Albion 2, Fulham 1

In the 1970's, darling of the fans Peter Ward struck up a little and large rapport with Ian Mellor which played a pivotal role in the most successful era in Albion's history.

Big man, little man and 4-4-2 is back in fashion. It is early days for Glenn Murray and Sam Baldock but more of this and they will carve their own niche as the combination which fired Albion to the Premier League.

Approaching halfway, Chris Hughton's side are sitting pretty in second place, effectively five points clear of Reading (if you include a far healthier goal difference) and only two behind leaders Newcastle.

Murray and Baldock have played a big part in the commanding state of affairs since Hughton paired them together on a regular basis.

He turned to them after Albion drew 0-0 at Ipswich with the too-similar duet of Murray and Tomer Hemed.

The results since then, through October and November, have been exceptional, the contributions of Murray and Baldock invaluable.

They have shared ten goals in an eight-match unbeaten sequence incorporating six wins, four of them by the narrowest of margins.

They came up trumps again against Fulham, turning a deserved deficit at half-time into a comeback victory with a ruthless volley apiece.

Target man Murray was accustomed to scoring goals for Albion in his first spell. Now he is doing it again.

The nippy, mobile Baldock struggled to find the net in his first two seasons with the club, although he combined effectively with Hemed last season when he was not sidelined by injury.

Playing with Murray is bringing out the best in him - and proving again how effective twin strikers can be.

Baldock said: "A lot, maybe too much, emphasis has been on style of play, but if you look over the previous few seasons, Leicester, Bournemouth, Watford, they've all got promoted by scoring a lot of goals and playing with two strikers.

"If you do it well, it's very hard to play against. And one of the messages is if we keep a clean sheet, we are going to get chances and we back ourselves as a team to score.

"I'm the type of player that not every formation suits, not every manager necessarily likes as a player. But fortunately I have a good one who seems to have faith in me and trusts me to go and do what I can do.

"I think this season more than the other two seasons I’ve been at the club I'm showing what I can do to the best of my ability, or it's getting that way."

Baldock played a vital role in turning the match on its head, because Albion were in trouble at half-time.

The Argus: They had been outplayed by a vibrant Fulham and were fortunate to be only one goal behind, their bad habit of conceding from set plays continuing as Kevin McDonald headed the visitors in front from beyond the back post from a corner (above).

Another habit is a much better one. Albion have a knack of staying in games when they are not playing well and potential game-changers all over the pitch to turn the tide.

At Wigan Dale Stephens came off the bench to turn a point into three. In the previous home game against Aston Villa Murray equalised out of nowhere, this time it was Baldock.

The Argus: A sweetly struck volley from just outside the area transformed the pattern of the contest. Baldock's fifth league goal of the campaign (above) was followed by Murray's 11th, all of them at the Amex.

Baldock popped up on the left flank to deliver a cross which provoked a fatal error by the Fulham defence.

They tried to catch Murray offside, a risky business when he is in the centre of the box, ten yards out. He punished them in clinical fashion, guiding in a left-foot volley to inflict only Fulham's second away defeat of the season.

Another examination of Albion's automatic promotion credentials has been negotiated. They have not been made to look as vulnerable as they were in the opening 45 minutes since their last Championship defeat, 13 games ago by Brentford in early September.

McDonald's goal contained an element of farce. David Stockdale was bumped over in an accidental collision with team-mate Stephens but the keeper went on to play a part every bit as important to Albion's victory as Baldock and Murray.

He saved at full-stretch from Floyd Ayite and parried away a shot from Scott Malone when the left-back was free inside the box, either of which would have doubled the deficit.

Stockdale also palmed over an angled drive from the pacey and impressive Togo international Ayite soon after Baldock had levelled.

Stockdale has his critics and he has been at fault for a goal or two but a personal tally of ten clean sheets in 17 appearances behind a defiant back four emphasises why Hughton continues to show faith in him.

Murray and Baldock have bagged 16 of Albion's 28 league goals between them now. Another Baldock-type is a must in the January transfer window, because his is the one position where Albion have no obvious competition and cover.

The second half recovery against Fulham could have lasting implications. The table looked a lot different at a quarter-to-four on Saturday than it does now.

At that stage Albion were six points adrift of Newcastle and only one ahead of Reading.

As Baldock said: "It's three points when we haven't been at our best and three points coming from behind. Those points come the end of the season really add up and are really important. They are big points."

Secured by a big man, little man link reving happy memories for supporters of a certain vintage and offering genuine belief for a new breed at the Amex that this could be Albion's year.