Monday 12th September 2005, BPRL North, The Hawthorns, Kick-Off 7:00pm Albion 1 - 1 Middlesbrough Smikle 54   Graham 45 Albion: Kuszczak, Hodgkiss, Moore (Downing HT), Manchester, Baker, Humphrey (Elvins 68), Sissoko, Inamoto, Pringle (Kelleher 63), Smikle, S Nicholson. Subs not used: Daniels (gk), McQuilkin Middlesbrough: Knight, Hines, Wheater (Cooper 73), Bates (Clough HT), Grounds, Liddle, Cattermole, Kennedy, Owensm, Graham (Burgess 65), Craddock. Subs not used: Pennock (gk), Walker Referee: L Hodgson Assistant Referees: R Merchant, S Attwell Half-Time: Albion 0-1 Middlesbrough Attendance: 355 Conditions: Warm sunny evening Decent performance by a young Albion side although a draw was probably the fair result. Junichi Inamoto, Brian Smikle, Tomasz Kuszczak, Jared Hodgkiss and Lee Baker stood out for Albion. Baker looks an excellent prospect for the future whilst Kuszczak pulled off a number of good saves to deny the visitors. MAN OF THE MATCH: Lee Baker PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN Kuszczak 8 - Made a number of good saves and kicked well throughout. Hodgkiss 7 - Another good performance, defended well. Moore 6 - Solid until forced off through injury. Manchester 6 - Decent performance, slighty unconvincing early in the game though. Baker 8 - Passed the ball well and defended well. Humphrey 5 - Never really got into the game. Sissoko 7 - Showed some nice touches but at times needed to pass the ball sooner. Inamoto 7 - Passed the ball well and tackled well. Pringle 4 - Ineffective. Smikle 7 - Worked hard, took goal well. S Nicholson 5 - Struggled to make an impact. Subs: Downing 5 - Quiet. Elvins 5 - Made no impact. Kelleher 5 - No real contribution. REF WATCH L Hodgson 7 - Kept the game flowing. Evening Mail: THE Baggies suffered their second defeat of the season and deserved no more from an uninspiring match at The Hawthorns. Fielding a strong team, they made a bright enough start, with Rob Davies having a 10th-minute shot blocked from a Darren Carter corner and Darren Moore shooting over from the rebound. But that proved to be Albion's only first-half effort of note as Liverpool got on top and Florent Sinama-Pongolle set up a great 28th-minute chance for Ramon Calliste, who scuffed the shot. Eight minutes later Tomasz Kuszczak got behind a 25 yards shot from Antonio Barragan, who eventually broke the deadlock in the 51st minute. Again Sinama-Pongolle was involved, this time playing in Danny Guthrie whose close-range shot was saved by the keeper but Barragan was on hand to fire the loose ball home. Nathan Ellington ploughed a lone furrow up front with little chance to shine. Former Villa striker Peter Crouch, returning from a hamstring injury, came on for Liverpool after 63 minutes and the lanky England man showed some neat touches. wba.co.uk mfc.co.uk
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