West Bromwich Albion 1 Burnley 0

Clarets lose on travels again

Saturday 29 September 2001

Bob Lord's Sausage wasn't at the Hawthorns. Instead we have taken this report from The Sunday Times online edition. It is written by Richard Rae.

There was sound and fury in abundance at The Hawthorns, but little else from two hard-working, well-organised but, on this evidence, rather limited teams.

It was hard to believe that Burnley had scored 27 goals in their 10 previous league games. Under physical pressure throughout - "They bullied us a bit," admitted manager Stan Ternent - the Clarets rarely threatened the home penalty area and did not have a direct shot on goal all match.

Scott Dobie's header from a free kick shortly after an hour, the young forward's ninth goal in 11 matches, gave Albion their seventh win in eight games and took them to third. They look solid bets for a playoff place, but manager Gary Megson must be concerned about the lack of chances they created with the abundant possession won by their snapping midfielders.

From the off Burnley seemed cowed by West Brom's controlled aggression. Larus Sigurdsson almost surprised Nik Michopoulos in the Burnley goal with a cross that threatened to drift under the bar, but the best chance fell to Dobie. The young man's inexperience showed when his hesitation before shooting when free in the area gave Steve Davis the chance to get in a crucial block.

A set-piece was always the best chance of breaking the deadlock, and so it proved. Shortly after the hour Neil Clement swung a free-kick into a crowded penalty area and Dobie, having lost his marker, headed past Michopoulos.

"We might not have lost that game last season, but we probably wouldn't have won it. We're doing okay, that's all," said Megson, and it was no more than fair comment.

West Bromwich Albion: Hoult, Gilchrist, Moore, Sigurdsson, Lyttle, Appleton, Johnson, McInnes, Clement, Dobie, Taylor (Quinn 84min)

Burnley: Michopoulus, Cox, Davis, Gnohere, Briscoe (Payton 70min), Cook, Ball (Ellis 79min), Weller, West, Taylor, I Moore (Mullin 65min)

Scorer: West Bromwich Albion: Dobie 67

Referee: A Butler