Where's The Pub?

A good day all round, an important win and clean sheet with several big games coming up over the next three weeks.

The last time I went to the Hawthorns it was a cold November evening back in 2005 and we got battered 4-0. "It can't be worse than last time," I chirped to Katja before stepping outside and driving down the M6. I got a good run on that horrendous road for a change and made good time in getting to West Bromwich, a really straightforward drive and I was there before 12pm, grabbing a quick Subway before heading on to the match.

"Do you want a drink with that?" asked the server. "No, I'm OK thanks" I replied. "Are you sure? It's £5 with a drink". "How much is it without a drink?" I asked. "£4.99". Oh go on then...

So with time to kill I thought I'd find a pub to watch the Arsenal vs Manchester City match... quite the straightforward task I assumed as, ordinarily, where there's a football stadium there's a few pubs dotted around. I headed down the street with the away supporters' entrance and headed on into the Smethwick area. I carried on walking and saw a lot of supporters headed in the opposite direction from the nearby train station but, undeterred – and stupidly – I decided to carry on down the road... getting further and further away from the stadium.

Around the corner I went, past an industrial estate and took a left until I finally found my saviour from a distance, the aptly titled "The Navigation Point" pub. My delight turned to anguish as I got closer and closer to it as it became clearer and clearer that this was a pub no more... all decrepit and boarded up. Crestfallen, on I walked for what felt like forever. I went past a school, all sorts of shops and eventually ended up walking that far that I looped all the way back to the main road where the stadium was and eventually found The Royal Oak. What a relief. It was now 1pm – I'd walked for a full hour!

Inside the pub was great. Big screens, they sold food, loads of space, none of this "HOME FANS ONLY" nonsense... a really nice away pub once I finally found it and I was able to watch Arsenal and Manchester City play out a cracker.

On to the stadium and there seemed to be so many Evertonians about as we trooped down the road. I overheard someone say that John Stones was playing with Distin not involved at all and out injured. Was Victor Anichebe injured also? I noticed no room for him in West Brom's squad also.

Evertonians were in good voice as we attacked towards the goal opposite. We were jumping for joy in no time as Lukaku took aim from the edge of the penalty area and curled in a beauty with his right foot past Ben Foster. The Belgian didn't make a fuss and didn't celebrate in front of his ex-club but we sure did! Everton off the mark early on... just the start we needed.

We had to dig in a bit for large periods of the rest of the half as West Brom tried to get back into the game. They were in and around our penalty area a lot but credit to the Everton defence who were resolute in the first half leaving Tim Howard without a great deal to do. Defenders were throwing themselves in front of shots and had a lot to do with us being 1-0 ahead at the break. There was one curious moment when the referee Anthony Taylor gave a free kick to West Brom, put the ball down and paced forward to instruct Everton where to position their wall but for some reason seemed to stop at eight yards rather than the full 10, much to the West Brom supporters dismay and also that of Craig Gardner who got booked for his troubles...and smashed his free kick into the shorter-distanced wall.

Chris Brunt also hit the side-netting whilst at the other end Mirallas and Lukaku both tried their luck from distance, only to miss the target. Half time we led 1-0. Not pretty so far but encouraging defending and a great goal from our record signing.

Into the second half and it was much more like the Roberto Martinez Everton. We got about West Brom a lot more and we were very dangerous on the counter-attack. Steven Naismith should have made it 2-0 long before Mirallas did when he scooped a great chance over the crossbar from close range once Lukaku's effort was saved by Foster.

We doubled our money however 2/3rds into the match when Mirallas, who had a good afternoon, cut inside and shot at goal. It looked harmless enough and should have been saved easily by Foster but he let it squirm under him and the ball rolled into the net. Mirallas celebrated as if he'd burst the net and we all cheered jubilantly. You felt the game was won; West Brom seemed to believe they had lost also basically gave up from then on in. Their heads dropped and Everton could well have ran riot.

Substitute Leon Osman was twice thwarted by Foster – one a quite splendid save when the ball deflected goalwards, the other also a good save when Osman volleyed at goal following a beautiful passing move. Some goal that would have been. McGeady also fired one wide from distance. It was a very comfortable last 10-15 minutes or so... even Liverpool loanee Andre Wisdom had time to make a fool of himself a couple of times with Evertonians in great voice.

A quite spectacular John Stones tackle aside our goal never really seemed in danger until the very, very end at least when, carried away to the sound of "oles" as we played keep-ball, our defence managed to get themselves into quite the muddle and Tim Howard, who'd barely made a save all game, had to be at his best to twice thwart West Brom and keep that important clean sheet in tact.

Leaving the ground and such was the busy traffic on the main road I was glad I parked where I did just near the ring road. I was away quick, had another good run on the M6 and made it home before 7pm...even catching the end of Liverpool losing at home to Aston Villa. A good day all round, an important win and clean sheet with several big games coming up over the next three weeks...and at least I now know where the pub is for next time!

It might be a while mind. I don't offer West Brom much hope of being here next season based on that display.

Player Ratings:
Howard: Not very busy for the most part but distributed pretty well. He claimed some good crosses in the second half and then made that excellent double-save at the end. Good performance. 7
Baines: Did very well. Lost out a few times but worked very hard and put in his typical professional performance. What you see is what you get with Leighton Baines. 7
Jagielka: Solid. Will probably have been stung with the criticism he got after the Chelsea game and responded well. I liked when we scored our second all the players went to Mirallas to celebrate but not Jagielka. He pulled Stones aside and spoke to him about his responsibilities, making sure we stayed focus for the rest of the game. A good pro. 7
Stones: He was excellent in my opinion. Very calm on the ball and not much got behind him. Will be interesting to see how he gets on these next few weeks. Hard to believe we had three of England's back line out there today. 8
Coleman: The odd defensive frailty but generally good. Still not quite at his swashbuckling self but will get that back with games. 6
Barry: Had an excellent game. In the way of a lot of things and passed the ball well. As with Baines - what you see is what you get with Gareth Barry. 8
McCarthy: Covered a lot of ground in there also. A difficult man to play against in my opinion. 7
Mirallas: My man of the match. I've never really been the biggest fan of Mirallas but he seems to be adding consistency to his game. We seem to be getting more of a full game out of Kevin now rather than flashes. Good to see. Hope it continues as he can be a real frightening player to come up against. 8
McGeady: Did alright. Kept on going. Still needs more games to get where he needs to but it's clear he has fantastic ability. 6
Naismith: No goal today. What is going on Steven?!?! He did well. Should have scored with that opportunity but at least it didn't come back to bite us...as I feared it might at the time. As with Baines and Barry - you know what you're going to get from Naismith. 6
Lukaku: Scored one good goal and though he is capable of more his presence sounds real alarm bells for defenders and he did what he had to, plus had the bonus of a 25 minute rest. 7

Substitutes:
Osman (for Lukaku): Came on and was lively and positive. Can expect more involvement in the coming weeks as the games come thick and fast. Unlucky not to score. 6
Besic (for McGeady): Not on long so difficult to judge. I thought the yellow card was harsh, though.

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