Chris Lepkowski match report: NK Varteks: 2 West Brom 2

Jul 18 2009

West Brom keeper Scott Carson will be sick of the sight of Croatians after conceding a late equaliser to Zoran Lesjak against NK Varteks.

The Albion keeper, who was involved in England's infamous defeat to Croatia two years ago, allowed the substitute's 87th minute chip to sail over his head after Craig Beattie's double looked set to give Albion a victory.

Beattie grabbed a goal either side of the break, his first strikes for the club since scoring against Spurs last December.

The Scottish striker opened the scoring in the 12th minute, just seconds after having a goal over-ruled for an offside.

Veteran ex-Croatia international Miljenko Mumlek equalised with a super free-kick just eight minutes later, with Beattie polishing off a slick three-man move in the 53rd minute.

The Scottish striker was to be denied a hat-trick due to second-half substitutions.

But his goals weren't enough to secure the win with Lesjak catching Carson off his line with a chip some 25-yards from goal.

Albion crossed the border to Croatia to take on NK Varteks - who memorably knocked Villa out of the Uefa Cup back in 2001/02 - looking to follow on from their 3-0 win against NK Nafta

Beattie stepped into the starting line-up in place of Simon Cox, with Carson making his first appearance of pre-season. Abdoulaye Meite missed the game due to illness.

Jonathan Greening suffered an early scare when he went down injured after being caught in possession by Sasa Hojski. He played in Miljenko Mumlek, whose third minute shot shot flew wide.

The Croatian top flight club went close again when Andrej Vuk struck a 20-yard shot only to see it beaten away by Scott Carson.

The Baggies were sloppy early on and found themselves on the receiving end of some showmanship after eight minutes.