The Away Report: West Brom 3 v 1 Derby Sunday, 28th Feb 2010 13:45 The Rams headed to the Hawthorns hoping to add the scalp of another top 3 side to their conquests and although Derby scored the first goal of the contest, the Baggies had other ideas.
West Bromwich Albion 3 v 1 Derby CountyCoca Cola ChampionshipThe Hawthorns, West BromwichSaturday 27th February 2010 - 3:00pm
Attendance: 23,335
Carson, Olsson, Cech, Koren (Morrison 59'), Brunt, Thomas, Moore (Cox 59'), Dorrans, Meite, Watson (Mulumbu 81'), Tamas Subs: Kiely, Wood, Slory, Nouble.
Bywater, Hunt, Barker, Buxton, Moxey (Pringle 90'), Sunu (Martin 84'), Green, Savage, Pearson, Tonge, Porter (Davies 79'). Subs: Deeney, Hulse, Leacock, Anderson
Match Summary: Commons out with a hamstring tear, Hulse out with a bad back and McEveley suspended. 3 players who have been massively important in recent games, all gone in the space of a week and now it would not be easy for Derby to cover. Clough gave Porter, Sunu and Moxey the job of doing so. On the positive side Davies and Leacock returned from injury to the warm the bench and hopefully will soon be back in action regularly as they get some match fitness under their belts. The early stages of the first half were frantic as both teams attempted to gain an early advantage over their opposition. The Rams could have had an early penalty had referee Crossley seen things differently when just minutes into the match, Gabriel Tamas barged into Stephen Pearson inside the penalty area as the two went shoulder to shoulder, instead it was deemed play on. At the other end of the pitch Luke Moore had a creative effort deflected wide of the target for the Baggies. The pace eventually died down from the opening exchanges and the game slowly slid into a battle for possession and quality. Both sides were failing to produce any great passages of play with neither looking in danger of scoring. If you had to pick a winner in a goalless first half then Albion crafted more chances but due to their lack of finishing, looked only slightly sharper than their visiting opponents. Robert Koren had probably the home side’s best chance of the half as when with only Bywater to beat blazed over the bar. Robbie Savage came to the rescue as he blocked another shot from Koren that until the Captains intervention looked goal bound. A lively Pearson was easily the Rams best in the opening 45 minutes and came ever so close in the 40th-minute with a shot that only just flashed wide. In the final moments before half time Robbie Savage looked to have given away a penalty for handball but the protests of players and fans were not enough to have the referee point to the spot. Evening the ledger perhaps? The whistle blew, the Rams were hanging in there and it was time to regroup. HT: 0 – 0 Derby came out in the second half like a battalion that had received a fresh supply of ammunition. They were probing and attacking the Baggies at every opportunity and only minutes into the second half were rewarded for their work. Savage sent a centimetre perfect through ball through a statue like Albion defence who were unable to prevent Chris Porter from knocking it home from close range. Brunt nearly levelled things immediately for the home side but his header was saved by Bywater. The ball found its way to the Rams new signing Gilles Sunu who somehow managed to miss an open goal when he blasted a perfect cut back from Paul Green wildly over the bar. That miss would prove costly as if converted it would have been ‘game over’. Instead the miss seemed to signal ‘game on’ for Albion. Although the Rams were still looking by far the better side as Pearson and co launched attack after attack while mugging the West Brom midfield of the ball at every opportunity. Then as if from a puff of smoke scores were level in the 67th minute. Brunts shot from the edge of the area flew into the bottom corner. Moxey should have done better...... but he didn't. Derby tried valiantly to regain their lead but instead Brunt got himself a second on 77 when he scored from close range. Doran’s corner caused havoc in the box as the Derby defence failed to clear the ball on three occasions. Buxton and Barker became the keystone cops and could only watch as the Rams fell behind. As the Rams streamed forward and introduced more attacking power in Martin and Davies, a sucker punch took Albion to 3-1 as Cox finished calmly from 18 yards with only 7 minutes remaining. Although to the naked eye he looked offside the Derby defence were sliced open and can only have themselves to blame whether it was or wasn't. 23 minutes produced 3 goals and it was all over. FT: 3 - 1 Derby deserved better but could not convert when they were totally dominating proceedings. On the flip side the Baggies turned their limited chances of the second half into goals. A good performance by the Rams was soured by a few momentary lapses of judgement. Derby dominated for large periods of the match and can only rue their inability to get a second goal on the board. If they had it would probably have been a much different result but as they never got that second goal they left room for a great escape. And when you are playing the second best team in the division, you can be sure they will take advantage of any chances that you gift them. Sadly the Rams gifted them 3 too many.
Should have had a goal but doesn't like to score them unless they are worth 50 million pounds or more! Must add this aspect to his game if he is ever to take the next step. Against the team whom he achieved a personal career highlight against, Pearson once again did himself proud against Albion, even if it was in a losing side. Next Match: Derby County v Watford Saturday 6th March - 3pm Pride Park Stadium
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