Our very own John Tipper has begun compiling a list of his favourite West Bromwich Albion games from the past five years and this game is his first, I too remember this game well. It was so awesome I punched straight through my mom and dad's mattress. They still don't know. Here is Tippin's mini-match report of the game between the free-flowing Baggies and Steve Bruce's Wigan Athletic side:
"This is my first: 2008 – 09 West Bromwich Albion 3 – 1 Wigan Athletic (Saturday 9th May, The Hawthorns). A game with huge personal significance, and possibly the most cathartic 90 minutes of my life to date. I don’t want to exploit the nauseating tabloid sentimentality that pervades contemporary British life, from the X Factor down, so I’ll just say that an Albion win against far superior opposition is as eloquent a tribute to a late Smethwick native as ever there can be. In this particular game we matched our enterprise with sheer determination; this was perhaps exemplified in the second half when, with the score locked at 1-1, Marc Antoine-Fortune was gracelessly felled inside the Wigan area and Chris Brunt stepped up to take the resultant penalty. He fired a tame shot too close to Richard Kingson in the Wigan goal but the ball fell kindly at his feet and, after a heartstopping moment when he paused as if suddenly remembering he’d left the oven on, slammed the ball into the net with relish. Cue hysteria from the home faithful, at last scenting survival after weeks in the footballing wilderness. Sadly, even though Antoine-Fortune gave the result further gloss by adding a deserved third goal late on, it was not meant to be; however, in edging out a team featuring some excellent players – including the sublimely gifted, Manchester United bound Valencia – West Bromwich Albion restored some pride and ensured that when Liverpool condemned us to the Championship the following week we could go down with heads unbowed."
"This is my first: 2008 – 09 West Bromwich Albion 3 – 1 Wigan Athletic (Saturday 9th May, The Hawthorns). A game with huge personal significance, and possibly the most cathartic 90 minutes of my life to date. I don’t want to exploit the nauseating tabloid sentimentality that pervades contemporary British life, from the X Factor down, so I’ll just say that an Albion win against far superior opposition is as eloquent a tribute to a late Smethwick native as ever there can be. In this particular game we matched our enterprise with sheer determination; this was perhaps exemplified in the second half when, with the score locked at 1-1, Marc Antoine-Fortune was gracelessly felled inside the Wigan area and Chris Brunt stepped up to take the resultant penalty. He fired a tame shot too close to Richard Kingson in the Wigan goal but the ball fell kindly at his feet and, after a heartstopping moment when he paused as if suddenly remembering he’d left the oven on, slammed the ball into the net with relish. Cue hysteria from the home faithful, at last scenting survival after weeks in the footballing wilderness. Sadly, even though Antoine-Fortune gave the result further gloss by adding a deserved third goal late on, it was not meant to be; however, in edging out a team featuring some excellent players – including the sublimely gifted, Manchester United bound Valencia – West Bromwich Albion restored some pride and ensured that when Liverpool condemned us to the Championship the following week we could go down with heads unbowed."
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