A brace from Shane Long, a Chris Brunt thunderbolt and a first goal in Albion colours from Craig Dawson saw the Baggies overcome a spirited Yeovil Town side in the league cup second round.
Ex-Albion winger Reuben Reid came back to haunt his old club as he opened the scoring with a header in the 15th minute. Brunt levelled the scores in the 39th minute with a spectacular 35-yard shot which rocketed into the top corner before Long sent Albion in ahead at half time after scrambling home from close range.
Yeovil quickly equalised through Reid’s second close range header of the evening before Craig Dawson deflected Yassine El Ghanassy’s volley to give the visitors the lead again in the 73rd minute. Long then grabbed his second of the evening with an 18 yard strike nine minutes from time to send Albion through to the next round.
Skipper Chris Brunt was delighted to see his long-range effort find the back of the net – and to get his first 90 minutes in of the season.
“I hit it really well and it’s up there with the best I’ve scored,” said Brunt.
“I think I probably took the keeper a bit by surprise and I was delighted to see it hit the back of the net.
“It’s always nice to score and I think for the majority of the first half we played good stuff but we didn’t defend set pieces very well and got punished for it.
“It was nice to get the goal and I think it kick-started us a little bit.
“To go in 2-1 up at half time was a big boost for us.”
“Pre-season was a bit stop-start for me and it was great to get 90 minutes under my belt - I’m starting to feel a bit fitter.
“I was flagging a little bit towards the end but it was nice to get the full game in.
“Obviously Yeovil gave us a good test and they played some good stuff and caused us a few problems.
“But we expected that and came through it even though we made ten changes from the weekend team, which shows we’ve got good depth in the squad.”
Who do you want in the next round of the league cup? Have your say here.