Saturday
9th September 2006,
Coca-Cola Championship, The
Hawthorns, Kick-Off 3:00pm
|
Albion |
2 - 0 |
Leicester City |
|
Kenton 83 (og) |
19,322 |
|
|
Phillips 86 (pen) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
0 |
Half-Time Score |
0 |
|
58% |
Possession |
42% |
|
5 |
Shots On Target |
2 |
|
4 |
Shots Off Target |
6 |
|
4 |
Corners |
3 |
|
16 |
Fouls Against |
14 |
|
7 |
Offsides |
6 |
|
1 |
Yellow Cards |
0 |
|
0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
Albion: Pascal
Zuberbuhler, Martin Albrechtsen, Paul McShane, Chris Perry, Paul Robinson,
Darren Carter, Ronnie Wallwork, Nigel Quashie (c)
(Richard Chaplow 86), Jonathan Greening (Jason Koumas 69), Kevin Phillips,
John Hartson (Nathan Ellington 69). Subs not used: Russell Hoult (gk),
Zoltan Gera
McShane
68 (foul)
Leicester
City:
Paul Henderson, Darren Kenton, Patrick Kisnorbo, Patrick McCarthy, Nils-Eric
Johansson, Josh Low (Richard Stearman 61), Andy Johnson, Stephen Hughes,
Levi Porter (James Wesolowski 78), Matty Fryatt (Iain Hume 66), Chris
O'Grady. Subs not used: Conrad Logan (gk), Gareth McAuley
Referee: Martin Atkinson (Yorkshire)
Assistant Referees: Bob Pollock (Merseyside), Richard West (Yorkshire)
Fourth Official: Gary Sutton (Lincolnshire)
Conditions:
Warm with sunny spells
ALBION
TEAM NEWS:
Baggies’ boss Bryan Robson made five changes to the side that
lost 2-0 at Sunderland 12 days ago. Darren Carter and Martin Albrechtsen made their first
league starts of the season whilst Paul McShane and Kevin Phillips both
made their Hawthorns debuts. Ronnie Wallwork also returned to the
Albion starting line-up
after being rested against Sunderland. Curtis Davies (broken foot), Steve
Watson (hamstring), Nathan Ellington, Richard Chaplow and Zoltan Gera were
the men that made way.
LEICESTER CITY
TEAM NEWS:
Foxes’ boss Rob Kelly made just one change to the side that
beat Southend United a fortnight ago with Levi Porter starting in place of
Danny Tiatto.
ALBION STRUGGLE BUT FINALLY FINISH OFF FOXES
A hard
fought victory for Bryan Robson's men against a stubborn City side. In
defence Paul McShane and Chris Perry forged a good partnership whilst in
midfield Darren Carter produced probably his best performance for the
club. Up front the John Hartson and Kevin Phillips partnership looked less
than threatening and if it had not been for a fortunate own goal it would
most probably have been two points dropped against one of the poorer sides
in the division.
ALBION MAN OF THE MATCH: Darren Carter
LEICESTER CITY
MAN OF THE MATCH: Levi Porter
PLAYER RATINGS OUT OF TEN
Zuberbuhler
5 - Not much to do, kicked well.
Albrechtsen 5 -
Gave us another attacking option but lost possession too easily.
Robinson 6 - A
typically steady performance.
McShane
7 - A totally committed display of defending.
Perry 6 - Not his best performance for us but generally steady.
Quashie 6 - Not as impressive as at Sunderland but still a decent
display and had a hand in both goals.
Wallwork 3 - Returned to the side but struggled.
Greening 3 - Another less than impressive
performance, time for a rest?
Carter
8 - Probably his best performance for the club. Full of running and
came close to scoring twice.
Hartson 4 - Rarely
troubled the Foxes' defence.
Phillips 6 - Lively display. Took penalty well
but missed good chance prior to it.
SUBS:
Ellington 6 - His movement and pace
helped turn the game in Albion's favour.
Koumas 5 - One or two nice touches. Clearly
needs match practice
Chaplow 4 - Not enough time to get into
the game.
REF
WATCH
Martin Atkinson 4 - Whistle happy.
FAN
WATCH
Albion
4 - Very nervy throughout with only the occasional
'vocal' moment.
Leicester City 5 - Travelled in decent numbers but
on the whole were quiet. Mark Thomas
Leicester defender Darren Kenton headed into his own goal and Kevin
Phillips scored from the penalty spot as
West Brom ran out 2-0 winners at
The Hawthorns. A poor game seemed destined for a goalless stalemate until Kenton
headed Nigel Quashie's cross from the right past Foxes goalkeeper Paul Henderson
in the 82nd minute. And when Patrick Kisnorbo brought down Phillips less than 60
seconds later, referee Martin Atkinson awarded a spot-kick which was dispatched
by the Albion striker.
