West Bromwhich Albion 2-3 Crystal Palace

By Jemma Tappenden
March 16 2007

After 2 successive league defeats to Sunderland and Wolves, Albion faced Crystal Palace at home on Wednesday night in a must win game for the Baggies.

A third successive league defeat on the trot left Albion only just flirting with the playoffs last night. 6th placed West Brom remain level on points with 7th placed Cardiff City after crashing to a 3-2 defeat against Crystal Palace at the Hawthorns. The game sealed a set of midweek matches which saw each and every single side in the top 8 of the Championship table drop points.

Tuesday’s night fixtures left West Brom with a golden opportunity to close the gap on the teams above them, but a last gasp goal from Palace alongside the loss of defender Curtis Davies only added to the heartache of Baggies fans.

Albion started the game with grit and determination, and a reversal of fortunes to that suffered against Sunderland and Wolves looked on the cards. It was a well deserved lead when in the 26th minute Neil Clement put the Baggies 1-0 up with his first goal in 16 months. Albion played an extremely positive first half of football, but just before the break disaster stuck. Clinton Morrison snuck in an equaliser for Palace in the 35th minute, but more disturbing than that was the loss of the highly rated defender Cutis Davies. Davies limped off the field of play to be replaced by Martin Albrechtsen, who himself was later to leave the field but under different circumstances, those of a red card.

An Albion equaliser in the second half left Baggies fans feeling a little more optimistic. But a third goal conceded in the final stages of the match sealed more misery. Albion now face Blues at home on Sunday in a must win local derby.