The Baggies promotion hopes have come to an end as Southampton stunned the Baggies to ensure that we be in the Championship for a 4th successive season.
First half, we started brightly and seemed to be the better team in the first 45 and had a few opportunities when Diangana header went wide and in the 20 minute mark Tom Fellows cross hit the post meaning the scoreline stayed at 0-0. Alex Palmer made an excellent save from David Brooks long range shot.
4 minutes into the second half the deadlock was finally broken but it was Southampton who took the lead with Smallbone firing home for the Saints. We however tried to come back but Alex Mowatt’s side footer was deflected wide and Darnell Furlong saw a volley well saved by the Saints keeper Alex McCarthy.
Southampton scored the important goal on the 78th minute with Adam Armstrong who was my player to watch converting his shot into the bottom corner. Then he delivered from the penalty spot on the 86th minute to give the Baggies heartbreak meaning we be staying in the Championship for another season and Southampton are going to Wembley.
Cedric Kipre scored the consolation goal for the Baggies into added time but was not enough to seal a comeback where the referee blew the whistle for full time once it was restarted.
Disappointed to lose the second leg but I am pleased and proud of how we fared this season knowing where we’ve come from with a bad owner at the start of the season, not a money being spent on new players and a team full of injures with no fit striker. I do hope the new owner sticks with Carlos Corberan ahead of the 2024-25 season as he took them from 24th in October 2022 to 5th with nothing to spend.
I say we done well to get to the play-offs this season and hopefully we can target for this again next season and see what the summer holds and the transfer window. It is over for the match reviews for 2023-24 season but I will be back with a end of season review sometime in the week.
Southampton: McCarthy, Walker-Peters, Stephens (C), Downes, Harwood-Bellis, Bednarek, Smallbone (Rothwell 90′), Aribo (Charles 90′), Armstrong, Brooks (Edozie), Fraser (Manning 66′)
Goalscorers: Smallbone (49′), Armstrong (78′) (86′ Pen)
West Brom: Palmer, Furlong, Townsend (Reach 73′), Mowatt (Weimann 82′), Bartley, Kipre, Fellows, Yokuslu (M’Vila 64′), Wallace (Thomas-Asante 64′), Diangana (Swift 64′), Johnston
Goalscorers: Kipre (90 +7′)