|
|
|
|
 Saturday 17th September 2005, Barclays Premiership, Stadium of Light, Kick-Off 3:00pm
Sunderland:
Davis, Nosworthy, Breen, Stubbs, Hoyte, Whitehead, Miller (Lawrence 53),
Bassila, Arca (Stead 80), Gray, Elliott (Le Tallec 57).
Subs not used:
Alnwick (gk), Caldwell Albion:
Kirkland, Watson, C Davies, Clement, Robinson, Gera, Wallwork, Johnson,
Greening (Kamara 76), Campbell, Earnshaw (Ellington 82).
Subs not used:
Kuszczak (gk), Albrechtsen, Chaplow
Referee: Richard Beeby (Northamptonshire)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Halliday (North
Yorkshire), Barry Sygmuta (North Yorkshire) Half-Time: Sunderland 1-0 Albion Attendance: 31,657 Conditions: Cool and cloudy
MATCH REPORT
BY: Dale Brookes WEST BROM TEAM NEWS: Bryan Robson made five changes to the side that lost 2-1 against Wigan last weekend. Curtis Davies came in to make his Albion debut replacing Thomas Gaardsoe but Darren Carter missed out altogether against one of his former clubs, Andy Johnson replacing him. Hungarian Zoltan Gera returned to replace Martin Albrechtsen while Nathan Ellington was relegated to the bench in place of Rob Earnshaw. Geoff Horsfield missed out through injury, being replaced by Kevin Campbell. SUNDERLAND TEAM NEWS: Boss Mick McCarthy made just one change to the side that lost 2-0 at Chelsea last weekend. Ex-Sheffield United man Andy Gray replaced Jon Stead partnering Stuart Elliott up front as Sunderland looked for their first Premiership win of the season. BAGGIES RUB ‘ZOLT’ INTO SUNDERLAND WOUNDS WITH LAST GASP STRIKE AT STADIUM OF LIGHT!!! A last gasp header from Zoltan Gera saved Albion’s blushes as they were within seconds from going down to their fourth successive defeat. Sunderland had taken an early lead when Gary Breen powered a header past Kirkland and it looked likely the Mackems would hold out for their first Premiership victory of the season until Hungarian star Zoltan Gera leapt like a salmon to head in a corner from Diomansy Kamara to nick a point for the Baggies. The game began with Sunderland on the attack as they went searching for an early goal that would calm their nerves. In the seventh minute it arrived as Dean Whitehead swept in a dangerous right-footed corner which was met by ex-Blues defender Gary Breen who rocketed a header past Kirkland and into the roof of the net. Neil Clement then almost gifted the Black Cats a two goal lead when his short ball fell straight to the feet of Stuart Elliott, the little Irish man teed up Julio Arca but luckily for Albion the Argentinian missed his kick and Davies was able to sweep up and clear away the danger. Albion finally created their first chance when Zoltan Gera fired in a right footed shot from just outside the box but keeper Davis did well to hold onto the ball. At the other end Kirkland was then forced into action comfortably saving a Dean Whitehead 20 yard effort. Jonathan Greening then missed a golden chance to level the scores, the ex-Middlesbrough man somehow slicing a left foot shot over the bar with the goal gaping after a lovely move between Earnshaw and Watson had setup the opportunity. Neil
Clement sent a curling left footed free kick from 20 yards out just over
the bar as the Baggies finished the half strongly. Earnshaw was even
closer when he raced onto a flick on from Kevin Campbell but his first
time shot whisked wide of Davis’ left hand post. Greening then clipped in
a dangerous left footed cross but Sunderland keeper Davis was on hand to
palm the ball away to safety. Mick
McCarthy made two early changes with Liam Lawrence and Anthony Le Tallec replacing Tommy Miller and Stuart Elliott.
Albion
were struggling
to trouble the Black Cats defence and almost paid the price as at the
other end Whitehead let fly with a right footed shot but Kirkland was
equal to it to make the save before Watson cleared away the danger as Gray
looked to steal in from the rebound. The change had hardly made any effect before Julio Arca hit a left rocket from 25 yards out however the ball whistled well wide of Kirkland’s left hand upright. Kamara soon began to sparkle for the Baggies though as he outpaced the Mackems defence following an Earnshaw through ball but the former Pompey striker let fly with a left shot which sailed just over the bar.
