West Bromwich Albion - 3 (Hughes 1. 84. 90 pen.)
Crystal Palace - 2 (Jansen 30. Moore 87.)

To say that we were robbed would probably be the kind of statement that you would expect to see here. To be fair we were not good enough to win this game, but then according to the people that were at the game, including the home based fans, neither were West Brom. Indeed, at least two of the WBA internet sites stated that they were lucky to receive the penalty that never was! At the same time though, and much as we would be, they were happy to accept it. We got off to a wonderful start. Sun Jihai decided to hit the ball back to Fraser Digby, the only problem being that he did not hit the ball hard enough. The ever alert, and highly dangerous, Lee Hughes was first to the ball, and after waltzing round our frantic keeper he simply tapped the ball into the back of the net to give the home crowd a wonderful start. And all this happened inside the first minute! It took the visiting side (yes, that's us) quite a while to warm up in this match, and at 13 minutes we were lucky to see a Sean Flynn effort go just over the bar. Our first threatening move came at 21 minutes, and it came from a set piece, Craig Foster also firing over the bar from a free kick. The side were gradually getting better though, and despite a number of yellow cards being waved around we were not to be long denied. The move came from a good through ball which found Matt Jansen surrounded by only about 4 opposition players! In what is becoming somewhat familiar by now Matt somehow weaved his way in and out of the defenders, and put in a great shot that Alan Miller could only deflect. The ball hit the post, and for once went the right way, finding its' way into the back of the net. The remainder of the half was peppered with chances to both sides, though Palace appeared to finish the stronger. Twice Marcus Bent had good opportunities, and Jansen headed just wide. At the other end Flynn missed and Kevin Kilbane saw his header fly over the bar. Despite all the cards the referee had been showing, far worse was to come in the second half. The teams went to the break presumably well satisfied on both sides, the honours being even.

The first opportunity of the second half fell once again to Jansen, his shot being tipped away by Miller. Back at the other end a few minutes later Digby was at his best, diving low to keep out a Kilbane effort that appeared to be destined for the back of the net. The 70 minute mark approached, and in what appeared to be almost a repeat of last Saturday's game, though the player was different, Sun Jihai was booked for a blatant foul (pulling the opposing player's jersey), and as he had been booked in the first half (for kicking the ball away following a free kick - stupid reason to get booked!) his yellow card was magically turned into a red card, and he was sent off for an early bath. Two matches in a row, and once again we were left to battle with only 10 men on the park! We managed to hold onto our share of the points for the next 13 minutes, until suddenly Fabian De Freitas put in a great cross from the left, and there was that man Hughes to head home the ball. 2-1 down, and only six or seven minutes left, with only 10 men in the side, things were getting tough. This looked as though we were going to come home once again with nothing to show for our efforts.

Bringing Lee Bradbury on for the visibly tiring Jansen a few minutes earlier was to bring about a last chance for Palace. Making a good run down the right, he put in an inch perfect pass to Attilio Lombardo, whose first time shot could only be fisted away by the keeper. The ball fell nicely for Craig Moore who banged the ball gleefully into the back of the net to make the scores level once again, and there were only three minutes of normal time left. Surely by now we had done enough to take home a point from this game, we certainly deserved one. The trouble with this wonderful game we call football is that you very rarely seem to get what you think you deserve. The game was into the third minute of injury time, everyone was ready to go home, indeed many of the home supporters had already done so, and Moore put in a tremendous last minute tackle to stop the advancing Enzo Maresca, and to the confusion of all at the game the referee pointed to the spot. Remonstrations to the referee never seem to help, and we were probably lucky not to get any other players sent off! The penalty was taken by none other than Hughes, who made no mistake. 3-2, there was only time for Moore to be stomped on by one of the opposing players (needless to say the ref missed it!), and the game was all over. To really add salt into the wound though, the referee stated after the game that he "believed" that Fan Zhiyi had shoved him on the walk back down the tunnel, and that he intended to report the incident to the FA, having confiscated a copy of the video to prove his point. The referee was examined (medically) and it was reported that there was no sign of anything wrong with him, and the local police reported that they could see no need for any action on their part. Be all that as it may, Fan will most likely still be reported to the FA, and will end up facing a further ban to the one match that he will get for being sent off last Saturday. The FA has never yet failed to act, let alone overturn, the report of any of their officials. Terry Venables stated (diplomatically of course, it costs a lot of money if the management says the wrong thing about referees) that he was surprised that the referee "thought" that he had been pushed; Terry was pretty sure that had he (Terry) been pushed he would certainly "know" that he had been pushed!

On a brighter note Sasa Curcic was seen throughout the match mingling in the away stands, talking to anyone who wanted to have a chat. From reports from our intrepid away supporters Sasa hopes to be fit enough to take his place in the upcoming game against Portsmouth. Considering the form of late, he is certainly needed back as soon as possible.

Colin Pryce

West Bromwich Albion: Alan Miller, Andrew McDermott (Paul Mardon 81), Jason Van Blerk, Sean Flynn (Enzo Maresca 81), Shaun Murphy, Matt Carbon, James Quinn, Mario Bortolazzi, Micky Evans (Fabian De Freitas 55), Lee Hughes, Kevin Kilbane.
Not Used: None.

Crystal Palace: Fraser Digby, Dean Austin, Sun Jihai, Fan Zhiyi, Craig Moore, Sagi Burton, Attilio Lombardo, Craig Foster, Marcus Bent (Lee Bradbury 75), Matt Jansen (David Amsalem 71), Hayden Mullins.
Not Used: Clinton Morrison.

Attendance: 11,606
Referee: Mr T Heilbron (Newton Aycliffe).