Point cold comfort as win slips away

Five days of warm weather training in the six-star surroundings of Dubai's Sharjah Beach resort is a world away from the cold and damp of the English winter. But the atmosphere in the Gulf state will be decidedly cool until the Bolton boss gets the events of The Hawthorns out of his system.

An away point - not to be sniffed at in the scale of things - was cold comfort for Wanderers after seeing a vital victory slip through their fingers.

Coming just 24 hours after he had reminded his players of the cost of similar squanderings against Chelsea and Blackburn this season, it was just too much for Big Sam to stomach.

Reacting to Andy Johnson's scrambled equaliser half way through three minutes of overtime which cancelled out Henrik Pedersen's 18th minute strike, he counted the cost of six vital points and stormed: "I'm sick of it!

"This would have been a massive victory for us and could have been the turning point of our season. We'd have been seven points ahead of West Brom and it would have been a very daunting task for them to come back from that.

"But we've given them a lifeline by doing something we've done many times this season. I'm sick of them being unprofessional in terms of basic defending, particularly in the last few minutes."

In contrast, Gary Megson took his squad off to La Manga in Spain, disappointed to have dropped two vital home points but clearly relieved to see his team rewarded for their second half efforts. "In all my time here I don't think I have been more proud of a 45-minute display than that," the Baggies' boss beamed.

Such was the importance to both clubs of this fixture.

"We could have sent them down," Simon Charlton claimed as he tortured himself at the thought of a seven-point advantage at such a crucial stage of the season.

"And it's our own fault because we were just not good enough in the second half!"

On the balance of play - Wanderers were positive, pacy and by far the better side in the first half then took a physical beating as they were driven deeper and deeper in the second - it is impossible to deny that Megson's men deserved a point.

But that, as Allardyce insisted, was not the point! At this juncture, results mean everything and with the game into the second of the three designated minutes of overtime, Wanderers had weathered the storm and were in sight of a victory that, allied to the defeats Sunderland, West Ham and Birmingham suffered on the day, could have made the Premiership table look a great deal more promising.

"Probably a draw is a fair result," he acknowledged, "but that means absolutely nothing whatsoever to me. When we kicked off we'd have settled for a draw but when we got to 91.5 minites and were 1-0 up, we should have won the game."

And he was not in the mood to listen to excuses or hard luck stories. Players grumbled that Johnson had sneaked offside before netting the equaliser but, if they were looking for tea and sympathy from their manager, they didn't get it.

"I just told them they should have done their jobs properly and not look to blame the referee or the linesman for our deficiencies," he stressed in an unforgiving tone. "Even though they do make mistakes and get things wrong, it was our mistake, our bad error that cost us very dear and two very precious points."

In fact Elleray handled the game well throughout. Wanderers' back three of Gudni Bergsson, Ivan Campo and Bruno N'Gotty had their resilience and their courage tested to the limits by the ultra-physical threat from Danny Dichio and Jason Roberts and with The Hawthorns crowd whipping up what Megson had asked for, a cauldron of noise, it needed a strong man in charge.

Baggies' fans were complaining of "conspiracy theories" at half-time after seeing two penalty appeals waved away and claiming Jussi Jaaskelainen should have been sent off when he brought Dichio down just outside the box, desperately trying to get himself off the hook after a suicidal clearance under needless pressure from a Jay Jay Okocha throw-in. The referee, correct on each occasion, eventually booked Jaaskelainen but not before allowing West Brom to take a quick free-kick which Jason Koumas would have converted if Campo had not popped up to clear his shot towards the unguarded goal.

There are, undoubtedly, more twists and turns and ups and downs to come before the relegation places are decided. But Wanderers might have been excluded from the equation if they had produced in the second half what they managed in the first when they looked the sharper, more determined and by far the more dominant force.

Even so, Ricardo Gardner should have made the game safe in the final minute of regular time when he collected Jaaskelainen's throw and raced clear of the Albion cover, only to be denied by Russell Hoult's save. Sheer agony for the Jamaican, sheer relief for the aspiring England keeper who had looked distinctly unimpressive when he failed to hold Youri Djorkaeff's well-placed but powerless shot and left Pedersen an easy finish for his fifth goal of the season.

Wanderers know, however, that they invited trouble. They allowed themselves to be driven back and, having called the shots first half, they surrendered the initiative, failed to hold the ball when they had it and left the back three facing a constant barrage of rather ugly, full-blooded proportions.

Allardyce sent on new strikers Salva and Andre late on, hoping fresh legs would stretch the Albion defence but it was Megson's subs who made the biggest impact - Lee Hughes getting on the end of Dichio's flick to force what looked to be a match-winning save from Jaaskelainen then Johnson doing the ultimate damage.

"We're all gutted and we've only got ourselves to blame," Bergsson said as he considered the consequences of the result. "We more or less stopped playing and didn't keep hold of the ball at all for the last half hour. We were almost playing the game out and, when you do that, you run the risk of conceding a late equaliser - which we did yet again.

"It was absolutely devastating but it would have been a different story if Ricky had scored just before the end but, when you get into injury time in the lead you are hopeful of getting all three points.

"Unfortunately, this is not the first time it's happened. and that's something we just have to eradicate because it's costing us too many points. We would have made it very, very difficult for West Brom to have bounced back if we'd held on but now they probably feel as if they've won the game."

The Wanderers' captain found little consolation either in a point from a game he expected to win. "I didn't go out thinking I'd take a point from this game. I was going out to win it and I thought we would.

"We got a late equaliser against them at our place and now it's their turn and they can probably argue they deserved it in the end. Even so, we are in a better position than the teams below us and we've just got to keep it that way."

