Ryan Mason hailed two moments of brilliance following his team’s 2-1 triumph over Preston North End at The Hawthorns on Saturday afternoon.
Sensational individual efforts from Mikey Johnston and Isaac Price helped secure a first home win since the opening day of the 2025/26 term.
The boss believes it’s incredibly important to have genuine matchwinners in his side and says the pieces of quality were the difference in what was a “tight” Sky Bet Championship encounter.
Mason said: “We’re happy tonight. We’re happy with the result and it’s been far too long since we won at home. Our last win here was the opening day of the season which is incredible really.
“We’re pleased to get over the line today. It was a tough game against good opposition, but we scored two really good goals and I think we had some really good moments during the game.
“The nature of this league means a single goal can change the feeling and the momentum of a game and we had to hang on at the end. It was incredible that we had to play nine minutes of added time – I’m not sure where that came from.
“The lads stuck with it, got through it and we enjoy the feeling of winning.
“It’s important to have players like Mikey Johnston and Isaac Price because in tight games sometimes you need a moment of brilliance. We had two of those moments today.
“Pricey’s finish is excellent and Mikey’s strike is outstanding. Before Mikey’s goal we had a few passages where you could feel momentum building because a lot of the ball was in the final third. We were trying to make that count, but it was a moment of brilliance and we’re happy for Mikey.
“We’d love him to score more tap-ins, and that’s certainly the challenge for Mikey, but if he can score a few more of them this season then we’ll all be really happy.
“Josh Griffiths had a couple of big moments today, along with some of the defenders. In the last ten minutes the ball was coming into the box a lot, like it normally does. Everyone stood up together and it was a real team effort. We’re pleased with that and we enjoyed the result inside our stadium with our fans.
“It’s important to start the busy week with three points and it’s important with the situation at home to feel victories here. We’ve played really well at home in the majority of games so far this season, but we haven’t got the results we’ve deserved.
“Today, in a tight game, we’ve edged it. It’s so important to win games at home to build the feeling that this is a tough place to come. We want our fans to feel part of it too, which they certainly were today.
“The fans have been amazing all season and we really needed them today. I thought they really stood up in the last ten minutes or so and then in stoppage time, certainly after their goal went in. The fans stood up and helped us. We could feel that and they were amazing. We’re super grateful for that.”
