A SWIFT HALF New signing’s leveller keeps
DEBUTANT John Swift ensured West Brom boss Steve Bruce preserved his proud record of never having lost a second-tier fixture on the opening day of the season in more than two decades.
Not since Watford beat his Huddersfield side in August 2000 had the Geordie lost at this level on matchday one.
But after watching Isaiah Jones fire Boro into a 10th-minute lead and dominate the Baggies in a one-sided period, Bruce must have had flashbacks to his Newcastle nightmare 12 months ago.
Back then he failed to win in eight tortuous games which cost him his job.
And had West Brom not dramatically improved after the break at the Riverside, he’d have already been feeling hot under the collar again.
But the visitors finally woke up to earn a battling draw with former Reading man Swift netting a 51st-minute equaliser, marking a satisfying return to the North East for Bruce (right).
Despite a shoddy first-half display, the Baggies could have gone ahead five minutes before Jones’ opener when former Millwall forward Jed Wallace spotted Zack Steffen yards off his line.
From just inside the right touchline, Wallace lifted the ball goalwards, forcing the Manchester City loanee to hurriedly scamper back before acrobatically tipping the ball on to the top of the bar.
But it was Boro who broke the deadlock through Jones. It was the blistering form of the young wing-back last term which persuaded his manager to cash in on Djed Spence this summer.
And the 23-year-old is wasting no time in vindicating that decision. When Darnell Furlong lost possession, Ryan Giles drove forward before feeding Chuba Akpom, who squared the ball into the path of the unmarked Jones, who converted at the far post.
As West Brom heads dropped, Boro tried to turn the screw. Duncan Watmore had a goal
ruled out for offside and the former England Under-21s international and Marc Bola missed the target with long-range efforts.
Then in the 33rd minute, Boro appealed for a penalty when Jake Livermore appeared to clip the heels of Riley McGree but replays showed the Albion skipper had got the slightest of touches to the ball.
On-loan Wolves man Giles was causing havoc down the left against his parent club’s big rivals and three minutes later, his teasing cross should have been converted by Watmore, who could not sort his feet out as he shaped to shoot. Boro were made to pay for failing to cash in on their firsthalf supremacy as a half-time dressing down by Bruce had the desired effect.
The Albion boss believes he pulled off a double transfer coup by landing Wallace and Swift in the close-season.
And the Baggies were right back in it when the double act combined to deadly effect six minutes after the restart.
Wallace raced on to a Jayson Molumby pass before cleverly pulling the ball back for Swift to drive home from 15 yards out.
Five minutes later, only a brave stop by Steffen at his near post denied Swift a second goal after losing his marker with a deft turn.
After surviving a sustained period of Baggies’ pressure, Boro broke upfield and Jonny Howson saw his deflected shot travel inches wide with David Button wrong-footed.
Then only a last-gasp challenge by Dara O’Shea prevented sub Marcus Forss marking his Boro debut with a goal.
The hosts’ star man Giles said: “As first games do go, it was very end to end. A great atmosphere, gutted obviously we didn’t get the three points but we’ll take it and move on.”