Beattie's sharpness deflates Baggies

West Bromwich Albion 0 Stoke City

Albion, without a win in eight previous Premier League outings and 10 in all, are now 12 points behind Stoke, who are seven clear of 18th-placed Newcastle United and could take another stride towards safety when they entertain Alan Shearer's team next weekend. "We are taking them one at a time," said their manager Tony Pulis afterwards. "But this was very important for us. We knew it would be a difficult game, a local derby with them needing a win as badly as us. So I am pleased - and it is only a short journey home for the fans who will enjoy the result tonight."

Here, the home team contributed to their own downfall with a nervous display full of sloppy defending and anaemic attacking on a sunlit afternoon when victory, in this sold-out M6 derby contest, was deemed essential if they were to mount a great escape. Both goals, at the start of each half, owed much to errors, but they were taken sweetly, by Ricardo Fuller and James Beattie who condemned the home team to boos and jeers as they left the field.

"We were not good enough today to get a result and Stoke City deserved it," said an honest Tony Mowbray. "But I am not angry with my players. We play this way because I believe in it. It is a huge disappointment that we have lost, that we have had two successive home matches and picked up only one point.

"But we are not beaten yet and we have seven games to play and we are going to do our best and see what happens. We suffered from individual errors today, but the players are human beings and they make mistakes." He added that the home fans, thousands of whom had departed long before the end, were entitled to show their frustration. "But nobody at this club will capitulate," said Mowbray. "Let's see what happens."

On this evidence, Mowbray needs a massive change of form and fortune if Albion are to come close to survival. Despite the backing from a raucous packed crowd, they began nervously and fell behind after only two minutes when a long forward pass from Danny Higginbotham deceived Shelton Martis on the bounce. Ricardo Fuller collected, swept inside and then shot low and true as Scott Carson dived over the ball.

Stoke, with Matthew Etherington sparkling on the left, were a constant threat thereafter and had several opportunities to score again, notably when Carson saved from Glenn Whelan's free kick and when Etherington rolled a shot wide, before Beattie delivered his sixth goal in 10 games, after 47 minutes.

This time Fuller became provider, hooking an improvised cross over his shoulder towards Etherington. As the ball fell, it ricocheted off two Albion defenders and fell to Beattie who swung his left boot and scored from 20 yards. It was game over and made his £3.5 million transfer fee look a truly wise investment. Albion made a triple substitution, threw everyone forward and saw a Chris Brunt 30-yarder rebound off the bar, but it was all huff and puff to no avail.