Albion 1 Coventry 0
Wednesday 24th March 2010, 9:40PM GMT.
Steven Reid’s first Albion goal handed his side another crucial win in their quest to return to the Premier League.
The on-loan Blackburn midfielder turned home a Chris Brunt corner on 22 minutes to secure the Baggies a well-deserved half-time lead.
But they had to withstand waves of Coventry pressure in the second-half to restore their eight-point lead over third-placed Nottingham Forest in the race for promotion.
Albion went close early on when Chris Brunt’s mis-hit cross from the left brushed the crossbar and almost found its way inside the far post.
And Ben Watson should have done better after failing to make contact with a fine Joe Mattock cross a yard from goal.
But the Baggies went ahead on 22 minutes when an excellent corner from Brunt on the right was missed by Abdoulaye Meite but turned in at the far post by the sliding Reid.
Three minutes before the interval they thought they had doubled their lead when Robert Koren met a Graham Dorrans free-kick at the far post, but his shot was weak and goalkeeper Keiren Westwood clutched it.
The officials waved away half-hearted claims from the Baggies that the ball had crossed the line.
After the break the Sky Blues apply more pressure to the Baggies’ goal, although it was the hosts who had the early chances with Westwood saving well from a deflected Koren shot and Miller firing over with a shot on the turn.
Meite then made a fabulous tackle just inside the box to halt a darting run by Jonathan Stead, who fired just wide moments later from a Sammy Clingan free-kick.
Gabriel Tamas then had to clear off the line from a Richard Wood header and Clinton Morrison hit the woodwork for Coventry with the last kick of the game.
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Guaranteed a play off place at least now, but in the words of chris tarrent, We dont wanna give you that, when you could get !!! If we win and forest v newcasttle is a forest win or even a draw then its going to get interesting
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Another great win lads although it sounded like the alamo at the end. I’ll take the 3 points though thank you. A very impressive run of 5 successive wins and if we can get a win at Reading on Saturday we’ll be top with Newcastle and Forest meeting each other on Monday night.
Reid sounds like a useful addition to the squad and with his experience could probably cut it in the top flight should we go up.
On another note, Mowbray is in deep trouble, losing 4-0 at St Mirren will not rest easy with the locals.
Well done lads, keep up the good work.
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A priceless three points.Time is running out for Forest,coming up they have Newcastle,a revived Bristol City,and Blackpool all away,plus Cardiff at home.We just need to keep things steady,don’t do anything stupid,and we should be home and dry.
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what happend to the midfield 2nd half??
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A tired performance but three points, so who cares.
Before the moaners come on.
We are without Bednar, Olsson and Jara.
Reid and Watson had played very little before coming to us and are still short of match fitness.
Miller, Barnes, Thomas, and Morrison all coming back from injury and not fully fit.
Dorrans and Brunt have played almost every game this season and have every right to feel knackered.
So all in all is it any wonder it was a tired looking team. Not excuses just reasons.
And we won so who cares how it came.
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Well a win is a win as they say,Reading next and no finger nails left!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Nearly there come on you baggies!!
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In the second half i looked at the scoreboard it read`the hawthorns is a non smoking stadium`i thought blummin ek smoking should be made compulsory as i was down to my last finger nail,well done lads aye boing boing
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I was relieved and suprised to see Clinton morrison wasent in the cov starting line up, he is one of those players that always seems to score against us,and almost did at the end,the champers is on ice,aye boing boing
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Very nervy, I was clock watching with 20 minutes to go!!
I think we just about deserved the 3 points last night, but Coventry put up a spirited display in the 2nd half!!
Scott Carson was exceptional last night by the way, as was Tamas and for me Watson was man of the match.
A point at Reading on Saturday would do me fine.
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Looking good for the Black country Derbies next year.Can only be good for West Midlands football in general.
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A much needed three points but very concerned how Coventry were able to dominated the game in the second half and we were defending for our lives, this is when somebody with a bit of quality in Midfield needs to put their foot on the ball the job formally filled by Greening. I like the Coventry keeper and I feel he would be an excellent signing in the summer.
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Looks like mr Mowbray will be seeking new employers soon,aye boing boing
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Well done lads! another three well earned points. Good, well disciplined performance, some tired legs out there but we can cope.
Good performance from Mattock a plus point.
Good atmosphere nearly there now.
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Our displays recently are not for anyone with
a nervous disposition it seems there is a more
cautious approach problem is if we sit back and invite teams onto us the will grow in confidence as Coventry found we could easily
have lost last night. Reading next who will
prove more difficult they are on the up. We
have to find a way to stop their wide men !!
Furthermore McAnuff will have a few scores to
settle suggest leaving JT out hes got too short a fuse I expect a tough match will do to
come away with a point and no red cards In our
favour a Forest loss at Newcastle will keep us
comfortably ahead Lets hope Olssen and Bednar
are fit.
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Great atmosphere, nothing negative at all. I’ll have a pint of whatever Coventry had at half time. Thought Brunt was exceptional. Meite and Tamas looked good and Carson seamed to have much better command of his area and his centre backs. Miller looked dead on his feet, would have liked an earlier change there as the ball just kept coming back at us. Hope we sign Reid,and Watson did a good job.
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Very nervy finish to the game… Coventry threw everything at us apart from the “kitchen sink”. But we are at that stage of the season where pretty football goes out the window .. agree with a post earlier (although I am not his biggest fan) Carson had a decent game last night as did most of the defenders. I know the sponsors want to meet Dorrans but I thought Reid or Watson where up there for man of match
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Its the business end of the season, so its results that count. Couldn’t care less about the performance last night. We got 3 points!
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Another night well spent in the kitchen with the whiskey,coke & the wireless! well done to the boys.Had to celebrate in silence though..baby in bed & all that!
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Have to say well done Baggies! Keep it up and automatic promotion will be yours. It would be great to see another Midlands team in the PL instead of cockneys, scousers and mancunians every week on TV.
Plus, what’s a local rivalry if we’re never in the same division.
UTW
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Great fighting performance by the lads heart was in the mouth when they hit the post in last seconds
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We’ve had a number of shirt sponsors this season, including two charity appeals, maybe the last 3 home games ought to go to the British Heart Foundation!
Solid 1st half, difficult 2nd; but 3 points is all that matters. Thought Watson was MoM too. Sky Blues respected Dorrans and had 2 men on him. From where I sit, I’m convinced Westwood collected ball from behind the line, but the officals were poorly positioned to see it.
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