LFL: WBA

This wasn’t easy but we fought well and got that crucial goal. Three points, a clean sheet and Coventry losing. Not a bad afternoon all in all. 

BEFORE

Most of us still have a lot of affection for Tony Mowbray but when that whistle goes this afternoon there'll be no room for sentiment as both sides will be going for the win. The Baggies have been on a rather wobbly run, with just one win in their last five league games, and are currently one place outside the play-offs. They're also the Championship's top draw specialists with eighteen so far, including one against us back in November. Le Fee will be back in the squad and should make an appearance later in proceedings. Watson may also feature as a sub. I thought £10 million was a good bit of business actually if he wants to be away. Coventry and Leeds are also both involved in early starts today with the former at home to Burnley and the latter away at Luton. All in all I think I'd prefer Burnley to win as I don't want Coventry to finish fifth and then play us twice. Luton have pulled a few wins together recently and may well surprise Leeds. I know we have little chance of overtaking Leeds but a defeat for them would add further spice to the mix. I'll be watching the match with other members of the SAFCSA London Branch and perhaps it's the sunshine but I think –we're going to win and my match prediction is 3-1 to us.

I got the team-news on the way over to the bar and saw that there were no changes in our starting line-up from the Millwall game but Le Fee and Hjelde were on the bench.

I could see three other members of the Faithful in the bar as I got a pint in and chose a good seat.

THE MATCH

Both teams went into a huddle and then we were off. There was no sound on the transmission and also there was a lot of light reflecting off the screen but not to worry. We were awarded a free-kick in a tasty spot on our left in the third minute

but couldn’t make anything of it. West Brom started to put a lot of pressure on around the sixth minute and Patto made his first save, though their final effort was more of a trickle than a shot. We won the first corner shortly after that but it only resulted in a lobbed shot from Mundle going well off-target. The Baggies looked dangerous coming forward and at times were getting the better of our back line on both flanks with Mikey Johnston looking especially dangerous down our right. They went close in the thirteenth when Patto half-flapped an effort away and the follow-up was blocked. We conceded a corner in the seventeenth and it resulted in a shot being skied over the bar. We were doing very little up their end and looked too slow to the ball all over the pitch. Isidor injured his back in an aerial clash in the twentieth but managed to carry on. 

We finally created a decent attack in the twenty-third and it culminated in a Mundle shot flashing not too far from the right post. We soon won another corner and though it came to nothing, we were relieving the pressure at the other end. Heggem was down injured for a few minutes so there was going to be a good deal of added-time. As the half-hour mark past it remained goalless and we’d weathered the storm. Elsewhere both Coventry and Leeds were drawing 1-1. We won another corner but before we could take it Mundle was down injured and he had to go off, to be replaced by Mayenda. Anyway, the corner led to a free-kick to us just to the left of their box. I could see Hume involved in a bit of a conflab and then next thing he lammed the kick into the right of their net and we were one-up. I moved up the bar a bit so I could enjoy the replay without the refection on the screen. In the thirty-eighth I thought we were lucky to escape a penalty when Hume, I think, tripped a Baggie in the box. Next thing Jobe was down injured for a while so there’d be an even bigger amount of added-time. Johnston continued to look threatening down our right and we’d hardly been able to get the ball off him so far. Patto conceded a corner in the forty-third and it was headed just wide of our left post. West Brom were doing all the pressing in the closing stages of the half and then, unsurprisingly, nine minutes of added-time were announced. Isidor forced another corner in the forty-ninth and it led to yet another, which we took short but it was cleared. It remained 0-1 as the whistle went and we’d done well to survive the West Brom pressure for most of  the opening half-hour and then come back. If we continued to allow Johnston to give us the runaround down their left, though, I felt sure that we’d concede.

West Brom came out of the blocks and pressed us back for the opening minutes of the second period. We conceded two more corners but again survived and started to spray the passes around in midfield with Jobe looking very solid. In the fifty-fourth goal-machine Hume almost got his second when a low shot whipped just wide of their right post. Browne and Roberts were given yellow-cards around the hour-mark. It had been a physical game and I was a bit surprised we’d gone so long without a booking. Elsewhere Burnley had gone 2-1 up against Coventry and they were ten minutes ahead of us what with all our delays. Mayenda soon joined the others in the book for diving in the box. For the next five minutes or so we were under the cosh as West Brom pressed us back and we conceded another corner in the sixty-seventh but Johnston wellied it well over. 

Twenty minutes to go and it was going to be a bumpy ride all the way but then we made a double switch, bringing on Le Fee and Hjelde for Roberts and Browne. We were on the back foot for a good while but were managing to defend effectively. In the eighty-first Patto made a diving save to deny a header but West Brom hadn’t summoned many efforts on target, though they’d blasted quite a few high and wide. I’d read that the Baggies were almost as bad as us for conceding late goals so I hoped today wouldn’t be an exception. Even so, I was getting nervous about whether we’d be able to hold out even though the clock seemed to be running down quickly. Elsewhere Coventry lost 2-1 to Burnley and Leeds drew, which suited me at any rate. There hadn’t been many stoppages in our game so I was hoping for minimal added-time but four minutes were announced. We won a corner and then brought on Aleksic for Isidor. We finished the stronger of the teams and managed the play well till it ended 1-0 to us.