Peterborough 0 West Bromwich Albion 2: Chris Lepkowski's big match verdict

Jan 14 2009 By Chris Lepkowski

ONE turn, one shot, one goal. Jay Simpson peeled away from his Peterborough marker, turned towards goal and curled a low shot past Joe Lewis.

Job done.

Paul Robinson scored a second later on during the first half but, in truth, that first goal was all it needed.

And so Albion marched into the FA Cup fourth round and a meeting with Owen Coyle’s Burnley.

But this victory was important psychologically.

It erased some of the hurt of Albion’s derby defeat, it gave some under-achieving players a much-needed lift and it handed Tony Mowbray’s men their first away win in four months.

Peterborough are no mugs. They had players in the final third to cause Albion’s backline problems yet the defence played well.

Robinson produced a better performance while Ryan Donk played well alongside Leon Barnett, with Mowbray resting Jonas Olsson, no doubt noticing that he was on four yellow cards.

Scott Carson was reassured in goal and Carl Hoefkens kept George Boyd subdued.

All good.

Okay, so the quality of opponents aren’t what they face on a weekly basis in the Premier League, but the importance of a clean sheet and the confidence boost it provides was vital.

And it was Simpson whose quality turned the game in Albion’s favour.

The striker controlled Roman Bednar’s 18th-minute lay-off and made a yard for himself before curling a cracker into the bottom right-hand corner from 25 yards.

Robinson doubled that lead 19 minutes later, effectively burying the game.

Filipe Teixeira’s free-kick was cleared to Kim, who delivered a