Andreas Weimann netted his first goal for West Bromwich Albion late on as they beat local rivals Birmingham City in a tense West Country Derby.
The Austrian was found by a Darnell Furlong cross on the edge of the six yard box and fired it into the roof of the net.
It’s Weimann’s first goal since signing for the Baggies on loan from Bristol City and his first goal since Boxing Day.
The Baggies maintain an unbeaten home record since losing to Middlesbrough just before Christmas, and scored in the 11th consecutive home league game this season.
The best chance for the opposition fell to defender Kevin Long, when from a corner got a faint touch on the cross to leave West Brom keeper Alex Palmer stranded, only for the ball to hit the woodwork and bounce straight out.
The majority of the chances fell to the Baggies. Tom Fellows had the best chance for the home side to score when captain Jed Wallace found a way through three Birmingham defenders on the edge of the box before laying it off to the 20-year-old, whose low driven shot curled past the far post.
Alex Pritchard followed Birmingham boss Tony Mowbray from Sunderland in the January transfer window, and was immediately given a start and was determined to make an impact.
He managed to find top scorer Jay Stansfield early on in the match, but his tame effort only found the safe hands of Palmer.
In the second half West Brom made the brighter start when Fellows broke free down the right hand side and made his way into the box chipping a ball to Alex Mowatt who couldn’t connect to the header and it went agonisingly wide.
Three minutes later, Baggies top scorer Brandon Thomas-Asante got on the end of a corner, unmarked at the far post, decided to volley it but the shot went across the face of goal.
The Smethwick End saw it’s fair share of noise, for all the wrong reasons, but this time it was noises of encouragement from the home ends.
After the hour mark, relegation-threatened Birmingham saw more of the ball, and more of the chances when Stansfield saw his shot blocked by Cedric Kipre and out for a corner.
For a derby game, there was plenty of needle which saw five yellow card dished out by referee David Webb.
Furlong let his passion overspill a bit when pushing one of the Blues’ players after conceding a free-kick. Andre Dozzell pulled down Jed Wallace when he looked to be on the break midway through the second half.
Towards the end of the match Juninho Bacuna walked over to the fourth official to complain that racial abuse was being directed towards him, leaving the game with a sour taste.
After the game, West Brom players celebrated wildly in front of the travelling Birmingham fans, to the distain of the opposition.
The Baggies remain in the play-off race, staying in fifth place whilst Birmingham see their chances of survival threatened after Huddersfield Town beat local rivals Sheffield Wednesday 4-0.
Manager quotes to follow this article.
Oliver Holmes
