Express & Star

Analysis: West Brom's derby day victory worth savouring

Derby day victories away from home will always feel sweet, no matter the wider context.

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Albion celebrate Jay Rodriguez's goal. (AMA)

In some ways, when it goes right in games like this, and plans are executed correctly, the aims of the season fade into the background among the haze of euphoria.

For one weekend only, bragging rights, local battles, and gloriously petty one-upmanship becomes vitally important.

And why not? After all, this is what football is all about. Besting your bitter rivals, whether that's over the course of a season, or just 90 minutes.

It was nip and tuck for the first 20 minutes at Villa Park. The hosts started brightly and should have taken the lead with a chance you'd put your mortgage on Tammy Abraham scoring.

But Albion grew into the game and towards the end of the first half, they were zipping the ball around with purpose.

Two goals in four minutes gave them a lead they were willing to sit on in the second half.

By the end, Dean Smith's team resembled a tennis player coming to the slow realisation there was no way to beat the brick wall he was hitting against.

It's been a long time since an Albion victory in this game has felt so comfortable.

The last time the Baggies beat Villa by a margin of two or more goals was 1984.

That might say more about Villa's current plight than Albion's, but there's no escaping the new-found defensive resilience on the road.

Not since 2002, when Darren Moore was lacing up his boots for the Baggies, have Albion kept four clean sheets in a row away from home.

Incredibly, this team, with its inclination for defensive errors, has just emulated that side.

Whether that second half performance fits the puritanical model of free-flowing attacking football that Darren Moore and Graeme Jones subscribe to, is quite a curious question.

Sitting on a lead and shoving 10 and sometimes 11 men behind the ball and clearing it to no-one in particular is surely more out of the Tony Pulis handbook?

But needs must. And we are reaching that part of the season where results are king.

Had Villa taken one of their second half chances, Albion might have been in trouble.

Rekeem Harper made some eye-catching bursts from his false nine position, and when he played Jay Rodriguez through on goal, the offside call was close.

But the teenager tired, and by the end of the half, Albion did not have an out-ball.

Earlier in the campaign both these teams scored goals for fun.

They were English football's great entertainers and in total, there have been more than 200 goals in their games this season.

But Villa have not recovered from Jack Grealish's injury, and now look a shadow of their former selves.

Albion, meanwhile, had just 25 per cent of the Fab Four, that had previously made them so irresistible, left for this game.

Harvey Barnes, Matt Phillips and Dwight Gayle were all indisposed for one reason or another. Forget The Beatles, this was just Jay Rodriguez and Wings.

The attack was depleted. James Morrison was also unavailable, Hal Robson-Kanu was forced off at half-time. The Baggies played an 18-year-old midfielder as a false nine in the second half.

And yet Moore is finding a way to win, particularly away from home, where it is now seven from eight in the league.

He deserves credit for that, because others have not coped as well with losing such talismanic players.

Seven points from nine is a strong return from last week and a great response to that defeat to Pulis. Albion have only lost two of their last 16 league games.

Rodriguez too, deserves credit, for shouldering the burden. The only outfield player to feature in all league games this season, he is now top scorer with 17 goals, and he ran his socks off in this match, just like he usually does.

In some ways, this game teaches us little. Even if this was one step up on the pressure cooker from Stoke, we already knew Albion were capable of grinding out results away from home against opposition low on confidence.

The true litmus test for Moore will be the home form, and in particular, their next game at The Hawthorns against promotion rivals Sheffield United.

Can he really play the same way he did in the second half at Villa Park? Will he?

Teams that have set up to frustrate at The Hawthorns – such as Middlesbrough and Nottingham Forest – have found joy.

The early Abraham chance and another one where Gareth Barry's square ball was picked off proves Albion are still vulnerable to their own mistakes, still their own worst enemies.

The ideal, of course, is to be able to do both. Attack and defend. Play out from the back and play the percentages.

Albion seem more inclined to do the former at home, and are given license by the coaching staff to do the latter on their travels.

As with everything, moderation is key. There is nothing wrong with Moore attempting to change the culture of the club, in fact, it is welcome, provided he is willing to take it slowly.

Because without Barnes and Phillips, this team seems to be far more comfortable soaking up pressure than exerting it on the front foot.

Moore is acutely aware of his team's strengths and weaknesses, and how they have fluctuated throughout the season.

"In the first half of the season we were trying to get our attacking principles right, but we were letting goals in the other end," he said, after Saturday's game.

"Once we got the attacking dynamic right, then we worked on the defending side and correcting the off the ball work.

"Now we've managed to get that right, we're putting them both together. We're working on that, and there's still a lot of work to do, despite this result."

This new-found ability to keep clean sheets should give hope for the run-in.

With Rodriguez and Gayle in your team, you're highly likely to score at least one.

Is it the aesthetically-pleasing passing football Moore and Jones want? Arguably not. Albion only had 37 per cent possession on Saturday.

But try telling that to the 2,200 boisterous Baggies in the away end at Villa Park who wouldn't shut up as the final whistle neared.

Sometimes, it's just important to win.