[Ska'dForLife-WBA]

The goal that was sixteen years in the making; Albion vs Crystal Palace, 21st April 2002

With the magnificent achievement of forty points by the end of February under our belt, Albion head into March with a second consecutive home fixture; one which, with another good performance, could potentially let us take another leap towards the unprecedented fifty-point mark. Crystal Palace visit the Hawthorns this Saturday, and for once we have every reason to be optimistic.

The current travails of the Eagles - who sit in the relegation zone going into this fixture - are rather tricky to understand from the outside. A team full of undoubtedly talented players such as Benteke, Townsend and Zaha seemed to gradually lose their way under Alan Pardew, and even the appointment of Big Sam didn't stop the rot at first, in spite of £34.6m being spent on January transfers (for Albion fans unfamiliar with the concept of "January spending", that's the equivalent of purchasing 7.28 Callum McManamans, 13.84 Liam Ridgewells or 34.6 million Iffi Udezes). However, having nicked a vital 1-0 win over Middlesbrough last week, it may be that Palace's fortunes are just beginning to turn, and so they'll look to follow it up with a similar victory on Saturday. As ever, come this time of year the team in a dogfight has ten times the need and the desire to win than the team in mid-table, and Allardyce knows that well, so Albion will have to be on form to see off the challenge.

After this match we have a solid month of tough fixtures one after another, so if we do have hopes of a record-breaking season then a win here will be necessary. Time for Rondon to put on his shooting boots, and G-Mac to put on his heading head.