*Hoult evens honours*

Honours ended even in the West Midlands derby, leaving West Bromwich Albion with the familiar feeling that an opportunity had been missed. It has been the story of their season.

Dion Dublin squandered a second-half penalty that could have seen Aston Villa leave with all three points, though that really would have been hard on the Baggies and far more than visitors intent on grinding out a draw actually deserved.

Albion need the points more than Villa and played as if they wanted all three, defending superbly and attacking with determination. Gary Megson had every right to be proud of his players, but as he knows better than most managers it is hard to win games without scoring goals.

Villa were making their first appearance at the Hawthorns in a top-flight league match since 1985, a date so far back in history that the Baggies boasted time travellers like Mickey Thomas and Imre Varadi, and one of the goals in the visitors’ 3-0 victory was scored by 17-year-old sensation Tony Daley.

To say that Albion fans were eager to resume hostilities would be one of the understatements of the season. Judging by the deafening volume, an entire generation of home support went through a rite of passage by joining in a chorus of ‘shit on the Villa’.
Unfortunately their team could not follow through, so to speak, leaving Albion not just behind Villa in terms of bragging rights but behind Birmingham City, who heaped humiliation on Graham Taylor’s side in the season’s first Midlands derby at St Andrews.

Taylor had warned a police escort might be necessary for the four-mile journey home were Villa to perform so badly again in a game so important to supporters. They didn’t, though neither did they hit any heights. Albion could have been celebrating a famous victory every bit as rip-roaring as Birmingham’s but for their lack of conviction in front of goal, a consistent failing which is the main reason they are finding it so difficult to pull away from the relegation positions.

Peter Enckelman was required to make a sharp double save from Scott Dobie and Jason Roberts within the first five minutes, then a couple of minutes later Roberts missed a priceless opportunity after taking on the Villa defence from within his own half. Controlling a clearance cleverly, the striker sped past Olaf Mellberg and left Mark Delaney on his backside to stride unchecked into the Villa penalty area, only to unleash a hasty shot that flew too high for Enckelman to even have to make a save. As Dobie was by this time available and unmarked in the middle, Roberts’s wastefulness was doubly culpable.

Having weathered the early storm Villa inched back into the match, Oyvind Leonhardsen bringing a save from Russell Hoult and Dublin being denied by a brave block from Darren Moore.

Enckelman made further saves from Neil Clement and Roberts before the interval, but Albion continued to pepper the crowd with their best chances. Derek McInnes completely failed to hit the target when well set up for a shot on the half hour.

Albion continued to do all the pressing in the second half, with Villa frequently reduced to humping long balls forward from their own half with an ever decreasing likelihood of reaching Dublin or Marcus Allback. The anonymous Swede was replaced on the hour by Darius Vassell, just after a five-minute period of Albion pressure that culminated in Enckelman having to make an acrobatic diving save to prevent an own goal when a clearance took a freak bounce off JLloyd Samuel.

Ian Taylor saw a shot fly just wide before a rare Villa attack brought the afternoon’s moment of controversy. Gareth Barry was doing a passable impersonation of George Best in the Albion area when his progress was brought to a shuddering halt by a tackle from Moore.

It looked as though the defender got at least some of the ball, and Moore was booked for arguing as much, so justice was possibly done when Hoult saved Dublin’s unconvincing effort with his legs.

That brought the biggest cheer of the afternoon. Not quite as good as a goal, but better than nothing.