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Championship
The Hawthorns

West Brom and Newcastle begun life away from the Premier League with a hard fought yet entertaining draw at the Hawthorns.

Damien Duff’s fifty-fifth minute strike past Scott Carson cancelled out Shelton Martis’ first half goal, but it was substitute goalkeeper Tim Krul that will take all the plaudits after a fantastic second half cameo.

A lively, energetic start with decent spells of possession by both sides was only spoilt by some questionable, misplaced passes and some extravagant shots on goal, clearly showing some nervous tension rather than ring-rustiness. Martis had West Brom’s first attempt, taking advantage of some poor man-marking in the Newcastle penalty area, but the Baggies defender could only send a stretched shot wide. In retaliation, Newcastle’s first attack came two minutes later, but Duff mirrored the efforts of his opponents by sending his first time effort high and wide. Chances by both Greening and Ameobi were also a long way from troubling either goalkeeper.

Keen to show they could still play at Premier League pace, the first thirty minutes did have its moments. On occasion, Newcastle’s Jonas Gutierrez had the chance to stretch his legs and fly down the left, as did Chris Brunt for West Brom on the right. Had the final crosses on these flanked moves been more accurate, it could have given either of the four strikers an effort they were after. West Brom opted for the promising seventeen-year-old Kiwi international Chris Wood instead of new signing Simon Cox, who was lacking match fitness according to new Baggies manager Roberto Martinez. Newcastle’s equally promising teenage international Nile Ranger was picked for the bench, as caretaker manager Chris Hughton preferred the towering partnership of Shola Ameobi and Andy Carroll.

The creative force for both sides came from the centre of midfield; Alan Smith, Newcastle’s captain in the absence of Nicky Butt, played in a much deeper role for a player who used to be an out-an-out striker for Leeds United at the beginning of his career. His experience as well as his defensive qualities showed in an gutsy performance, allowing Duff and Kevin Nolan to venture further forward in counter attacks for much of the first half. West Brom’s creative force, as it has been for a lot of the last two or three seasons was Jonathan Greening, today playing centrally alongside a more defensively minded Youssuf Mulumbu. this pairing also allowed West Brom to come forward with the occasional counter attack, creating a see-saw like effect on the games rhythm.

The first goal came from Greening’s pin-point free kick that was not dealt with by goalkeeper Steve Harper convincingly; his parry fell straight to Luke Moore, who’s blocked shot landed in the path of Shelton Martis who was in the right place at the right time to prod home. Newcastle could count themselves unlucky to concede after a good spell of possession, and the goal appeared to waken a few nerves and doubts amongst the players. For the remainder of the half, West Brom grew in confidence coming forward, probing a clearly shaken Magpies, showing signs of the side who were relegated last season despite playing good quality football.

A collision with Ameobi during the West Brom goal meant Harper could not reappear for the second half, introducing the crowd to twenty-one-year-old Dutchman Tim Krul, and he wasn’t given long before he was called into action, flying low down to his right to brilliantly stop a Robert Koren shot. This appeared to spark belief back into the Magpies, who ten minutes after the restart equalised through Duff, set up by some accurate passing from Nolan. It wasn’t long however before Krul was once again tested from Koren, this time his stretched hand excellently denying a shot that lacked power or accuracy. His next save, on seventy-two minutes as Moore’s effort was parried by his foot after beating the lethargic Coloccini way too easily. His best save however was left till last, a double effort, first parrying a corner which only went as far as Dorrans, who forced Krul into a reflex, finger-tip save.

With the players tiring from the earlier pace of the game, the last few minutes saw either side gifted chances to claim their first three points of the season. Nolan especially, whose header from substitute Joey Barton’s free kick ended nowhere near the goal. Jonas Olsson’s late minute headed goal from yet another Greening free kick was ruled out deep into injury time due to an offside.

In the end, both sides can take positives from this match. Knowing already that they are amongst the stronger teams in the division with squads containing Premier League experience, both sides however share identical issues that they would like to address before September comes; getting confidence back into their strikers being the main goal. There will be tougher matches to come, but with both sets of fans happy after game one, they’ll just be glad they got off to a good start.