West Brom have the edge over Wolves in Black Country derby

Apr 16 2008 By Rob Tanner

CHAMPIONSHIP: Wolverhampton Wanderers 0 West Bromwich Albion 1

West Bromwich Albion fans had almost the perfect evening last night. Not only did they savour victory over their Black Country rivals, courtesy of a solitary Zoltan Gera second-half goal, the victory lifted them back to the summit of the Championship and banging on the door of the Barclays Premier League.

As for Wolverhampton Wanderers fans, it could hardly have been worse, their own promotion hopes being dealt a bitter blow just as the play-offs were beckoning.

However, Wolves can have few complaints as Albion displayed the superior quality near goal throughout and, as much as they huffed and puffed, the hosts did not have enough guile at the crucial moments.

It was the visitors who got off to a lightning start and they dominated the opening 20 minutes. Only the woodwork, Wolves keeper Wayne Hennessey and some poor finishing denied Tony Mowbray's side from turning their dominance into a healthy lead.

Ishmel Miller tortured Neill Collins in the opening minutes and he headed over from a Carl Hoefkens cross and then fired straight at Hennessey after easily turning Collins inside the area.

Sylvan Ebanks-Blake headed over for Wolves from a Matt Jarvis cross but it was a brief interlude from the non-stop Albion onslaught and normal service was renewed when Gera headed a Jonathan Greening free kick against the post.

Kevin Phillips narrowly failed to connect with a low Gera cross at the far post and the Championship's top scorer somehow headed over the bar from a yard out after Hennessey had pushed a Miller shot into the air towards the back post after the Albion striker had again evaded Collins.

But then the heavens opened and the downpour seemed to revive Wolves. Mowbray is famous for having The Hawthorns pitch watered before every game to give the pitch some zip but the monsoon conditions turned the Molineux surface from zippy to slippy, and it was Wolves' more industrious attributes that suited the conditions.

Suddenly there was a complete turnaround and it was the hosts who applied all the pressure, forcing Albion to defend desperately from a succession of corners.

However, the rain stopped just before half time and Albion created two more excellent chances. First Miller was fouled by Collins on the edge of the area and Neil Clement's free kick was acrobatically tipped over the bar by Hennessey, the scourge of Albion in the game at The Hawthorns in November. Then Greening played in James Morrison but the winger checked back instead of bearing down on goal and the chance was lost. Mick McCarthy's jog of frustration could have been mistaken for a rain dance.

Wolves did not heed the warning and 12 minutes after the restart the woodwork again came to their rescue as Phillips' shot from the edge of the box cannoned back into play. Two minutes later even the woodwork couldn't save Wolves as Clement's long ball sent Phillips racing through and, after slipping out of Jody Craddock's lunging tackle, he squared for Gera who was stood all alone inside the six-yard box and he slipped the ball past Hennessey to send the Albion fans wild. Mowbray stood motion-less, as if made from granite, leaning against the away dugout as if he was the only thing keeping it upright.

To their credit, their was no shortage of effort from Wolves but they lacked the quality to create any meaningful chances. The best they could muster was a fierce strike from Darron Gibson which Dean Kiely had to dive to parry away.

McCarthy threw Freddy Eastwood and Kevin Kyle into the fray and finished the game with four strikers but the equaliser just would not come. Seyi Olofinjana broke from midfield and shrugged of Clements but Kiely was down well to save his shot.

At the final whistle, Mow-bray displayed a rare piece of emotion, his broad grin and clenched fist indicating a man who believes his side are nearly home and dry. For Wolves, there is more work to be done. n Hull manager Phil Brown watched his inform side surge up to second in the Championship with a 3-1 victory at Yorkshire rivals Barnsley and challenged them to win the title. Goals by Dean Marney, Ian Ashbee and Dean Windass sealed a comfortable win, with Istvan Ferenczi pulling a goal back for the hosts.

Scorer: Gera (59) 0-1.
WOLVES: Hennessey, Foley (Kyle 81), Collins, Craddock, Elokobi, Jarvis, Olofinjana, Gibson, Gray (Eastwood 74), Keogh, Ebanks-Blake. Subs: Stack, Breen, Potter.
WEST BROM: Kiely, Hoefkens, Barnett, Clement, Robinson, Gera, Koren, Greening, Morrison (Moore 90), Miller (Bednar 46), Phillips (Pele 85). Subs: Martis, Brunt.
Referee: Mark Clattenburg (Tyne & Wear).
Attendance: 27,883.
Bookings: Wolves - Elokobi (foul); Albion - Greening (dissent)..