Cheltenham Town 2 West Bromwich Albion 1 - report

Cheltenham Town 2 West Bromwich Albion 1

Recent arrival Oliver Bozanic underlined his creative talents as Cheltenham Town defeated a young West Brom side 2-1 at the Abbey Business Stadium this evening.

The Australian left-footer, who has signed for the Robins from Reading on a six-month loan deal, set up goals for David Hutton and Elvis Hammond to ensure boss Martin Allen’s side maintained their unbeaten pre-season run.

Allen fielded what is likely to be something close to his starting XI for next Saturday’s League Two opener against Grimsby Town.

Hutton and Bozanic started on the wings, offering flair on both flanks, with Michael Pook partnering Andy Gallinagh in the centre of midfield and David Bird operating at right-back.

Pook and Gallinagh are both adept at winning the ball and with them in the middle of the pitch, Cheltenham will not be easy to break down.

Justin Richards joined Hammond in attack, although the Robins switched to a 4-5-1 formation early in the first half, with Hammond up front alone at times.

Ex-Robins manager Keith Downing was back at Whaddon Road in his new role in West Brom’s Academy.

Downing’s team was made up of scholarship players and they showed some flashes of potential and raw talent.

Cheltenham opened the scoring in the sixth minute when Richards won a corner and Bozanic’s left-footed delivery was floated towards the far post, where the unmarked Hutton stabbed in from close range.

Joss Labadie’s deflected shot hit the bar with Scott Brown wrong-footed in the eighth minute, but that was as close as the Baggies came to levelling in the first half.

However, Brown was beaten in the 53rd minute when Chris Wood curled a fine shot into the top right corner after cutting inside from the left side of the penalty area.

It took Cheltenham only three minutes to regain the lead. Bozanic threaded a fine pass through to Hammond whose initial shot was blocked by goalkeeper Ryan Allsop, but the former Fulham man slammed into an empty net at the second attempt for his third goal of the summer.

Hammond was joined in attack by Barry Hayles in the 62nd minute and he smashed another effort wide after a jinking run before Josh Knight hit the bar for the Baggies late on.

Cheltenham complete their warm-up fixtures against Birmingham City on Sunday (3pm).

The Premier League Blues are expected to include the likes of Lee Bowyer and Kevin Phillips.

Cheltenham Town: S Brown; D Bird, S Duff (D Diallo 46), M Townsend, L Ridley; D Hutton (T Denton 90), M Pook, A Gallinagh, O Bozanic; J Richards (B Hayles 62), E Hammond (J Low 79). Subs not used: B Richardson, J Tabor, M Watkins, J Alsop, J Durrant.

West Brom: R Allsop; C Gayle, D Worrall, A Malcolm, K Brown; J Knight, J Labadie, S Mantom, R Sawyers; C Wood, L Alliyu. Subs not used: L Connolly, G Mulholland, L O'Neil, A Grier, J Tebbutt, E Mannion.

Referee: A M Penn (W Midlands).

* A minute’s silence was held before kick-off as a mark of respect to Sir Bobby Robson, who died on Friday morning after a long battle with cancer. Robson played for West Brom between 1956 and 1962