By Stuart Kidson
October 16 2003

The first meeting since the infamous 'Battle of Bramall Lane' and the bitter war of words between Megson and Warnock was always going to be a heated affair....but who would come out on top ? West Bromwich Albion (0) v Sheffield United (2)
The Hawthorns, Tuesday 14th October 2003

The first meeting between these two side following the infamous 'Battle of Bramall Lane' during the 2001/2002 season was always going to attract a lot of attention. Both managers had enough to say after the match in March 2002 and feelings were still running high 18 months later. For Gary Megson and Neil Warnock the affair became bitter and personal battle of words, with accusations of cheating being bandied about by Megson. To add fuel to the fire there was also the fact that Megson still lives in the Steel City and has Sheffield Wednesday blood coursing through his veins, whilst Warnock is a no-holds-barred Blade through and through. Added to this, Albion were on the brink of taking another club record having already equalled the record for the longest sequence of home wins at the start of the season. A win against the Blades would set a new record of 7 wins.

With new signing Paul Robinson watching from the stands Albion were first to attack when Scott Dobie and strike partner Rob Hulse linked up with some good link up play that resulted in the first corner of the game. Jason Koumas took the kick but it was easily dealt with by the United defenders.

The game had a scrappy start with both sides looking unsettled and nervous but Sheffield's first attack saw Stuart McCall and Ashley Ward exploit sloppy defending on the Baggies right to set up England Under 21 International Michael Tonge who buried a shot from 15 yards past Russell Hoult and sent the Blades away fans into a frenzy.

The Baggies response was swift and from the kick off they went looking for the equaliser. Both teams had woken up and shaken off the complacency that had been apparent in the opening 10 minutes. Another corner for the Baggies was met by Thomas Gaardsoe and Paul Gerrard, on loan from Everton, produced a world class finger tip save to deny the defender his second goal for his new club.

The Baggies forced two more corner kicks in rapid succession, but a quick turnaround by United almost paid dividends for Peter Ndlovu. The Zimbabwean striker ran almost the length of the Hawthorns pitch only to be denied by Phil Gilchrist with a wonderful block. McCall then hit the loose ball towards goal but the shot never looked like a real danger and was dealt with comfortably by the Baggies keeper.

The noise amongst the home crowd grew in intensity as the Baggies began to press United and the next chance fell for Koumas who, after skipping his way round several challenges let fly from 30 yards. Gerrad produced another superb save at the near post. Hulse then wasted what was to prove to be Albion's best chance of the night when he picked up a low cross from Bernt Haas. Hulse spun and hit a first time shot but the ball went the wrong side of the upright into the side netting.

Sekou Berthe was next to try and claw back the equaliser when he hit a powerful right footed shot from 35 yards out which saw yet another wonderful save from the Blades keeper as he parried the shot at full stretch.

The Blades tried to counter the Baggies attack and forced Albion back into their own half, giving the keeper a breather, whilst they looked to extend their lead. A freekick 30 yards from the Brummie Road End by goalscorer Tonge was hit staright at Hoult and soon the Albion were back on the offensive with Haas trying his luck from long range but the shot caused little concern for the United keeper.

Albion's defending was poor throughout the night and Sheffield reaped the benefits in the 39th minute when Nick Montgomery picked up a stray pass in the middle of the park and set off on a surging run down the right. His low cross was met by the inside of Ashley Ward's boot and past a stranded Hoult to effectively wrap the game up for Sheffield.

Half time saw major changes to the Albion set up, with Lee Hughes and Danny Dichio replacing Hulse and Berthe as the Baggies changed from the usual 3 - 5 - 2 system to the attack minded 4 - 3 - 3 approach. Hughes almost pulled one back for the home side as he headed towards goal from a Neil Clement cross but it was the United keeper's night and he pulled off a magificent finger tip save to push the ball over the bar.

Albion were always going to struggle with the pace of Ndlovu and he almost extended the lead minutes later when he had a shot from 18 yards but the ball was smothered by Hoult. Tonge then had a go from close range, moments later, but Gaardsoe produced a wonderful defensive block to deny the youngster his second of the night.

Megson's men were simply over run in midfield with veteran McCall bossing the entire middle of the park. Albion played too deep at times leaving the former Rangers player with acres of space from which to launch fresh attacks against the Baggies goal. Megson made an attempt to redress the balance on 70 minutes when he replaced Sean Gregan with Artim Sakiri.

Albion were awrded a corner which Dichio connected with but again Gerrard dealt with it with ease. Koumas again tried his luck from range and his curling 25 yard shot could nodrop in time and sailed inches over the crossbar.

The final minutes of the game saw Tonge force Hoult into a full stretch save and deny Ndlovu a goal which would have been well deserved. Albion were run into the ground by Sheffield's midfield and never looked like pulling a single goal back let alone two. The win saw United jump above the Baggies to top spot and with Wigan's result going against the Baggies, they also leap frogged over them into second place.

Man of the Match for The Baggies, selected by myself - Thomas Gaardsoe

Teams

BAGGIES: Hoult, Berthe, Gaardsoe, Gilchrist, Haas, Gregan, O'Connor, Koumas, Clement, Hulse, Dobie

Subs Murphy, Hughes, Dichio, Sakiri, Wallwork

BLADES: Gerrard, Kozluk, Jagielka, Morgan, Whitlow, Brown, McCall, Montgomery, Tonge, Ndlovu, Ward

Subs: Allison, Lester, Armstrong, Rankine, Peschisolido