WEST BROM 1, WANDERERS 1.

Wanderers

3-5-2

JUSSI JAASKELAINEN ... 7

Got in a mess first half but was a safe pair of hands under pressure; vital

save from Hughes

GUDNI BERGSSON ... 8

Stood toe-to-toe with Albion's battering rams and thought he'd won the

battle convincingly

IVAN CAMPO ... 8

This was more like it. Still animated and sometimes reckless but nonetheless

effective

BRUNO N'GOTTY ... 8

Back in the middle and looking far more comfortable than at right back

BERNARD MENDY ... 8

Did he mean me? Possibly the man Sam blamed for the equaliser - otherwise an

impressive game

JAY JAY OKOCHA ... 7

Helped Wanderers boss the first half but less influential when Albion upped

the tempo

PER FRANDSEN ... 7

At the heart of everything as the link-man in the first 45, pegged back in

the second

RICARDO GARDNER ... 7

Created and squandered a glorious chance to secure the win in the final

minute of normal time

SIMON CHARLTON ... 8

Showed both sides of the wing-back role - defence-wise second half,

attacking-wise in the first

YOURI DJORKAEFF ... 7

Another 'assist', he looked the man to do most damage when Wanderers

dominated the first 45

HENRIK PEDERSEN ... 7

Justified his selection and not just with his goal but with his overall game

- energetic and committed

Subs: Kevin Nolan for Djorkaeff 73 mins, Salva Ballesta for Pedersen 79

mins, Pierre-Yves Andre for Okocha 85 mins. Not used: Anthony Barness, Kevin

Poole.

ALBION

3-5-2

RUSSELL HOULT ... 6

SEAN GREGAN ... 8

DARREN MOORE ... 7

PHIL GILCHRIST ... 7

ADAM CHAMBERS ... 7

DEREK McINNES ... 6

RONNIE WALLWORK ... 6

JASON KOUMAS ... 7

NEIL CLEMENT ... 7

JASON ROBERTS ... 7

DANNI DICHIO ... 7

Subs: Iffy Udeze for Gilchrist 71 mins, Andy Johnson for McInnes 77 mins,

Lee Hughes for Roberts 77 mins. Not used: Larus Sigurdsson, Joe Murphy.

Referee: David Elleray (Middlesex)

Attendance: 26,933.

Goals: Albion - Johnson 90 mins; Wanderers - Pedersen 18 mins;

Shots/headers on target: Albion 8, Wanderers 5.

Corners: Albion 5, Wanderers 4.

Offsides: Albion 5, Wanderers 5.

Fouls committed: Albion 14, Wanderers 16.

Bookings: Albion - Chambers 39 mins (foul on Pedersen) Gregan ; Wanderers

- Campo 34 mins (foul on Roberts), Jaaskelainen 45 (foul on Dichio),

Frandsen 63 mins (foul on Chambers), Ballesta 83 mins (throwing ball away).

Men of the Match

BERGSSON, CAMPO and N'GOTTY

There was panic on occasions and it was untidy at times but not one of the

Wanderers' heroic back three flinched in the face of some full-blooded,

x-rated assaults from Dichio and Roberts.

Moan of the Match

It has been said before, hopefully it will not need to be said again but

Wanderers dropped their guard and vital safety points within seconds of a

victory that could have eased their relegation fears.

Magic Moment

When Jussi Jaaskelainen spotted the danger and raced out to deny Hughes

three minutes from normal time, it looked like being the defining moment;

Albion wondered if they would ever score, Wanderers thought they were home

and dry.

KICK BY KICK

14 mins: Okocha creates the space, Pedersen jinks inside Gregan but one of a succession of early opportunities is wasted by a poor cross.

GOAL!

19 mins: Mendy's break is decisive; Hoult fails to hold Djorkaeff's well-placed shot and Pedersen is there to knock in the rebound.

25 mins: Roberts knows he should have done better, getting up high to meet a Chambers cross but failing to test Jaaskelainen.

27 mins: Dichio fires a snapshot narrowly wide to remind dominant Wanderers that there are still dangers lurking.

33 mins: Campo, finding time to leave his defensive position, gets on the end of Frandsen's lobbed cross but fails to get enough power in his header.

45 mins: Campo does the business at the other end, clearing a Koumas shot towards an empty goal after Okocha's throw puts Jaaskelainen in trouble. The keeper hauls Dichio to the ground, desperately trying to atone for his own poor clearance - and gets away with a booking.

Half-time: Albion 0 Wanderers 1

50 mins: The offside flag means it would not have counted but Roberts is unaware of that when he shoots tamely at Jaaskelainen.

62 mins: Wanderers breathe a sigh of relief as Gregan's daisy-cutter beats everyone, hits Jaaskelainen's left hand post and skids across the face of goal, going out for a goal kick on the other side.

63 mins: Allardyce is waving frantically on the touchline, urging his players to get the ball behind Albion's back-line and relieve the pressure.

80 mins: Fortune favours the brave as Campo's clearance rebounds off Dichio, again straight at Jaaskelainen.

87 mins: Jaaskelainen spots the danger as Dichio flicks on Hoult's clearance, racing out to deny Hughes with what appears to be the save of the game.

89 mins: Hoult follows suit with an even more decisive save from Gardner in

a breakout that should have secured victory for Wanderers.

GOAL!

92 mins: Albion's second half pressure finally pays off as Dichio gets a flick on Gregan's cross and Johnson forces home the equaliser.

Full-time: Albion 1 Wanderers 1