West Bromwich Albion 1 Aston Villa 2: IT IS difficult to believe Martin O'Neill has experienced a more satisfying week as Aston Villa manager.

There was little comfort to be found in a schedule that demanded Villa visit White Hart Lane, Bulgaria and West Bromwich Albion within seven days but victories on each occasion have made light of the workload. It was an achievement that appeared uppermost in O'Neill's mind as he headed for the travelling supporters rather than the tunnel at the final whistle to celebrate another three-point haul.

Never one to try to hide his emotions, O'Neill punched the air with delight after Villa maintained their hex over Albion, stretching their unbeaten record against their West Midlands neighbours to 15 matches spanning more than 22 years. It was a sequence that never looked like being threatened when Villa scored twice in the space of two minutes just before the half-hour mark. James Morrison's goal seven minutes later revived Albion's hopes but there was already a sense the damage had been done.

With pre-match events conspiring against Tony Mowbray, the Albion manager, found defeat difficult to accept. Abdoulaye Meite had been expected to start in central defence but the Ivorian broke down with an ankle injury in the warm-up and the consequences for Albion proved to be severe.

Leon Barnett, Meite's replacement, was culpable for both Villa goals and generally looked like someone who was struggling to come to terms with the idea that he was playing after initially being told he would be dropped.

Villa, in John Carew and Gabriel Agbonlahor, had the attacking personnel to capitalise on Albion's shortcomings. Absent from the trip to Litex Lovech in the Uefa Cup on Thursday night, Carew was a constant menace to the Albion defence as he headed his fourth goal of the season and also struck the post twice.

"I wouldn't swap him for anyone at the moment - except Pele," said Agbonlahor, who was perhaps a little overexcited after seizing his first goal since an opening-day hat-trick against Manchester City at Villa Park.

"The momentum is terrific," said O'Neill. "Monday night was magnificent. We looked stodgy in the first half in Bulgaria but we were back playing in the Premiership today and, although we took a bit of time to get back into the game, we came into it with a vengeance. West Brom started very well. But our two-goal spurt in a moment or two was a big setback for them and a big confidence boost for us."

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