Derby day is a perfect day for West Brom

I hear many people moaning about midday kick offs but when it's against your nearest and dearest I can see some advantages, writes West Brom blogger Jarrod Hill.

The build up to this particular match usually involves a poor night's sleep followed by an agitated morning while nervously waiting for kick off to come round. But with an early start it was a case of breakfast and a leisurely walk up to the ground and no real time to get myself further worked up.

It was my daughter Isabelle who was attending her first Black Country Derby who convinced me to put a bet on Chris Brunt scoring. Brunty is her favourite player and his goal got us off to the perfect start, it was a lovely passage of play between Somen Tchoyi, Youssouf Mulumbu, and Billy Jones that set it up and The Hawthorns erupted as the ball hit the back of the net.

Billy Jones certainly enjoyed a fine debut after surprisingly replacing Nicky Shorey at left back. Our other summer free signing Gareth McAuley equally had an exceptional game, and along with the rest of the defence played really well. Jonas Olsson, Steven Reid, and Ben Foster all had solid games and the whole team played well. I couldn't pick out a single player in blue and white stripes that didn't look totally up for it and in a derby that makes all the difference.

Shane Long tormented the Wolves defence like a cat with a mouse and his partnership with Somen Tchoyi looked well balanced. Wolves looked like a team low on confidence and after inflicting a fifth straight defeat I am sure their fans are worrying about their future. They created chances but lacked a cutting edge and the resolute defending from our boys meant we were always in control.

Players who have been below par recently came back with a bang. Paul Scharner t-shirt and all and Jerome Thomas looked back to their best running themselves into the ground for the cause.

Wolves also played their part and I thought it was one of the better derbies of recent seasons. As I was driving up to the ground we had Five live on the radio, they were talking about the games of the day and failed to even mention our game. I am still amazed how the national media choose to ignore our Black Country Derby.

The passion, the blood and thunder, the atmosphere are fantastic in any division but when it is in the Premier League I foolishly thought it might get a bit more attention. Their loss as I see it, they missed a very entertaining encounter, an encounter that was finally put to bed by Peter Odemwingie.

He stopped tweeting long enough to get stripped off, enter the pitch, collect an exquisite back heel pass from Paul Scharner and do what he does best, score goals. It ended Wolves resistance, and what surprised me was Mick McCarthy's team's response. Two goals down against your arch rivals with fifteen minutes left I expected them to throw the kitchen sink at us, but the rest of the game was played out with our boys taking total control and even had enough in reserve for a little show boating.

I also had the pleasure of seeing some regulars from these very pages, CR78, Kev in Mallorca, and the one and only Cyril Randle. Cyril I bumped into before the game and I left Kev and the Rocket in the Vine to celebrate.

They looked to be bedding in for the day/night, but these are the days and games you have to celebrate.

Roy Hodgson got his first home win of the season, a derby day win, and all while playing the much debated 4-4-2 formation. What we got was bragging rights for a while, lovely jubbly.