Two-goal Savage spurs Albion to victory

5:06pm Saturday 31st March 2007

Northampton 0, Albion 2.

Albion well and truly extinguished any lingering fears of relegation with a Savage attack.

A second-half double by Bas Savage gave the Seagulls their first win for six games and lifted them to 52 points, more than enough to guarantee League One football again next season.

Both goals for the latest cult hero of the Albion supporters were set up by his partner Alex Revell.

Savage has now struck six times in his last nine starts, a vital contribution since the defeat at Brentford in February which plunged Albion into trouble towards the foot of the table.

They have no such worries now and can look forward to the remaining six games of the campaign in a relaxed frame of mind.

Albion were without their influential captain Dean Hammond for only the third time this season.

Hammond, already suffering from a double hernia, picked up a hamstring injury in training.

Kerry Mayo returned from a back spasm, the only change in personnel from the dour 0-0 draw at home to Huddersfield.

There was, however, a change in the system, manager Dean Wilkins demonstrating that diamonds are not forever by reverting to an orthodox 4-4-2.

Mayo slotted in at left-back and Adam El-Abd joined Alexis Bertin in the centre of the park.

The thinking behind the switch was twofold. The midfield diamond used in the previous eight matches produced only one defeat but also a flurry of draws and just nine goals.

The switch back to 4-4-2 gave Alex Revell and Bas Savage more of an opportunity to work closer together as a partnership.

Also, Northampton play with wingbacks so Wilkins wanted Dean Cox and Jake Robinson out on the flanks.

Northampton, their home form much improved since Stuart Gray took over from John Gorman in January, recalled 38-year-old former Derby and Aston Villa midfielder Ian Taylor at the expense of David Hunt.

Conditions, both underfoot and overhead, play a big part in the match.

The pitch was bumpy and bare in places, which is not particularly unusual in the lower divisions at this stage of the season.

A more significant factor was a very strong wind blowing straight down the ground.

Albion were against it in the first half, which brought back memories of their backs-to-the-wall display in the opening 45 minutes at Chesterfield in January where they went in at 0-0 before winning with a Joe Gatting goal early in the second half.

The game plan would have been similar this time as well and Northampton, for the most part, were kept at arms length.

Scott Flinders had little to do, although he was forced into a routine save early on from an instant shot by Kenny Deuchar after a wind-assisted clearance by keeper Mark Bunn bounced off Joel Lynch.

Having the elements behind him also encouraged Bradley Johnson, Northampton's goalscorer in their 2-1 defeat at Swansea last weekend, to try his luck with a free-kick from 30 yards.

His intended shot was missing the target when Deuchar headed it wide.

It did not take long for Wilkins to revert once again to the diamond, Robinson pushing forward and El-Abd drifting to the right.

A few more balls went into the Northampton box, which must have pleased Wilkins after the failure to test Huddersfield but Bunn had even less to occupy him.

A curling effort from Revell in the 13th minute did not have enough power to trouble the Cobblers keeper and that was the sum total of Albion's attacking efforts in the first half.

Flinders was eventually forced into urgent action in the 38th minute. Lynch looked in vain for an offside flag as Jordan Robertson went through.

Albion's on-loan keeper came rapidly off his line to block the Northampton striker, winning a goalkick in the process.

Northampton made a change for the second half, Simon Cox replacing the injured Robertson.

Cox, on-loan from Reading, made an immediate impact with a low ball across the face of the box which Deuchar scooped over the bar from the edge of the six yard box.

It was an expensive miss by the Scottish forward as Albion took a firm grip on the game with two goals for Savage in the space of seven minutes.

The resemblance to the Chesterfield victory was enhanced by the manner in which the Seagulls went ahead.

Gatting's goal at Chesterfield came from a corner. Another set-piece, a free-kick this time, created the breakthrough.

It was well worked too, Revell rising at the far post to head Mayo's delivery across the six- yard box for Savage to sweep in on the half-volley from close range.

It was particularly satisfying to see the front pair combine so effectively after their shortcomings against Huddersfield and Savage did not have to wait much longer for his fifth goal in the last five away games.

Revell beat Bunn to a cross from Robinson to loop a header goalwards and it was forced over the line by Savage.

Two should have become three for Albion in the 72nd minute when Robinson contrived to miss an open goal.

Revell's angled drive was parried into his path by Bunn. An end to Robinson's League One famine, stretching back to his hat-trick at Huddersfield in October, seemed a formality but he blazed against the bar.

It did not matter, because Savage's quickfire brace had already made the points safe.

Flinders completed a satisfying afternoon for Albion by preserving his third clean sheet in the last four matches in the closing stages with a fine stop from a header by Johnson.

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