towards Russell Hoult. It looked to be dipping just under the bar and Houlty had to stretch to tip it over the bar and out for a corner.

With time running out Megson's Stars in Stripes battled away and were so close to an equaliser when Sean Gregan sent a high ball into the box. Substitute Scott Dobie collided with Rufus and the ball was defelected past Kiley and onto the upright and out for a goal kick. Albion were again unlucky in the 5 minutes of added time when a goalbound header by Gregan was diverted over the bar from less than 6-yards by Andy Johnson. Had the Welsh midfielder left it alone it would almost certainly have been the equaliser.

A frustrating night for the Baggies ended with defeat again. Despite losing, however, the Baggies were hampered by the officials again this season, having two penalty claims ignored by Essex referee D'Urso. Charlton, who had made claims that Chelsea had cheated when they played on the infamous beach at Stamford Bridge, have got cheating down to a fine art. Time wasting at throw-ins and substitutions were the most common infringement, yet it was not until the 89th minute that D'Urso decided to act when he booked Powell for taking his time over a throw. It was too little, too late and makes you wonder if D'Urso had acted sooner what the outcome would have been. Mark Fish spent part of the game winding up the home fans in the East Stand by taking his time with free-kicks and throw-ins but D'Urso was seemingly ignorant of this.

Appaling refereeing by D'Urso means that the Albion are now firmly in place at the bottom of the Premiership.

Man of the Match - Jason Koumas

Team: Russell Hoult, Sean Gregan, Darren Moore ( 52 ), Phil Gilchrist, Adam Chambers, Jason Koumas, Ronnie Wallwork, Andy Johnson, Ifeyani Udeze, Jason Roberts, Danny Dichio ( 77 )

Subs: Joe Murphy, Larus Sigurdsson, Neil Clement, Derek McInnes ( 52 ), Scott Dobie ( 77 )