The first excitement came in the 10th minute when Albion midfielder Darren
Carter's free-kick hit the inside of
Henderson's
left-hand post but somehow failed to cross the line. Carter turned provider just
after the quarter hour as he crossed from the left for Phillips who produced a
smart turn and shot which Henderson athletically saved low to his right.
Leicester's first attack of note came on the half hour as Matty Fryatt, who had
been caught offside on numerous occasions early on, broke clear before a cute
reverse pass set up Chris O'Grady, only for the shot to be scuffed. And moments
later, the lunging Josh Low was only a whisker away from connecting with a
Fryatt effort fired across the face of the Albion goal. At the other end, John
Harston met Jonathan Greening's right-wing corner with a flashing header which
Henderson batted away as the opening period drew to a close.
Both sides ran out unchanged for the start of the second half which opened with
Albion on the offensive as Quashie, recovered from the deadleg he sustained
while on midweek duty with Scotland, raced along the right and crossed for
Phillips who could only miss his kick. Carter was following up from the left but
could only fluff his own shot which ended up once again at the feet of Phillips
though by now Leicester had enough bodies to block out the striker. Phillips was
sent clean through by Quashie in the 73rd minute but again
Henderson saved, this time with
his legs. Albion attacked again as the hour approached but
Henderson
sprinted from his line to clear the ball off the toe of Hartson who had latched
onto a mistake by Andy Johnson. Carter set Henderson's crossbar reverberating
from 25 yards before Baggies boss Bryan Robson made a double substitution in the
69th minute. John Hartson was replaced by Nathan Ellington and Greening by Jason
Koumas, who has returned to fitness and favour after spending the summer on
strike. Late on Henderson
saved a crisp effort from Carter before Quashie centred from the flank and
Kenton rose unchallenged at the back post to head into his own net. Moments
later Kisnorbo brought down Phillips just six yards out and the game was put
beyond the visitors' reach.
Sporting Life
Bryan Robson:
"I was pretty pleased with the performance. In the first
half, we defended very well and
Leicester never really had any opportunities. In the second
half, the players kept their patience really well. Darren Carter hit the
bar twice while Kevin Phillips went clean through and missed a chance. But
the players didn't get frustrated and kept trying to pass and probe.
"We needed to bounce back from a bad defeat and because we
didn't score earlier in the game, the lads showed good character and good
footballing knowledge to try to keep passing and probing. Full credit to
them because the crowd got a bit anxious after we didn't get an early goal
like we did in the previous two home games.
"Our aim is to try to get in that top six to have a chance of
winning promotion. If we keep doing really well at The Hawthorns, that's
going to give us a good base to work from. What we must now do, starting on
Tuesday, is pick up points away. It's a long, hard season so we're not
getting carried away.
"I thought McShane and Phillips did very well. Carter was
also excellent which means there is good competition for places. Even though
we had a lot of possession,
Leicester didn't really counter-attack and I thought McShane and
Chris Perry were really solid at the back. Everyone knows the ability Koumas
has got and what he has done over the last couple of weeks is work really
hard in training. He wants to be a part of a squad which wins promotion and
I'm delighted with his attitude.
"I rested
Gera today because he'd
played in international games. Kamara's coming back to fitness and now
Ellington is over his injury troubles, we had quite a lot of flair players
on the bench who could come on and change the game."
Rob Kelly:
"It looked like we were going to register another clean
sheet, but in the end what has happened has happened. We will take it on
the chin and move on.
For 83 minutes I thought we matched a team who I believe will
finish in the top six. We are not kidding ourselves - we didn't play as well
as we know we can. It was a grind and a battle - but we have competed for 83
minutes and in the end we have been undone by an own goal.
"It was a typical Championship game - scrappy at times while
also being competitive. We knew that the longer we could keep it tight the
more pressure West Brom would come under from their fans. But in the end we have lost to an
unfortunate own goal. Darren (Kenton) had been really steady throughout the
game. In fact the back four as a whole stuck at it against a team that this
time last year were playing in the Premiership.
"We know that we didn't play as well as we know we can play.
I felt quite comfortable on the side that we wouldn't concede. The manner in
which we did was just unfortunate. But we will move on. We never really had
the chance to recover after that. We have now got to use the disappointment
from this game as a positive. Everyone in the dressing room is very
disappointed. We will have to go on to the
Hull game and change that."
Kevin Phillips makes his first league start for Albion and scores his first
Albion goal.
Paul McShane makes his Albion league debut.
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