Stoke City 1 Wanderers 2

WHEN the sun sets on the current campaign in May, Owen Coyle might look back on his decision to throw Vladimir Weiss into the mix against Stoke as the best he has made this season.

For weeks, the young Slovakian has been not-so-secretly making his frustration known to the Wanderers boss at his lack of match action.

He had been seen in fits, but not so many starts, since his loan move from Manchester City, thanks in the main to Chung-Yong Lee’s input on the right side of attack.

The Korean’s form has waned in recent weeks, however, as nearly a year of continuous football has started to take its toll. And that must have made being parked on the bench all the more difficult for Weiss to take.

For 69 minutes until the jet-heeled 20-year-old’s arrival on Saturday, it seemed Wanderers’ nervous wait for safety would be prolonged for at least another week.

But in his latest cameo, Weiss produced more cut and thrust than his team-mates had managed all afternoon, drawing a challenge out of Rory Delap to enable Matt Taylor to equalise with a free kick before laying on a fine cross for the same player to net a winner three minutes from time.

Both he and fellow substitute Ivan Klasnic put forward a big claim to start next week’s home game against Portsmouth and, just perhaps, a contract for next season at the Reebok.

Many Stoke fans were wearing paper Tony Pulis masks to celebrate what they had dubbed “Day of the Trifficks” – a nod to the manager’s well-worn post-match phrase.

For 45 minutes it looked more like Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, as Wanderers produced a performance just about as far removed from the one at Stamford Bridge earlier in the week as it was possible to get.

So poor was the football on offer that they failed to get a single shot on or off target, leaving Stoke to take the lead at a canter.

Tuncay proved to be a thorn in the Whites’ side all afternoon until being inexplicably substituted midway through the second half and marching immediately down the tunnel in disgust.

The Turkish striker picked up the ball in midfield and played a straight pass through to Dave Kitson, who must have marvelled at the space he was offered by a defence who had got the offside trap completely wrong.

Skipping past the on-rushing Jussi Jaaskelainen, Kitson stroked home his first league goal since September, which also came against Wanderers.

Stoke might have been two up a few minutes later when Robert Huth’s header from Rory Delap’s long throw flicked off the outside of the post.

Coyle demanded improvement in the second half and, to be frank, it would be hard to imagine a performance much worse.

The five-man midfield that had served him so well against Chelsea hadn’t worked this time, leaving Kevin Davies hopelessly isolated up front. So when the manager hauled off Sam Ricketts for Klasnic at the break, his intent was clear.

Within a few minutes, the Croatia international has become a magnet for the ball around the penalty area.

He dragged a couple of chances narrowly wide of the post and also created an opportunity for Jack Wilshere on the counter-attack, which was well saved by Thomas Sorensen.

Just as Wanderers sensed a way back into the game, Stoke manufactured two chances to kill it off completely.

Jaaskelainen came to Wanderers’ aid on both occasions, standing tall to palm Dean Whitehead’s chip to safety before getting the slightest touch to Tuncay’s scuffed shot to divert it onto the post.

Perhaps it was the Turk’s miss that prompted Pulis to substitute him for Ricardo Fuller but from that moment on, new life was breathed into the Whites’ comeback attempts.

Weiss led the fightback, surging forward at every opportunity. And it was from a typical raid across the edge of the penalty area that his chance to equalise materialised.

Delap’s challenge was slight at best,and it seemed to take a while for referee Stuart Atwell to make his mind up before awarding the free kick.

Fuller and Taylor seemed to be debating just that as the Wanderers winger lined up to take a shot at goal, at least until Pulis instructed his striker to join the defensive wall.

The Stoke boss might regret the fact he did, as Taylor’s low strike clipped Fuller’s ankle before nestling into the bottom corner.

Nothing had particularly fell for the Whites wide man until that point, but three minutes later his fortune had turned a full 180 degrees.

Again it was Weiss tormenting James Collins on Stoke’s left, his quick feet getting him to the line before producing a perfect cross for Taylor to flick home.

“We are staying up,” declared the joyous Wanderers support. And right they were.

Whites old boy Abdoulaye Faye nearly put a spanner in the works in injury time, but somehow managed to blast over the bar from six yards.

On Tuesday, a massive mural was unveiled of the Senegal international on the front of the Britannia Stadium, and moments before his miss, he was named as the man of the match. There really was nowhere to hide.

Luckily for Faye, referee Atwell soon drew proceedings to a close and he was able to skip quickly down the tunnel.

Wanderers stuck around in the sun to celebrate with the fans. It might not be mathematically certain just yet, but these were the actions of a side who will be playing in the Premier League next season.

They will take on already-relegated Portsmouth next week with the pressure off and with players like Klasnic and Weiss itching to prove a point.

There might yet be life left in the season, after all.