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 Sunday 7th May 2006, Barclays Premiership, Goodison Park, Kick-Off 3:00pm
Everton: Turner,
Neville, Weir, Stubbs, Valente, Osman, Arteta, S Davies (van der Meyde 68),
Kilbane (Anichebe 68),
Ferguson,
McFadden. Subs not used: Ruddy (gk), Naysmith, Ferrari
Albion: Kuszczak, Watson (Hodgkiss 63), C Davies,
Martinez,
Robinson, Gera
(Carter 75), Wallwork, Quashie, Greening, Kanu, Ellington (S
Nicholson 69).
Subs not used: Hoult (gk), Inamoto
Referee: Alan Wiley (Staffordshire)
Assistant Referees: Darren Cann (Norfolk), Peter
Kirkup (Northamptonshire)
Half-Time:
Attendance: 39,671 Conditions: Overcast with rain
SKY SPORTS
Captain Duncan Ferguson scored in the final minute of the game against West Bromwich Albion to complete a 2-2 comeback for The Toffees, in what is likely to be his last game for the club. The big Scot, whose contract at Goodison Park runs out this summer, had tears in his eyes as he paraded around the pitch with his family and team-mates after the game. Baggies keeper Tomasz Kuszczak had threatened to spoil the emotional day, with a string of point-blank saves for his side, before being beaten by substitute Victor Anichebe in the 84th minute, to set up the dream finish for Ferguson. Goals from Zoltan Gera and Williams Martinez had given Albion an unlikely 2-0 lead, and it seemed the Polish goalkeeper would keep out The Toffees' advances until Anichebe's smart finish, and Ferguson netted a penalty rebound. David Weir had handed the striker the captain's armband before the game and accompanied by some rousing celebrations for late Goodison legend Brian Labone, the game was set up for an emotional rollercoaster. Midfielder Mikel Arteta created the first clear opening of the match. His cross from the right perfectly picked out Kevin Kilbane, but the Irishman saw his powerful header rattle the bar following a touch by keeper Kuszczak. The miss proved even more costly, on 14 minutes, when Albion pushed into The Toffees' half and Nwankwo Kanu passed to Jonathan Greening on the left. The former Manchester United man lacked support, but put in a swinging cross and found a sprinting Gera at the back stick to make it 1-0 to Albion. Everton keeper Iain Turner, who came into the side to replace the injured Richard Wright, was left helpless as the Hungarian stretched to coolly slot the ball home. The Everton fans demanded a response, but The Hawthorns outfit were battling and frustrating the home team. A corner on the half-hour mark from Arteta again picked out Kilbane in the box, but the wide man was again thwarted by a diving Kuszczak. Phil Neville's foul on Kanu earned him a customary booking before Kilbane once again found himself free in the box. A Neville cross from the right was flicked on by Ferguson to Kilbane just a few yards out at the back post, but when seeming certain to score, he fired his shot not once, but twice into the body of a speedy Kuszczak from close range. West Brom doubled their lead just after the restart. Turner made a good save from Kanu at the expense of a corner, and the ball broke for defender Martinez to fire home and give The Baggies an unlikely 2-0 lead. As The Toffees pushed forwards to get a foothold in the game, they again found Kuszczak in the way, this time keeping out a James McFadden snap-shot. Ferguson was denied a trademark header as Kuszczak again dived to save his side and claw the ball out. The Everton pressure was constant, but they still could not find a way past the Polish shot-stopper until a late goal from substitute Anichebe gave them hope. The striker received the ball from Arteta on 84 minutes, and turned well before firing the home side's first to make it 2-1. Neville had a chance to equalise for The Toffees just after that, but Kuszczak again pounced on a shot from point-blank range. Referee Alan Wiley awarded a penalty in the final minute to set up the scriptwriter's ending. Arteta was felled by Albion goalscorer Martinez and Ferguson stepped up to draw his side level at 2-2, but only from the rebound, as Kuszczak saved the skipper's penalty, and was even unfortunate to be beaten by the big Scot's second effort. And so it finished 2-2, a superb performance by the Albion keeper, but a fair result overall.
wba.co.uk
Steve Watson: "It's devastating that we won't be back in this league next year. The Premiership is where everybody wants to ply their trade and play against the best players in the world. I haven't been out of the Premiership in the last 14 years or so, so it is going to be new for me. I'm not underestimating how hard it's going to be next season. But we've got to believe we're only going to spend one year in that division and then hopefully not make the same mistakes if we do get back up. "We went out to play some good football. We were desperate to get an away win for the fans. We were in a great position to do that but Everton kept coming at us. It was a soft penalty that led to their equaliser but overall we had enough possession and good chances to hold on for a win. "The fans have travelled all season and we have only rewarded them with one win. They've been fantastic and we're deeply disappointed we couldn't hold on today. "The performance was much better, though, and there were some positives, with Williams making his first Premiership start against 'Big Dunc'. It's a tough way to start but I thought he and Curtis Davies handled his aerial threat as well as anyone I've seen this season. Williams scored a goal as well while youngsters Stuart Nicholson and Jared Hodgkiss came on. "When I sat back after coming off it was almost as if we'd forgotten how to see a game out. We should have seen this game out but another refereeing decision has cost us. "We know how tough next season is going to be. It will be a very difficult league to get out of. It's a very, very competitive league where the games come thick and fast. But we hope we can bounce straight back." Source: wba.co.uk
David Moyes: "It looked like it was going to end in disappointment but it wasn't for the want of trying by the players. I thought we continually went forward, continually made chances and continually made their goalkeeper make some outstanding saves. “So the players kept going but I don't think we got our just desserts today because we deserved more than the one point we got. From the opening five minutes we missed some chances and their goalkeeper made some saves. We found ourselves 2-0 down and I don't think our goalkeeper had any saves to make. "You wonder if it is going to be one of those days but we changed it a bit and went as bold as we could and we got our reward." Source: evertonfc.com
Williams Martinez makes his full league debut and scores his first goal for the club.
Jared Hodgkiss makes his league debut.
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