Matt Maher: The Black Country Derby will be remembered for the missing 37 minutes
The most anticipated 90 minutes in the Black Country for more than a decade will be remembered for the 37 when no football took place.
By the end of one of the most shameful days in the history of this rivalry, the image which stuck most in the mind was not of the two pieces of skill from Pedro Neto and Matheus Cunha which earned Wolves a first win at The Hawthorns for nearly 28 years.
Instead, it was Albion defender Kyle Bartley wading into the Halfords Lane Stand to rescue children.
That image was not screened on ITV’s live coverage. Neither were several other depressing sights, the TV director opting to keep the camera trained on the centre circle as violence flared after Cunha had put Wolves 2-0 up in the 78th minute.
As a region, we owe that director a debt of gratitude. What the national audience did see and hear in those moments was embarrassing enough, without them witnessing everything 25,000 people inside The Hawthorns could.
The lowlights, the sight of terrified children aside, included an Albion supporter being led across the pitch by police and paramedics, bleeding heavily from a head wound, while still making an attempt to break away and confront Wolves fans behind the Smethwick End goal.
Another moment, which rather neatly summed up the chaos, saw a Baggies fan wearing a flatcap stroll casually through the technical areas unchallenged and then out onto the pitch toward the Wolves supporters, scarf aloft in an act of defiance.
Soon after, another supporter was wheeled down the touchline on a stretcher, horizontal but for a raised hand waving in an apparent attempt to further whip up the crowd. All around, meanwhile, anger reigned, the fury mostly concentrated in two corners of the ground as police battled to regain control.
Eventually, they did and the final 14 minutes of the match - including two minutes for stoppages - were played out in an uneasy air, both teams appearing reticent, perhaps even slightly frightened to go at it full pelt out of concern for how it might impact emotions in the stands.
The same applied to the post-match celebrations. This was an historic result for Wolves, their first victory at The Hawthorns since 1996. Gary O’Neil, after condemning the violence, stressed how he did not want that fact forgotten.
