Glum boss Lambo left in limbo by a late Caul
CAULEY WOODROW notched a 94th-minute winner as the Brewers won for the first time in six games at the Pirelli Stadium.
The Fulham loanee marked his home debut with a clinical finish, turning sharply in the box to score after Matt Palmer’s corner had been helped on by Tom Flanagan.
Former Wolves winger Michael Kightly had earlier capped a man-of-the-match performance by bagging a valuable equaliser against his former side to silence the visitors, who had taken a first-half lead through Helder Costa’s penalty.
Dejected Wolves boss Paul Lambert said: “In the first half I thought we did a lot with the ball. We got the lead and it gives you something to go with at half-time
“But in the second half we were not the same and we allowed Burton to come back into the game.
“The first goal is poor from our point of view, because it’s too easy for them to get through our defence. For the second, our marking was not good enough at the set play.
“We have set ourselves such a high standard so the disappointment is there for everybody.
“Sometimes you need a reality check, and we just weren’t good enough.”
Wolves took the lead five minutes before half-time through Costa, who completed a £13million permanent switch to Molineux last month.
The Portuguese blasted high into the roof of the net from the spot after referee Keith Stroud adjudged that Burton goalkeeper Jon McLaughlin had bundled into Wolves skipper Dave Edwards.
It looked as if it might be another fruitless afternoon for Nigel Clough’s men.
But the Brewers enjoyed a purple patch early in the second half and found themselves level on the hour mark. Kightly tapped home Sordell’s cross and with the scores level it was Albion who were pressing more for the winner – which arrived deep in stoppage time.
Woodrow’s neat strike keeps the hosts three points above the drop zone. After spending the best part of an hour kicking his heels on the subs’ bench yesterday, the new £12million Stoke striker was introduced to howls of disapproval from the angry Hawthorns faithful. And if that was not bad enough, Berahino, who served an eight-week ban for taking rave drug ecstasy earlier this season while still at Albion, then spent another 20 minutes failing to get a kick. By the final whistle, the fallen former England Under-21s starlet had managed just four touches – none of which had any impact whatsoever. Much to the delight, of course, of the home fans, who were jeering, booing and hurling abuse at Berahino, 23, from start to finish. In fact, that is not strictly true. They had actually been on the player’s back before this all-Midlands scrap kicked off. If Berahino’s much anticipated afternoon back at his old stamping ground – just two weeks after his move to the Potters was a personal misery – so too was the final result. Despite the narrow score, Mark Hughes’ men were soundly beaten – and further rubbing salt into Berahino’s wounds, James Morrison grabbed the winner. Lest we forget, the Scottish midfielder reportedly KO’d his then team-mate two years ago – after Berahino threatened to strike over a collapsed move to Spurs. The bitterness over the whole Berahino affair has led to a complete breakdown between Welsh pair Hughes and Albion boss Tony Pulis. Post-match Hughes accused the Albion chief of refusing to shake hands either before or after. And he then expressed ‘disappointment’ that the story of Berahino’s positive drugs test hit the headlines so close to the showdown. Potters chief Hughes said: “I didn’t see him to shake his hand and I was there for quite a long time at the end. Being the host club maybe the onus is on him. “It was always going to be a very difficult day for Saido. He knew the reception he would get and he was not disappointed. “West Brom never made us aware of the situation with Saido’s ban. “We knew it would come out at some point but West Brom kept it quiet for several months and then, lo and behold, it comes out two days before the game. “We were disappointed at that. It’s a shame because people would suggest West Brom have had something to do with that. That would be unfair, wouldn’t it?” The inevitable barracking of Albion’s public enemy No.1 started during the warm up. Every time Berahino took a shot, he was booed. Every time he missed, the stadium erupted into laughter. That created an even more frenzied atmosphere between two teams sitting comfortably in eighth and ninth place. Salomon Rondon thought he had scored after four minutes – only to be flagged offside. That did nothing to stem the one-way traffic, though, and a sweeping counter led to Albion’s sixth-minute goal. Darren Fletcher released Nacer Chadli and his pass was weighted to perfection for the run of Morrison, whose finish into the far corner was equally good. WEST BROM: STOKE: