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| Nat Lofthouse by day |
Tuesday 3rd April 2018
SkyBet EFL Championship
at the Macron Stadium, Burden Way, Horwich
Bolton Wanderers (0) 0
Birmingham City (1) 1
Lukas Jutkiewicz 40
Admission £15. Programme £3
Attendance: 21,097 (inc. 4,816 Blues fans)
Bolton Wanderers:
Alnwick, