Saturday wasn’t really a normal match day for me. Invited into the press box by some really helpful people at the club, I was treated to a pretty out of the ordinary day at the Hawthorns – off the pitch that is.
Pre Match
I arrived at the ground at 1pm and went in via the Tommy Glidden Suite in the Halfords Lane stand. Upon arriving I was directed into the media lounge where I met Bomber Brown and several other media folk like Chris Lepkowski and the guys from Albion Player. I was familiar with the latter having been in regular contact whilst living in Australia and tuning in every game at ridiculous hours so they remembered me and my sometimes odd listening patterns.
I was allocated a seat in the media section of the Halfords but was instead invited up into the gantry to sit with John Dunn and Dave Bowler – commentators from Albion Player – to watch the action from what must be the best seat in the house. I saw some interesting facets to the Halfords Lane and climbed through a few overhanging girders whilst carrying a few complimentary items from the canteen on my way to my seat. I must mention the gent that is Tony Brown, even while being hassled about Di Matteo’s tactics and last week’s historic win by yours truly he was a true pleasure to meet and we are lucky we have such a great character at our club.
Team Selection
No Pablo Ibanez??? I was quite shocked; I had also missed the news that our very own JT has been injured prior to the match so it was Dorrans behind Odemwingie with Brunt and Morrison occupying the wide berths. The defence almost picked itself bar the previously mentioned omission of our Spaniard with Shorey, Olsson, Tamas and Jara making up the back four which was protected by Mulumbu. Scotty Carson in goal.
First Half
A free header for Bolton off a corner at the Brummie Road end and a chance for Odemwingie at the Smethwick summed up a poor first half. Neither side had really got going and Albion didn’t really look like the same team that blew away the Gunners last week. However, this is understandable and we all hoped for a better second half.
During the break I had the pleasure of doing an interview for Albion World and, having made my girlfriend stay up half the night in Oz to listen to the game, I provided her with my own thoughts on our season so far, not sure how entertaining that was for the listeners, but anyway.
Second Half
…had only just begun when Bolton almost snatched the lead and my immediate reaction was of delight as Carson pulled off a great save at full stretch to keep the scores level. However, it then dawned on me that we could easily lose a game that we really expected to get something out of prior to kick off. Another set piece, another Bolton header and another let off, Albion were hanging on slightly as the ever improving Shorey cleared off the line for the Baggies. The game then ebbed and flowed for the next ten or so minutes and Albion missed a good chance through Odemwingie as he screwed his shot at the near post.
The introduction of Barnes saw Albion provide more threat pace wise on the right but Albion soon fell behind through a well worked Bolton move, finished off by Johan Elmander. Martin Petrov one-on-one looked to have sealed an away win but the Bulgarian’s shot missed the far post and it remained 0-1. The Baggies then broke down the right and a pin point Odemwingie cross saw James Morrison fire a strong header into the back of the net…1-1!!!!! Come on! Cue a strange celebration in the gantry as I was punching the air with our record goal scorer sat beside me. A fine challenge denying Simon Cox a tap in and a fine piece of Brunt and Odemwingie link up play was sandwiched by a whistling Matt Taylor free kick which brought an end to a pretty exciting second half.
Overall
Not spectacular by any stretch of the imagination but a solid point none the less. Bolton are quite strong away from home and are a difficult side to beat. I think it’s a good sign that even if we don’t play that well, we can come away from a game with something. That’s what we need to do to survive in this division, keep our home unbeaten record!
A great day was topped off with a beer in the media lounge and Owen Coyle’s fine words of wisdom… “Kevin Davies should be in the England team.” I think not!
wbamatt