Terry Wills witnesses a memorable day at the Hawthorns.
AT LAST! The sad saga of unrelenting Hawthorns defeats, many at the hands of a certain Tony Pulis, came to a satisfying end – and how the boinging fans revelled in not hearing the strains of Delilah celebrating Stoke’s usual win at the final whistle.
The 1-0 victory was satisfying, but in truth it should have been more comprehensive. A minimum of changes – both Saido Berahino and Brown Ideye again playing courtesy of pain killing injections, Darren Fletcher back to display his studied composure and a recall for Stephane Sessegnon all led to the Potters being outplayed in the first half like no other Stoke side I’d seen since….oh I can’t remember when!
Brown Ideye thankfully made amends( if only temporarily!) for THAT miss against Villa by nodding the winner, and another three invaluable points strengthened the rising claim that only a calamitous set of results could yet see Albion fighting to preserve their current status.
Particular mention has to be made of outstanding performances from Sessegnon and James Morrison . Under the influence of Tony Pulis, Morrison in particular is playing as well as he has for months. Aggressive, full of running,an eye for a scoring opportunity, he’s rediscovered his best almost forgotten form. More of the same please James.
Which leads on Tony Pulis – a ‘gaffer’ who commands respect from players and supporters alike. He still has critics relating to his pre-set tactics of avoiding defeat but this game proved that Albion can also play attractive passing football.
Five clean sheets from seven games but this record will be challenged as the last five include Liverpool, Manchester United, Chelsea and Arsenal..
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This week it’s feet up, switch on the telly to see Albion playing at Maine Road (old habits die hard) and with tickets costing £44.00 – proving that it really is theGreed League – I fancy a fair number of the usual travelling Baggies diehards will choose the cheaper option?
With City playing midweek in Barcelona and not hopefully in the best of form, on paper providing Albion can nullify their attacking ability we could snatch a result.
Go to it lads – make my and every Baggies fan’s day.