West Brom took a 2 point lead at the top of T3 North West 3, when they hosted neighbours Sutton Coldfield, on a blustery day at Aston Uni. The weather caused havoc for the home team during the first half. Not only did they have to battle hard against a strong opposition but had to run against the wind for the opening 35 minutes.

 

West Brom had a handful of chances in the first half but nothing really threatened the opposition goalkeeper. In fact it was the visitors who showed more fight, putting the blues under several waves of pressure and restricting the home side from getting out of their half. 

 

Sutton then went on to break the deadlock, with a well worked counter attack. With most of the West Brom players in the away teams’ half, a few simple passes drew the remaining defenders out of position and allowed the  Sutton forward to shoot on goal from a one-on-one situation. With little else to offer the first half, West Brom went into half time frustrated and one goal behind.

 

The home side found their stride after the break and a stand-out performance from Josh Dowen, inspired the come-back. Switching to a central role, Dowen bossed the midfield, running at defenders every chance he got. 

 

This spell of pressure would eventually pay off. In a moment reminiscent of the week before, Pete Icke won the ball just outside the opposition D and slipped it to the West Bromwich skipper to level the scores. Dowen then added a second with a well worked short corner routine, playing a simple one-two pass with Icke, to double his tally. 

 

With two assists to his name, It wasn’t long before Icke added his own name to the score sheet with a strong individual effort. Now with a two goal advantage West Bromwich looked comfortable and victory appeared to be on the cards.

 

Sutton were down but not out. They committed more players forward, piling on the pressure towards the end of the half. The away side eventually broke down the home defence, forcing a ball into the D and a poor clearance allowed the visitors to score themselves a second goal.

 

With minutes left on the clock, both sides had everything to play for. Tom Davies and Shabbar Butt held the midfield line well, supporting the defence against everything Sutton could throw at them. Anything that made its way through was then dealt with by the experienced back four. The home side played down the clock wisely and ensured they were the ones to take all three points from an evenly contested end-to-end game. 

 

Man of the match, Josh Dowen.

The West Brom skipper led by example, playing with passion and intensity. He threatened every time he had the ball, running at the opposition defenders causing all kinds of problems for Sutton.