roker report 
16-04-2024 05:56
16-04-2024 05:56
View From The Away End: The connection between fans and players was strong at WBA!
Last season’s trip to The Hawthorns will live long in the memory among a litany of brilliant away days, when Dennis Cirkin’s brilliant brace ignited genuine belief in the Sunderland faithful that a playoff place could be ours.
This year’s edition was always due to be a more low-key affair, with little to play for other than pride for us, and the Baggies looking fairly assured of a top six finish with no chance of breaking into the race for automatic promotion. Not exactly one to get the pulse racing, but at least it was a Saturday 3pm kick-off this time.
There weren’t many takers from the London Branch for this one, so I headed up to Birmingham solo, with a takeaway coffee rather than the customary cans. Sunderland have definitely driven us to distraction this season, but we haven’t quite reached the level where drinking on a train alone before 9am feels justified. Not yet, anyway…
Joining a few other Lads fans early doors in The Wellington, I couldn’t help but overhear the Birmingham City fans on the adjacent table, who were going through the bargaining phase of processing their potential relegation to League One. All the classics were brought out: “At least we’ll get to visit some new grounds”, “we’ll come straight back up with positive momentum” and even “we might have a chance of winning the EFL Trophy”. Given the way some of their fans carried on with us earlier this season I was struggling to muster up too much sympathy, although they did see off the nightmarish Beale era, so I suppose we can thank them for that.
With a few hours to go before our game, we relocated round the corner to Trocadera to catch the early kick-off, though by the time we arrived the Mags were already 2-0 up, so that suddenly lost all its appeal for some reason. I remember Tottenham getting battered at the Saudidome last season on the same day as our win at West Brom, so maybe that was a good omen.
On arrival at The Hawthorns, the away end was as boisterous as I can remember for a while; it’s amazing what derailing Leeds’s promotion bid can do for a fanbase’s spirits.
The first half was fairly uneventful, with the main talking point being the relentless booing of Dan Ballard by the home fans. He’s always struck me as the kind of character to thrive off that kind of treatment, and it was deliciously ironic that he was the man to draw the second yellow card from Thomas-Assante and reduce West Brom to ten men.
Barely a minute after that boost we were further elated when Ekwah calmly swept home Styles’s corner to give us the lead. With our newfound defensive solidity (Blackburn at home aside), you always felt confident that we would hold on in the second half. While it would definitely have been nice to have pressed home our advantage with a few more goals, the final whistle saw us pick up another positive result that should help to lift some of the discontent around the club.
It’s plain to see that the squad is in need of an overhaul in the summer, but there is quality and talent there, and the celebrations with the players at the end show that some of the spirit and connection with the fans from last season hasn’t fully evaporated.
Judging by the volume of requests on Facebook, it’s looking like a tall order to secure a ticket for Watford away, so if this is to be the last away trip of the season it’s certainly a decent way to sign off and look ahead to a wholesome, relaxing summer (until pre-season in Benidorm, of course). Ha’way the Lads.
This year’s edition was always due to be a more low-key affair, with little to play for other than pride for us, and the Baggies looking fairly assured of a top six finish with no chance of breaking into the race for automatic promotion. Not exactly one to get the pulse racing, but at least it was a Saturday 3pm kick-off this time.
There weren’t many takers from the London Branch for this one, so I headed up to Birmingham solo, with a takeaway coffee rather than the customary cans. Sunderland have definitely driven us to distraction this season, but we haven’t quite reached the level where drinking on a train alone before 9am feels justified. Not yet, anyway…
Joining a few other Lads fans early doors in The Wellington, I couldn’t help but overhear the Birmingham City fans on the adjacent table, who were going through the bargaining phase of processing their potential relegation to League One. All the classics were brought out: “At least we’ll get to visit some new grounds”, “we’ll come straight back up with positive momentum” and even “we might have a chance of winning the EFL Trophy”. Given the way some of their fans carried on with us earlier this season I was struggling to muster up too much sympathy, although they did see off the nightmarish Beale era, so I suppose we can thank them for that.
With a few hours to go before our game, we relocated round the corner to Trocadera to catch the early kick-off, though by the time we arrived the Mags were already 2-0 up, so that suddenly lost all its appeal for some reason. I remember Tottenham getting battered at the Saudidome last season on the same day as our win at West Brom, so maybe that was a good omen.
On arrival at The Hawthorns, the away end was as boisterous as I can remember for a while; it’s amazing what derailing Leeds’s promotion bid can do for a fanbase’s spirits.
The first half was fairly uneventful, with the main talking point being the relentless booing of Dan Ballard by the home fans. He’s always struck me as the kind of character to thrive off that kind of treatment, and it was deliciously ironic that he was the man to draw the second yellow card from Thomas-Assante and reduce West Brom to ten men.
Barely a minute after that boost we were further elated when Ekwah calmly swept home Styles’s corner to give us the lead. With our newfound defensive solidity (Blackburn at home aside), you always felt confident that we would hold on in the second half. While it would definitely have been nice to have pressed home our advantage with a few more goals, the final whistle saw us pick up another positive result that should help to lift some of the discontent around the club.
It’s plain to see that the squad is in need of an overhaul in the summer, but there is quality and talent there, and the celebrations with the players at the end show that some of the spirit and connection with the fans from last season hasn’t fully evaporated.
Judging by the volume of requests on Facebook, it’s looking like a tall order to secure a ticket for Watford away, so if this is to be the last away trip of the season it’s certainly a decent way to sign off and look ahead to a wholesome, relaxing summer (until pre-season in Benidorm, of course). Ha’way the Lads.