Fifteen minutes is enough time for a team’s play-off chances to be completely ruined as West Brom found out. One up all the way to the 75th minute after Dwight Gayle’s opener only for it all to fall apart and leave them without much hope or Gayle himself. First came Conor Hourihane’s equaliser before Tammy Abraham converted a penalty - Jack Grealish playing his part in both: Gayle was then sent off for a second yellow card when he slid in on Villa goalkeeper Jed Steer. Tuesday night at the Hawthorns promises more drama and excitement but now we have a much better idea as to who will make it to Wembley later this month. Tammy Abraham completed Aston Villa's comeback as they beat West Brom in their Championship play-off semi-final first leg The Chelsea loanee showed great composure to send Sam Johnstone the wrong way and put Villa ahead in the tie Substitute Conor Hourihane struck a sensational effort from 25 yards after a lay-off from Jack Grealish to bring Villa level Hourihane sprints away in celebration after seeing his effort fly into the corner of the goal and send the home fans wild Dwight Gayle capitalised on a horrible error from Aston Villa's Glenn Whelan to give the Baggies the lead after 16 minutes Gayle celebrates after scoring the first goal as the thousands of traveling West Brom fans went wild in the away end Gayle went from hero to zero after he was later sent off for picking up a second yellow card for a foul on goalkeeper Jed Steer MATCH FACTS Aston Villa: Steer, Elmohamady, Tuanzebe, Mings, Taylor, Adomah (Green 67), Whelan (Hourihane 67), McGinn, Grealish, Abraham, El Ghazi (Kodjia 90). Subs not used: Jedinak, Davis, Kalinic, Hause. Goals: Hourihane 75, Abraham 79 Bookings: None Manager: Dean Smith West Brom: Johnstone, Dawson (Mears 45), Bartley, Hegazi, Holgate, Brunt, Johansen (Morrison 84), Gibbs, Phillips (Murphy 66), Rodriguez, Gayle. Subs not used: Townsend, Montero, Bond, Field. Goals: Gayle 16 Bookings: Holgate, Gayle, Hegazi, Gibbs Sent off: Gayle Manager: Jimmy Shan Referee: Graham Scott Attendance: 40,754 Grealish (or super Jack Grealish) as he’s known round these parts has shown this season has developed into a creative midfielder capable of scoring and creating goals regularly. Yes, it’s been done in the Championship but he has earned an opportunity to test himself in the Premier League. If Villa go up it will make everyone happy. Grealish will likely stay and Villa will be back in the big time. Don’t go up and then there are problems. Villa would have to give Grealish their blessing to leave his boyhood club and they would lose a player who is now so integral to what they do. He so often starts attacks when he either collects the ball deep - as he did in the early stages of the game before being clipped by Stefan Johansen - or aims to provide gloss further up the pitch. There is a reliance on Grealish and that is possibly why they sometimes appear so naive in attack. His team-mates and the supporters appeared to expect him to do everything here. Indeed, he did eventually but there were periods where Villa needed a different outball or someone else to take responsibility. Similar responsibility to what Smith reminded them off before they went on a 10-game winning streak that got them to the play-offs. There is a certain irony, though, in Villa preferring to attack with pace and thrust when Glenn Whelan, sitting deep in a midfield three, lacks both and can be exposed for it. Both sets of players were greeted onto the pitch by an incredible atmosphere and stunning banner draped over one stand Villa winger Albert Adomah challenges Kieran Gibbs for the ball during a feisty opening few minutes on Saturday afternoon Whelan could only watch on as he failed to control a pass properly, allowing Gayle in to score the tie's opening goal Gayle races onto the loose ball following Whelan's error before smashing the ball into the back of the net past Steer Villa defenders Tyrone Mings and Axel Tuanzebe tried to close Gayle down but he was too quick and hit a beautiful effort Gayle celebrates scoring their first goal with Jay Rodriguez and team mates after a flying start from Jimmy Shan's side Cute passes look neat when they come off but when they don’t you can be made to look very stupid. And when Whelan’s took a bad touch after a couple of passes back and forth with Grealish, he gave the ball away to Gayle. The 28-year-old, who has scored 24 goals this season, was alert and nudged the ball forward. He kept going until he was one on one with Jed Steer and swept his left-footed shot into the Villa’s goalkeeper’s left corner. Villa’s response promised plenty but produced quite little. In the 30 minutes that followed West Brom’s goal, they were well in control. They looked at ease on the ball. Grealish continued to be at the heart of the play, linking with Tammy Abraham while also connecting the rest of midfield. At times they played with a back three with Whelan sitting in defence while Neil Taylor and Ahmed Elmohamady went forward. Mason Holgate flies into a challenge on highly-regarded Villa midfielder John McGinn as neither team held back early on Powerful West Brom defender Kyle Bartley battles with Villa striker Tammy Abraham as they compete for an aerial ball In-form striker Abraham cut a frustrated figure in the first half after struggling to make an impact in the attacking third Villa captain Jack Grealish also saw his influence on the game limited by a resolute display from West Brom in the first half Gayle was lucky to avoid injury after he came close to getting a boot to the head from Mings after a cross to the back post Tempers flared up early in the second half with Stefan Johansen (C) getting sandwiched between Abraham and Grealish It was overloading West Brom who didn’t look prepared to position themselves anywhere other than their own half. They were also having to target Grealish and those who broke quickly through fear of Villa finding a way into their penalty area. Seven fouls in the first half and one yellow card, which went to Mason Holgate who caught John McGinn as he advanced on the left. Johansen somehow avoided going into the book despite being warned by referee Graham Scott that he couldn’t keep targeting the ankles of Grealish. Villa needed a new approach. Peppering the West Brom goal with shots from range or pumping the ball into the box in the hope of the ball finishing in the net wasn’t happening. Abraham started to drift more across the attack. It was from the right where he sprinted into the West Brom area only before being closed down. But the more they went forward, they started to look slack at the back. Gayle was finding ample space on the left side and he used it well, cutting inside and then waiting for reinforcements. It was a move that nearly put them two-up. Grealish had appeared to run into a dead end in the penalty box but then found Hourihane lurking on the edge unmarked Hourihane, who was in contention to start the game, sprints away to the corner to celebrate with his team-mates and fans Abraham, who had struggled to have any impact on the game, picked up the ball and nudged Villa ahead in the semi-final The English striker roars with delight as the home fans celebrated taking a lead into Tuesday night's return leg Villa boss Dean Smith was all smiles on the touchline after watching his side move one step closer to the Premier League Gayle attempted to play in Jay Rodriguez but Hourihane got back to clear. It was so instrumental. A moment that would have killed this first leg. But it proved to be the catalyst for a stunning last 15 minutes for Villa. Grealish was urged to shoot seconds later but appeared to have run into traffic before turning back. It was then he spotted Hourihane lurking on the edge of the box. The 23-year-old slid the ball to him and the midfielder struck cleanly into the corner. Goalkeeper Sam Johnstone didn’t move. Grealish wasn’t prepared for Villa’s resurgence to stop there. He sprinted into the West Brom box again and was brought down by Kieran Gibbs. Scott pointed to the spot and Abraham dispatched his penalty in the bottom left corner. His 26th goal of the season. There was time for one last twist: Gayle’s sending off for a late challenge on Steer. It was silly and careless, and means a key component of West Brom’s attack is missing for the second leg. All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility