Plymouth Argyle 1-2 West Bromwich Albion
By Jemma Tappenden
December 1 2007
After a shaky start to Away day fixtures the Baggies suddenly found themselves in a position to march onwards and upwards with a third successive away victory. A trip to Plymouth was by no means going to be an easy task. The Pilgrims have made a fast start themselves, and occupied a very credible 4th place in the table at the start of play.
New manager Paul Sturrock was eager to make an impressive start to his second spell as Plymouth boss.
Albion started brightly in front of the 1000 Baggies fans that had made the long midweek trip. They might have had a first minute goal when Czech striker Bednar, thrown into the mix after the loss of Phillips and Miller, chested down a ball to play in Teixeira, who fired over from the edge of the area. Three minutes later Teixeira turned play maker, connecting with a Barnett pass which he played neatly through to Bednar. But Bednar would have to wait a little longer before dazzling the Baggies fans as Marcel Seip performed a crucial last minute challenge.
But it was not a long wait for Bednar. After some hard work in defence from Hoefkens, Zoltan Gera found the Czech striker with the perfect right wing cross. Bednar wasted no time in slotting the ball home to give West Brom a one goal advantage.
Four minutes later it should have been two nil, Gera flicked on a Brunt right wing corner only to see his effort cleared off the line when it had already well beaten Plymouth keeper Romain Larrieu. Chris Brunt very nearly had Larrieu beat in the 17th minute with a clever free kick when he dummied to cross but fired in a shot. But the keeper just about managed to get to his left hand post and prevent the ball crossing the line.
It took Plymouth until the 28th minute to record a shot on goal, Barry Hayles got the better of Cesar from a long ball, forcing Kiely into a fine save at his near post. But it did little to faze an Albion side that had come out all guns blazing.
Moments later clever play between Teixeira and Gera played in Bednar, but this time he could only find the side netting from 15 yards. As half time approached Albion maintained the pressure. Portuguese star Teixeira picked up the ball in midfield and unleashed a ferocious 20 yard shot on the Plymouth goal. The Pilgrims keeper was first to the shot, but he could not hold onto the ball. Never one to give up on an opportunity Teixeira was straight in there to gather up the rebound. But his chip at an open goal floated over the bar and out for a goal kick.
Two minutes later the second Albion goal did arrive. Gera switched the ball to Brunt on the left who crossed to Bednar in the box. Bednar wasted no time in heading home his and Albion’s second goal of the evening.
Half Time: Plymouth Argyle 0-2 West Bromwich Albion
The second half lacked the precision the first had had. Sturrock made a half time change, Abdou coming on for Gosling. But the home side still lacked any real cutting edge. Bednar might have had his hatrick in the 51st minute when he fired home from a Gera cross, but the striker was deemed to be offside and his effort ruled out.
Plymouth began to find themselves in the second half, and the Baggies had a lot more pressure to deal with than they had in the first half. Paul Robinson was on call to clear a Hayles effort in the penalty area.
Gera broke quickly down the wing in the 69th minute, a rare moment of inspiration from either side. Bednar picked up the ball in the box and Pilgrims keeper Larrieu could only nudge the ball under pressure as he lost his footing. With an empty net in front of him Bednar turned to put in the shot, but the Plymouth keeper recovered well and made a fine save.
Beattie replaced Bednar just moments before Plymouth thought they had got a goal. But Baggies keeper Dean Kiely just managed to gather the ball from Halmosi’s low shot on the second attempt.
In the 74th minute Hayles picked out Halmosi in the box, who could only manage to head straight into the arms of Kiely. It was to be a nervous end to the game when the hosts grabbed a goal six minutes from time. Easter, who had come on as a sub, connected to Norris’ cross to give the Pilgrims a lifeline within just 5 minutes of being on the field.
But despite a strong end to the game from Plymouth they failed to really trouble Kiely and the Baggies travelled home with all 3 points.
Full Time: Plymouth Argyle 1-2 West Bromwich Albion
Bednar (9 & 43)
Easter (84)
Attendance: 14,338