Albion fans savour humiliation

on a sweet FA Cup derby victory over bitter rivals:

As if the scoreline wasn't enough, Albion's South Bank army waited until after the final whistle to deliver the ultimate humiliation on Cup derby day.

Click here to enlarge image

And it wasn't even a chant that rubbed the salt deep into Wolves' wounds as the old enemy inflicted their second 3-0 beating of the season on them.

Instead, it was the calling card the Baggies fans left in the Jack Harris Stand that would have hurt their Molineux counterparts worst of all.

Hundreds of Tesco carrier bags spread over seats was the final blow below the belt for the Wolves fans who had rankled with the decision to hand 'home' seats over to their rivals for one afternoon.

That verdict was delivered by the police rather than the club, but the whole debate over the issue, it's subsequent fall out and pie 'n' pint apology gave Albion's 5,300 followers all the ammunition they needed to gloat.

They didn't waste the opportunity either, with chants of 'they sold your seats but they'll buy you a pint' an increasingly familiar soundtrack as Albion took control on the pitch.

On an afternoon when the Black Country was divided once more, there was room for football's equivalent of the Christmas Day truce as Wolves fans applauded their rivals' anti Jez Moxey chants after the Molineux chief executive dared not to give them a wave.

But in the cold light of day, that wouldn't have been the only thing they would have agreed on.

In fact you can bet the majority of Wolves fans would have also begrudgingly acknowledged the truth behind the resonating sounds from the South Bank of 'we're just too good for you' as Albion wrapped up a fifth round spot with plenty to spare.

After the 3-0 thumping the Baggies handed out to their neighbours at The Hawthorns three months ago, this was supposed to be an afternoon when the Black Country divide closed to a mere fissure.

With Wolves eager for revenge and Albion fragile on the road it was a game that was supposed to be too close to call.

A replay two weeks tomorrow seemed to be the favoured verdict of all but the most partisan of punters and pundits.

Instead, as Uriah Rennie's whistle blew for the final time, the gap between these two old rivals was even wider that it had been in October as Albion inflicted the biggest beating on Wolves in this fixture at Molineux since December 1978.

That's more than 28 years ago - and took place before Wolves' tormenters in chief Diomansy Kamara and Jason Koumas were born.

Yet the Baggies achieved it without hardly having to get out of second, never mind third gear.

In the three months since Tony Mowbray kicked off his Hawthorns reign against Wolves, the Baggies have become synonymous with open, attacking football, which has been as entertaining as at times it has arguably been foolhardy.

But, even allowing for the fact that Wolves were poor, this was a performance that provided the firmest evidence yet that Albion are getting used to Mowbray's demands on the road.

At times his desire to play attacking football has been misconstrued as a demand to be cavalier, gung-ho even, leaving themselves vulnerable at the back.

Yet here was a performance that suggested Albion are developing some streetwise nous about how to handle themselves on their travels.

Rather than leave themselves wide open, the Baggies displayed a discipline in defence and midfield that ensured they were never carved open by Wolves.

At the same time they had a plan of what to do when they were in possession, and in Kamara and Koumas they had two men who were able to implement it to the letter.

That's two wins on the trot on the road and one defeat in five - not bad for a team that's suffered from serious travel sickness for the best part of two and a half years.

And when coupled with Albion's record since the start of December of eight wins and two draws in 11 games, it suggests that after a difficult start Mowbray has the Baggies heading in the right direction.

In terms of winning favour with the fans, he certainly couldn't have done any better than inflict the two biggest defeats on Wolves in a generation.

Of course it helps if you have matchwinners, and in Kamara and Koumas Albion boast two of the best in the Championship.

For the second time this season Wolves simply couldn't handle them.

But those two artisans couldn't have done it without the 'soldiers' Mowbray has called for.

Richard Chaplow, fast becoming Albion's lucky talisman after starring in each of their four game winning streak, was an unsung hero in central midfield alongside the excellent Jonathan Greening.

Up front it's inconceivable that Kamara would have posed such a threat without the prodigious workrate of Kevin Phillips.

After taking the early sting of the game Albion were simply superior in all departments.

And because the boinging Baggies fans knew it, their Molineux parting shot was the most sweet and sour moment of all depending on which side of the divide you sit.