Middlesbrough 3 - West Brom 0

By Stuart Kidson
April 6 2003

The Baggies slumped to their sixth straight Premiership defeat at The Riverside and took another step closer to the Nationwide 1st Division as Boro's class shone through and made it a miserable day for the Barmy Army on Teesside.

Middlesbrough v West Bromwich Albion
Saturday 5th April 2003

The Baggies slumped to their sixth straight Premiership defeat at The Riverside and took another step closer to the Nationwide 1st Division as Boro's class shone through and made it a miserable day for the Barmy Army on Teesside. The only good news for the travelling faithful was the return of Andy Johnson and Phil Gilchrist to the squad after injury.

It proved to be a frustrating afternoon for many Albion fans as The Baggies were constantly second best to a much superior Boro side and the home sides poor finishing, as well as the usual solid performance by Russell Hoult, meant that Albion were not on the end of a much worse defeat.

Boro almost took the lead as early as the third minute when Malcolm Christie, once rumoured to be on his way to the Hawthorns, found space behind Neil Clement and crossed for Joseph Desire Job whose shot was parried by the Baggies shot stopper before being cleared by a grateful defence. The Boro duo were again threatening less than a minute later when they combined and found themselves space. Christie let fly with a thunderous shot which hit an Albion defender and was again cleared from the Baggies area.

Jason Koumas sent a terrific ball over the Boro midfield to find Clemmo in space on the left and the former Chelsea man sent over a perfectly weighted cross for Danny Dichio, but he was beaten to the ball by former Albion and Villa defender, Ugo Ehiogu and the ball sailed over the Boro goal for a corner.

Igor Balis then raced past his marker after Koumas had split the Boro defence with a perfectly timed pass only to be victim of a very dubious offside decision by the linesman. The now familiar chant of 'The Premiership is Bent' immediately rang out from the South Stand where the massed ranks of Albion faithful out sang their North East counterparts.

The Albion now entered the only period of the game where it looked as if they were on a mission to survive the drop and were fighting for every ball with passion and pride. Dichio won everything in the air and was a real problem for ex-Villa captain , Gareth Southgate. Jason Roberts almost put the Baggies ahead with a well taken low shot which Boro keeper Mark Schwarzer managed to divert around the post. The corner by Koumas fell to Larus Sigurdsson but the Icelander could only blast it high over the bar.

Christie was again a threat for Boro when he got onto the end of Geremi's cross. Despite being unmarked the Boro forward failed dismally to connect with the ball and watched his tame shot fall into the arms of Houlty. The Baggies defence were all at sea with the combined force of Job and Christie and Jonathan Greening took advantage of the unease within the Baggies defence but wildly sliced his shot wide of the Baggies goal.

Boro were guilty of sloppy passing all afternoon and allowed Albion possession throughout the game but the Baggies failed to make the most of the mistake with poor distribution of their own.

Boro had wasted chance after chance in front of goal and this continued in the 31st minute when Geremi missed a chance and minutes later an unmarked Southgate let rip with a thunderbolt header from 10-yards which sailed high over the crossbar. Boro took the lead in the 36th minute when Christie almost strolled through an ineffective Baggies defence to punish the static defenders.

Pint sized Brazilian Juninho, who had been playing with a dogged determination in the first half, almost produced the goal of the season minutes later with a spectacular overhead kick that hit the Baggies crossbar as the Baggies again were found lacking in defence. A final few minutes of pressure by Boro on the Albion goalmouth almost paid dividends but again Christie was denied by a deflection off a Baggies defender.

The second half started in a similar vein to the end of the first and Houlty again came to the rescue with a terrific double save from close range when he blocked Geremi's shot and then whilst still on the ground somehow managed to push Job's follow up effort over the bar. This save bought about the congratulations of former Derby team mate Christie as the two lined up for the resultant corner.

The ineffective Jason Roberts was withdrawn on 53 minutes for Scott Dobie and he set about harassing and probing the Boro defence.

Job again missed a sitter when he fluffed his shot after Christie had laid off a square ball for the striker who saw his effort go harmlessly wide of the upright. Houlty again had to be alert in the 58th minute when Job found his way through the Baggies offside trap but shot straight at the oncoming keeper.

Gary Megson decided it was a time for changes in midfield and bought on Andy Johnson for Derek McInnes. The former Forest midfielder immediately set about his task and the Baggies seemed to have found that little bit extra in their tank as they pushed forward for the equaliser. Boro had got the measure of the Baggies makeshift defenders and Darren Moore's absence was obvious to all as the Boro forwards began to press forward with ease but failed to capitalise through poor finishing.

Dichio almost grabbed an equaliser when he managed to connect with a cross by Johnson but his goal bound effort was cleared by Ehiogu almost on the line. Steve McClaren was constantly up and down in the Technical Area all afternoon shouting directions to his team and he changed his forward line, bringing on Slovakian Szilard Nemeth and Italian Massimo Maccarone.
The effect was almost immediate as minutes later as Greening found his way through a haggle of Albion players to seal the Baggies fate when he fired home his second of the season to give Boro all three points.

Dichio refused to give up and almost got a consolation goal minutes later but his header went just wide of the Boro post, but Nemeth grabbed a late third goal three minutes from time after leaving Ronnie Wallwork for dead with his pace. Albion's Barmy Army, who have not had a goal to cheer lately, cheered almost as loudly as the home fans.

As the game approached the final whistle the Barmy Army made themselves heard and out sang the Teessider's with renditions of 'The Lords My Shepard', 'Only One Gary Megson' and 'Slap A Dingle'. The ever appreciative Megson acknowledged the travelling support with his own applause of the backing for his team and uncharacteristically entered into the spirit of the day with a Wayne's World 'We Are Not Worthy' salute to his Barmy Army.

Overall a poor performance by certain players in key areas, which has been a constant this season, meant that there was no surprise with the result. Not for the first time this season Albion looked down in the last 15 minutes and the buzz in the away section was that the acceptance of relegation was upon the team, almost as if they are now just playing the fixtures and waiting for the inevitable.

Man of the Match, selected by Ms. Nicky Timmis of Frankley, Birmingham - Sean Gregan

Team: Russell Hoult, Phil 'Gilly-Berto' Gilchrist, Ronnie Wallwork, Larus Sigurdsson, Igor Balis (85), Derek McInnes (61), Sean Gregan (Capt), Jason Koumas, Neil Clement, Jason Roberts (53), Danny Dichio

Subs: Joe Murphy, Scott Dobie (53), Andy Johnson (61), Des Lyttle (85), Lee Hughes