Anelka nicks Long’s glory as Baggies hit six

Wearing the famous striped shirt of West Bromwich Albion, Shane Long last night made his first appearance back at Turner’s Cross since leaving for England in 2005, and the one-time Cork City rookie marked the occasion by also registering his first goal at the venue, as the Premier League side eventually ran out easy winners against a mix ‘n’ match home side in front of a crowd of 2,371.

But even Long was comfortably overshadowed on the night by a five-star performance from Nicolas Anelka who notched up a hat-trick and generally oozed class as he turned in something of a masterclass for his new club, without even appearing to work up much of a sweat.

Jonas Olsson and Gabriel Tamas — the latter nursing a knee injury — were the only absentees from the Premier League squad which had flown into Cork earlier in the day but, although new signing Diego Lugano, the captain of Uruguay, did make the trip, his minimal preparation time meant he was never going to be involved in last night’s action.