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Ballard has last laugh after West Brom jeers

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date15 April 2024
Publication titleEvening Chronicle
In the reverse fixture back in December which Sunderland won 2-1, the Northern Ireland international left the former Black Cats academy product in a heap after a crunching tackle, which saw Ballard yellow carded and Maja withdrawn from his first return to Wearside in almost four years due to injury

It was the Nigerian's first start for the Baggies and the resulting ankle injury he suffered has kept him sidelined until his cameo in Albion's win over Rotherham last Wednesday.

There is no love lost between Maja and the Black Cats faithful due to his controversial exit, played out in the infamous Netflix series, for Bordeaux back in January 2019.

Likewise, the stalwart centreback was a figure of ridicule from the Albion support on Saturday, and was on the receiving end of two harsh fouls from Jed Wallace and Thomas-Asante. The latter was given his marching orders for his after picking up his first yellow moments earlier.

Ballard however had the last laugh, a clean sheet and three points to boot to silence the home crowd, with the emotion pouring out at full-time as he fist pumped and shouted towards the sold-out away end. He smiled as he told the club's media after the game: "I was getting a little bit of stick today so it added to the win, it felt good."

"It was another sell-out there, the fans were brilliant and helped us through it again, so thank you to them. It doesn't seem like there is much to play for now, and it is another sell-out.

"It amazes me, it amazes the players and that is one of the real motivations to have a strong end to the season because no matter where we go, it's sold-out, so we can't...

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