Tonight’s experiment consisted of playing a defence comprised entirely of very young Academy kids and boy, did it show! The back line of Chad Sheppard, Lee Vaughan, David Arrowsmith and Marcus Painter struggled manfully to contain Sunderland’s pacy and skilful forwards but ultimately bogged it. The central pairing of Arrowsmith and Painter generally coped well but all four defenders demonstrated a wide and varied approach to giving the ball away at every opportunity and thus putting themselves under constant pressure as the damned thing kept coming back at ‘em.
Sunderland’s first goal came after about 20 minutes when Lee Vaughan allowed Michael Proctor to get on the wrong side of him, chasing a through ball. Proctor found time and had the composure to place the ball well past the teenage goalkeeper Andy Bagnall (who incidentally adds whole new dimensions to the art of showboating!).
Blues midfield was generally being marshalled by Aliou Cisse who had the Senegalese equivalent of a curate’s egg game – a fair amount of good stuff, high energy levels but also getting sucked into the defence’s habit of giving the ball away, albeit only part of the time. Darren Carter was also in central midfield, apparently.
Up front Figueroa was showing again that he’s beginning to get the hang of the target man role in English football. He won everything in the air and regularly flicked the ball on for nobody to chase. Poor old Jovan Kirovski was yet again played as a striker, which he ain’t.
At this juncture, a special mention for tonight’s referee, Mr Murphy of Coventry. He refereed the game very well! Without wishing to be over-sarcastic, I honestly can’t remember the last time I saw a game at any level where the referee tried to keep the game moving, played advantage whenever possible, communicated well with the players and generally made it clear that he knew what he was doing. Without doubt the F.A. will come down on Mr Murphy like a ton of bricks – we can’t have referees demonstrating this understanding of the spirit of the game. Burn him, I say, burn him!
The first half elapsed without Blues managing to create a single clear cut scoring opportunity. Cisse opted to pass when he had a chance to take a pop at goal from 18yds whilst Kirovski and Carter both went for spectaculars from further out, to no effect.
Half-time: 1-0
Second half was pretty much the same as the first – Sunderland looked more coherent and organised. Normally at reserve games some unknown (to me) player from the other side catches the eye and gets a good write-up in these missives. No Sun’lun player looked particularly spectacular but they seemed to be a good side and all knew what they were supposed to be doing. For the record, Thomas Myrhe was in goal. It’s good to see him back in action again after injury and he enjoyed a bit of banter with the cheeky rascals behind his goal. He’s one of those players who was only here for a short time but will probably be an honorary Bluenose for life. Sun’lun also featured Phil Babb in defence. Where did it all go wrong, Phil?
Blues played better in the second half. Bryan Hughes and Carl Motteram got behind the defence a couple of times but the final ball was lacking. Figueroa played a couple of delightful ‘give and go’ balls to Carter, but, as ‘Lucy’ (which is what the players call him) spun away for the return ball, the ‘give and go’ degenerated into ‘give-and-watch-Darren-try-to-do-it-all-on-his-own’. Bloody frustrating, that kid.
Sunderland’s second goal came mid-way through the half. A long punt from defence was lost by one of Blues’ central defenders. Michael Reddy streaked away, coolly rounded Bagnall in the goal and stroked the ball into the empty net.
Blues brought another young central defender, Duane Courtney on for David Arrowsmith. Duane looks the business – tall, pretty quick, positive and direct, a lot like Michael Johnson. Watch out Darren Purse – you could drop another place in the pecking order before the season’s over!
The last 20 minute of the game saw Blues huffing and puffing without too much effect. Lucy grafted away up front like a good ‘un, but with little or no support, young full backs Vaughan and Sheppard gave the ball away with alacrity and Carl Motteram devoted himself to a sturdy physical battle with Sunderland’s hefty left back, Simon Ramsden.
So, 2-0 to Sunderland. The best team won, but on balance I think I’d rather opt for Premiership survival than reserve team glory.
No Brucie watch tonight – I didn’t see him. Dunno if he saw me. Bovril was as good as ever, belly-buster burger hit the spot, as always, weather very Mediterranean for the time of year, crowd about 300-400, little kids generally bored and restless. Brother-in-Law came to the game straight from the dentist, where he’d been given the all-clear at a check up. Goodnight, dear reader.
Blues: Bagnall, Sheppard, Vaughan, Cisse, Arrowsmith, Painter, Motteram, Kirovski, Figueroa, Hughes, Carter. Subs: Curtis, Courtney, Birley, Till, Parratt.
Sunderland: Myhre, Ramsden, Clark, Babb, Scott, Whitley, Dickman, Black, Proctor, Reddy, Leadbitter. Subs: Teggart, Ingham, Brown, Kingsberry, Taylor.
Reserves Results 2003-4
