By Stuart Kidson
September 28 2003

Two old rivals faced each other at The Hawthorns. Could the Baggies deal with the team that has become something of a bogey side for them in recent seasons ?. West Bromwich Albion (1) v Stoke City (0)
The Hawthorns, Saturday 27th September 2003

Stoke City travelled down the M6 to the Midlands for this fixture and bought with them the best away following of the season so far to visit the Hawthorns. Unfortunately for the travelling Potters, the journey back up to junction 15 would have been subdued as they must have felt that they deserved to get something out of a game which saw three red cards.

West Brom fielded a changed side to the team that started at Selhurst Park with Neil Clement returning to the starting line up in place of Alassane N’Dour. Artim Sakiri also returned to the squad and took his place on the bench.

Albion started the game in a positive mood when a long throw from Bernt Haas caused problems for the visitors. The ball dropped just inside the area and James O’Connor, playing against his former team mates, hit the first shot of the game which rebounded off a Stoke defender to safety.

With the game less than 4 minutes old the Baggies formed up for the first corner of the game. The usual pushing and shoving took place but referee Mr. Graham Laws, decided that an infringement had occurred that deserved his attention. Stoke’s John Eustace and Albion’s Andy Johnson were singled out as the offenders and were both summoned over to the referee. To the astonishment of everyone in the ground the official sent off Eustace, quickly followed by Johnson.

The flag kick fell favourably for Stoke and Clive Clarke broke from the ranks down the left before delivering a dangerous cross that was just a touch too heavy for Chris Iwelumo to get on the end of. Stoke have been something of a bogey side for the Baggies in recent years and on 17 minutes they almost took the lead when Wayne Thomas crossed from the right to find Gifton Noel-Williams. The former Watford player headed the ball down to Darel Russell who hit a fierce shot straight at Russell Hoult.

Former Chelsea keeper Ed de Goey made an acrobatic save a few minutes later when he denied Rob Hulse who headed towards goal following an O’Connor cross. Albion were again looking stale but Captain Sean Gregan tried to bring a spark to the proceedings when he tried his luck from outside the box. The shot, however, drifted wide and sailed past de Goey’s upright for a goal kick.

Jason Koumas had been running things across the middle of the park for the Baggies and when he found Neil Clement free on the left hopes rose that something would come from the break. Clement wasted the opportunity to get behind the Stoke defence with a poor final ball that beat both Hulse and Scott Dobie before going out for a goal kick.

Koumas was again involved when he carved out an opening for himself. The Welsh international beat 3 defenders as he ran across the park from left to right. He turned towards goal and hit a sweet shot from just outside the area which looked to have de Goey well beaten. Unfortunately for Koumas and the home support the ball rebounded back into play from the Smethwick End crossbar.

Koumas again looked the most dangerous of the Albion players and he was again involved when he sent a low cross over in front of the Stoke goal. Williams was forced into a jittery clearance from the edge of the 6 yard box. Minutes later Albion again attacked the Stoke goal and de Goey pulled off one of the best close range saves ever seen at the Hawthorns to deny Hulse the chance to extend his tally in front of goal for the Baggies. However a flag had been raised for an offside and the save was in vain.

The second half saw Stoke emerge from the changing rooms with more urgency about them. They attacked first and pressured the Baggies defence into a goal mouth scramble which resulted in a loose ball falling to Noel-Williams whose shot was deflected behind for a Stoke corner. Stoke had a very strong case for a penalty following the corner when Keith Andrews sent over a cross which Koumas handled but got away with. Feelings were beginning to grow strained between the away fans and the referee and one unfortunate fan was roughly man handled from the ground by the stewards as he protested against the decision. Hopefully the authorities will use common sense and not pursue the matter as it was a case of frustration on the part of the fan following some rather bad decisions by the referee.

Albion continued to ride their luck with their uninspired approach to the game and Gary Megson decided to change things when he replaced Gregan with Artim Sakiri. The Stoke faithful let their feelings be known on the Sakiri/Beckham incident with the cry of ‘In-ger-land’ coming from the Smethwick End as he took the pitch.

Dobie squandered a golden opportunity to send the Baggies into the lead minutes later when somehow, he managed to sky the ball over the crossbar from 3 yards out after Koumas had sent over a perfectly weighted low cross from the right. De Goey could only stand and watch as the ball raced past him and found Dobie running into space. With the goal open in front of him the former Carlisle striker managed to scoop the ball high over the bar for the miss of the season.

Albion responded to the miss positively and Dobie made amends a minute later when he poked the ball past de Goey to give the home side the lead. A poor clearance by Williams rebounded off Clement and fell for Hulse to flick across the box to Dobie. He took a touch to steady himself and the stroked the ball past de Goey into the Brummie Road net.

The Baggies began to look like a team who wanted to play following the goal and Koumas again went on the rampage. He let rip with a shot outside the box but it was always rising and sailed over the crossbar. Ade Akinbiyi made an appearance for the Potters on 72 minutes when he replaced Iwelumo and he had an immediate effect. The Stoke attack had been dealt with comfortably by the Baggies throughout the game but Thomas Gaardsoe was called upon to produce a fine headed clearance as Akinbiyi jumped to to try and force the equaliser following a Lewis Neal cross.

Minutes later Mr. Laws was forced into the third sending off of the game when Marcus Hall was ordered off for his challenge on Dobie. The tall striker broke free but was hauled down by Hall, who was the last man. A free kick from the edge of the area by Clement bought out a fine reaction save off de Goey as he blocked the shot with his legs. Sakiri reacted quickest and sent over a cross from the left which Hulse hit on the volley but went wide. Hulse again looked like he was going to score when he beat Noel-Williams but his right footed shot went over.

Stoke refused to lie down and be beaten and Kris Commons was unlucky not to get the equaliser when he let fly with a stinging shot which bought out a world class save from Hoult. Commons again hit a well struck shot that was off target moments later. Koumas again looked to extend the lead for the home side but de Goey got down well to deny the midfielder with the last save of the match.

Again the Albion looked unconvincing and it was another poor performance from Megson’s team. Stoke were the better side for much of the game and must feel hard done by not to have come out of the game with something.

Man of the Match for the Baggies, selected by Mr. Steven McNally of Smethwick – Jason Koumas

Teams

BAGGIES: Hoult, Gregan, Gaardsoe, Gilchrist, Haas, Koumas, O’Connor, Johnson, Clement, Hulse, Dobie
Subs Murphy, Dichio, Sakiri, Volmer, Berthe

STOKE: de Goey, Thomas, Williams, Hall, Russell, Andrews, Henry, Eustace, Clarke, Noel-Williams, Iwelumo
Subs Hoekstra, Commons, Cutler, Neal, Akinbiyi