Plymouth 0, West Brom 1: Chris Lepkowski's big match verdict
Feb 8 2010 by Christopher Lepkowski, Birmingham Mail
WILD challenges, touchline brawls, haymakers being thrown around and a gloriously dreadful pitch.
All it needed were a few bad haircuts, long sideburns, rolled down socks and fans with flared trousers and Albion could have feasibly recreated their very own version of Life on Mars.
It was a bit like the 1970s as matters got a little bit messy at Home Park.
Jerome Thomas won’t agree but the late drama was a relief for those of us watching. It at least spiced up a match which was dying a slow death.
Thomas will sit out the next four games and, while there can be no excuse for his actions, he was hardly helped by the referee allowing a collection of shocking challenges to go unpunished, including one on the Albion winger.
More of that later.
Albion beat their two opponents – a hard-working Plymouth side and a pitch which began to disintegrate long before Simon Cox’s winner and Graham Dorrans’ penalty miss.
The first half was low on incident or drama. What was clear was that both sides were fighting the conditions. Mud was building up within the opening ten minutes and by half-time you’d have been forgiven for thinking a tractor had driven up and down the pitch a few times.
Whatever the reasons for Plymouth’s very own natural phenomena, there can be no doubt that Albion’s victory underlined their character.
Cox grabbed the winner in the 66th minute after a typical Albion move, starting from the back.
Dorrans swept a ball out into Thomas’ direction. The winger sent in a cross for Roman Bednar, who came under pressure from Reda Johnson and Kari Arnason. The ball bounced down to Cox, who drilled his shot past David Stockdale.
One-nil it stayed, though Dorrans could have increased Albion’s lead.
Chris Brunt’s long shot was parried by Stockdale and Luke Moore tried to retrieve the ball but was shoved over by David McNamee. Dorrans, who has scored his last four penalties by belting the ball past the goalkeeper’s left hand, this time opted for the opposite side and Stockdale saved.
