Tuesday
25th
July 2006, Pre-Season Friendly,
East End Park, Kick-Off 7:45pm
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Dunfermline Athletic |
0 - 1 |
Albion |
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1,340 |
Hartson 38 |
Dunfermline Athletic: Roddy McKenzie (Dorus de Vries HT), Greg Shields, Scott Wilson, Soulemayne
Bamba, Calum Woods (Craig Wilson 65), Stephen Simmons (Nick Phinn HT), Gary
Mason, Phil McGuire, Iain Campbell, Noel Whelan (Keith Shevlin 48), Freddie
Daquin (Owen Morrison 72). Subs not used: Calum Smith, Alan
McDonough, David Muir, Iain Williamson
Albion: Pascal
Zuberbuhler, Jared Hodgkiss (Steve Watson HT), Curtis Davies, Chris Perry,
Paul Robinson (Martin Albrechtsen HT), Richard Chaplow (Nathan Ellington
HT), Junichi Inamoto, Ronnie Wallwork (Nigel Quashie HT), Darren Carter
(Jonathan Greening HT), Zoltan
Gera, John Hartson (Rob Elvins 75). Subs not used:
Tomasz Kuszczak (gk), Luke Daniels (gk), Rob Davies, Ibrahim Sissoko, Jeff
Forsyth
Referee: John Underhill (Scotland)
Half-Time:
Dunfermline Athletic 0-1 Albion
Ignore all the media hype surrounding John Hartson - West
Bromwich Albion's new striker is the real deal. The 31-year-old arrived at
The Hawthorns with question marks over his fitness, private life and
anything else you would care to mention. Hartson shrugged his shoulders and
concentrated on the football.
He is already developing into a cult hero among
Albion supporters who have
witnessed his exploits in
Scotland.
He scored his second goal in as many matches here last night, steering
Albion to victory and looking a real menace to opponents. However, he has
scored more than 100 goals against Scottish Premier League defences in the
last five years, so it was no surprise to see him score against
Dunfermline. Bigger tests lie ahead in the Championship but it is imposible to quell
the growing anticipation among
Albion's supporters. When he was replaced by Rob Elvins with 15
minutes remaining, he was afforded a standing ovation from visiting
supporters who are yearning for a striker to idolise.
Bryan Robson, the
Albion manager, is in no doubt about his new striker's ability.
"John's movement is really good," he said."He is an experienced wise head
and gets across defenders. Also, if he spots a defender ball-watching, he
will pull on to his shoulder. Our crossing was terrific and if it continues
like that, then both John and Nathan Ellington will score goals."
Robson made five changes and drafted in Jared Hodgkiss,
Richard Chaplow and Junichi Inamoto for their first starting appearances of
the tour. Hartson glanced wide a golden opportunity from six yards following
good play by Darren Carter. Frederic Daquin tested Pascal Zuberbuhler and
Zoltan Gera's effort was repelled by Roddy McKenzie as the match spluttered
into life. Hartson headed a Jared Hodgkiss cross wide but
Albion were comfortably in
control. Seven minutes before half-time, Carter was scythed down by Scott
Wilson and an alert Gera quickly rolled the free-kick into the path of Paul
Robinson whose cross was met by Hartson. His downward header whistled into
the net. The goal again dispelled any questions posed over Hartson's
mobility as he has a happy knack of being in the right place at the right
time.
At half-time, Robson replaced five players before
Albion stayed comfortably in
the ascendancy. Gera's cross was met by the head of Hartson but it just
cleared the bar before
Dunfermline replaced Noel Whelan. The former Coventry Citry striker
looked chunky, to put it mildly, and had failed to trouble
Albion's defence during his
48 minutes on the pitch. Hartson was inches away from scoring with a header
from Jonathan Greening's cross before
Dunfermline's Iain Campbell saw his free kick from 20 yards fly past a
static Zuberbuhler and strike the underside of the bar before bouncing away
to safety.
The match petered out with
Albion cruising to victory.
This tour will surely be deemed a success.
icBirmingham
Bryan Robson:
"It's nice to finish with another win although there was
still a bit of sloppiness in our passing.
"I thought in general terms we defended pretty well but the
best part of our game was our crossing. It was terrific. On another
occasion, we may have scored four or five headed goals. That's a good sign
because if the likes of Zoltan Gera, Jonathan Greening, Paul Robinson and
Darren Carter keep putting quality crosses in like that, Nathan Ellington
and Harts will score goals.
"Harts' movement is good - that's what gets him into great
positions. He's got an experienced, wise head on his shoulders. He either
gets across defenders or, if he notices a defender ball watching, he'll pull
on his shoulder. There were good signs from him.
"Zoltan missed that much football last year that this
pre-season has been really hard for him. Zolly felt very tired after the
Dunfermline game but
those 90 minutes will have done him the world of good. I'm sure we will see
him back at his best. He's got great ability and we all know what a good
player he is. Zoltan's got a massive part to play for us this year.
"Because the lads have worked so hard in pre-season training,
and the fact they've played so many games in a short space of time, they're
starting to feel that little bit tired. We travel back to
Birmingham on Wednesday.
They'll have Thursday off and I think on Friday and Saturday they'll be
flying in training because they will have had that bit of rest for the first
time since they reported back.
"All of the players we've brought with us are okay injury
wise, which is good. Curtis Davies' groin has been niggling away at him all
the way through pre-season but he got through the game and didn't complain
about it at all."
Jim Leishman:
"The best thing about it is, that's ten minutes after the
game and nobody is saying that they are injured! We kept our shape well and
we tried one or two things. The good thing is that hopefully we will have
three or four players back on Thursday when we work on Saturday's game."
The last meeting of the two sides came during the 1968/69 season in the
European Cup Winners Cup. Dunfermline came out on top winning 1-0 on
aggregate over two legs.
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