Moments later Albion made their second change when Nathan Ellington came
on to replace Welshman Earnshaw, the change almost had an immediate effect
as the former Wigan man cut inside Breen before rifling a right footed
shot towards the bottom corner of the net which Davis did superbly to tip
behind for a corner. As the clock ticked into injury time Nyron Nosworthy
was on goal line duty to tremendously head away a Wallwork goalbound
header after keeper Davis had fluffed a Robinson left wing cross. Despite
the heroics it was not enough to prevent Robson’s men from snatching last
gasp equaliser when Zoltan Gera climbed highest to head into the back of
the net following a Kamara corner-kick. MAN OF THE MATCH: Zoltan Gera PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Kirkland 6 -
Made a couple of smart saves to keep us in the game, however worryingly
static for the goal.
REF WATCH
FAN WATCH MY REVIEW Thank you Zoltan Gera for that last minute goal because without that we would have been going home with nothing and to be honest it would have probably been deserved for the performance we put in. Daylight robbery was my first impression but having seen the game again on football first we did miss some good chances and on another day could quite easily have won the game. The performance itself was poor and we failed to get any real grip on the game until Kamara came on and caused them no end of problems. I thought Curtis Davies had a solid debut though after starting shaky, he seemed more composed as the game went on and he and Clement looked really good together at times so hopefully that’s our defensive partnership sorted for now.
Watson was dreadful again and I just don’t see why Albrechtsen didn’t
start as he is a far better player than him. At least with Albrechtsen you
have pace and he can actually catch up with the strikers or midfield
players but with Watson there is nothing, not even the ability to pass the
ball as he seems to just hoof the ball at every opportunity. I was very
pleased with Diomansy Kamara’s introduction from the bench as I thought he
was lively and caused them all sorts of problems with his pace, perhaps if
we had started with him we might well have picked up maximum points.
Zoltan Gera was also back to his best and fully deserved his goal so
hopefully he can now kick on from here as well.
safc.com baggies.com wbaunofficial.com a-love-supreme.com onesunderland.com readytogo.net premierleague.com sportinglife.com
Bryan Robson: "Once the injury-time board goes up and there are only three minutes left, you think the game has gone away from you but defeat would have been unfair on my players because I thought we passed the ball very well. I was pleased with our performance.” "It was always going to become a bit of an end-to-end encounter because we were chasing the game but there were some good signs from my players compared to the way we played against Wigan and Blues.The players showed signs of passing the ball better in the first half. Hopefully, avoiding defeat has just turned the corner for us." "We need to start putting in solid performances now and try and get a good run going. If Sunderland had won, that would have given them confidence but now they haven't got that first win behind them it makes it tougher for them and knocks their players' confidence. That's what it is like in relegation fights. You have to try and get the best out of your team and they have to be able to play under pressure. We know all about that from last season so, hopefully, we can pick up our performances and avoid having to fight a relegation battle but, at this moment in time, we're down there." "Chris Kirkland pulled off a great save in the second half that kept us in it and when you're chasing a game, the opposition are always going to break at you. I thought the quality of Kamara's crosses was very good when he came on. He was very direct in his game, which put Sunderland on the back foot, and I thought Nathan Ellington held the ball up well and was a threat. He got a couple of shots in. I was pleased with their attitudes when they came on.” "It shows we've got the ability to change things but I don't want to be changing it too much because I'd sooner be in front and protecting a lead than having to keep chasing an equaliser.” "The squad is a bit stronger than last year and we have to make sure we keep putting in solid performances and get away from the bottom of the division." Source: wba.co.uk
Mick McCarthy: "It was two ordinary sides scrapping out an ordinary game and we ought to have been able to win it and I would have been feeling a lot better. "You know, if they had scored after 20 minutes or 10 minutes and we had equalised in the 93rd minute, I would have been beaming, which is bizarre because we have ended that losing sequence - so let's take the positives from that. "My mother told me there would be days like these. She didn't tell me when and she didn't tell me how many. "I'm very, very disappointed, as everybody is connected with the club; me, fans, players, the lot. We should have been able to win it with the time that was left. It got a bit edgy but it is going to get that way, so we are going to have to deal with that. Having handled everything else, really without too many problems, we should have defended the corner a lot better. "We are learning, so I do not want to beat the players up too much. The players are having a right go for me and they will all get better, they will all improve. Maybe even from that today, we will learn and improve from it - we are going to have to." Source: skysports.com
Curtis Davies makes his Albion debut.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
