Albion doing it the hard way

Preston North End 2 West Bromwich Albion 1

If Albion are to reach the Premier League they seem hell-bent on doing so the hard way, writes Steve Madeley.

The whole Championship regards the Baggies as the finest footballing side outside the top flight and their goal difference supports the theory.

And yet the Achilles heel that struck again in defeat last night seems set to keep the chasing pack interested all the way to the finishing line.

They played well at Deepdale, created chances and scored a wonderful goal against an admirable Preston side who suggested they are finding some form of their own despite ending the evening two men short.

And yet the Baggies left Lancashire with nothing. And they had no-one to blame but themselves.

Two free headers from close range gifted North End the goals that added further fuel to their Championship revival and punctured the feelgood factor in the Baggies camp.

Whichever defensive permutation Tony Mowbray tries, it seems his team just cannot handle set-pieces.

Trouble is, word is now out that the best way to knock the division's greatest entertainers is simply to swing balls into their box and wait for indecision and hesitation to strike.

It certainly worked last night for Alan Irvine's hard-working outfit, which is not to detract from the full part the eventual winners played in the latest in a series of engaging Albion matches.

The hosts played football, operated with width and tempo and took some risks by taking the game to the table-toppers.

While their efforts in open play resulted in just one clear opportunity – when wide-man Simon Whaley rattled the woodwork – their potency from dead balls proved too hot for their visitors to handle.

Both goals came from decent delivery by the home side, but both owed much to Albion's shortcomings at dealing with high balls in the vicinity of their goal.

Twice goalkeeper Dean Kiely stayed on his line and twice his defenders switched off, allowing scorers Youl Mawene and Karl Hawley gift-wrapped openings for a Preston side whose belief is now on a steep upward curve.

The green shoots of recovery at Deepdale following the departure of Paul Simpson are clear to see.

For Albion there was no major damage done. They stay top of the table and remain favourites for the title.

However, a team boasting 63 goals in the league before the end of January ought to have one foot among the Premier League elite.

Instead, Albion's habit of shooting themselves in the foot means they are still no more than the best of a handful of sides with a realistic chance of contesting the top two places.

Mowbray did his best to sugar-coat the pill in the wake of his side's eighth defeat of the Championship season.

Yet as his players queued up to confirm how often they had rehearsed set-pieces this week, it became clear that the fault is regarded as an issue within the camp.

Once more it took no time at all for Albion to be punished for their failings from what Graham Taylor insists on referring to as "restarts".

They had made a bright enough start with James Morrison's cross-shot flying inches away from Roman Bednar at the far post and Filipe Teixeira's low drive was held by keeper Andrew Lonergan.

But when former Albion midfielder Darren Carter stood over a corner in the sixth minute, the travelling fans behind the corner flag should have sensed trouble was coming.

His delivery to the far post was whipped impressively but Mawene appeared to leave Carl Hoefkens standing as he steamed in at the far post to connect ahead of Dean Kiely and nod into the net.

Carter could have claimed a bigger slice of glory moments later as he exploited a pocket of space in front of the Albion defence to run and shoot but his effort flew past the angle of post and bar.

In patches, Albion's passing and movement was as crisp as ever and one pleasing interchange ended with Robert Koren drilling a shot just wide.

And Bostjan Cesar headed a Jonathan Greening free-kick straight at Lonergan.

The keeper should have been tested again at the end of another speedy Albion counter-attack that was started by Koren.

He spread play wide to Roman Bednar, who galloped down the right before pulling in a cross for Koren, but his shot was tame and cut out by Callum Davidson. Gera fired a shot just wide but, in an entertaining clash, Albion had to endure scares of their own before the break.

Chris Sedgwick drilled a shot narrowly off target before Chris Brown drove into the box and squared for Whaley, who hammered a shot against the woodwork with Kiely beaten.

Teixeira had a goal disallowed for handball and in the dying moments of the half Roman Bednar had a shot saved by Lonergan from Morrison's shot, sparking a frantic goalmouth scramble in which the home side eventually prevailed.

Albion started the second half well and Preston's Paul McKenna made a crucial penalty box tackle on Roman Bednar before Gera weighed in with a stunning equaliser.

He collected Paul Robinson's pass and used Bednar's decoy run to find some space before unleashing a 25-yard thunderbolt that flew into the top corner.

But just as the visitors were threatening to turn on the style they were halted in their tracks by a second Preston goal.

Mawene rose highest to meet a free-kick, St Ledger chipped the ball back into the centre and an unmarked Hawley nodded home his third goal in two games. Albion took more chances as they hunted a second equaliser and Gera was denied a fine second by the brilliance of Lonergan, who turned a free-kick onto the bar.

But the Baggies could not find a way through, even with the late drama that saw the hosts reduced to nine men.

With six minutes left Mawene received a harsh second yellow card for failing to leave the field with an injury.

And in stoppage time Brown could have fewer complaints over his second booking for a clumsy tackle on Martin Albrechtsen.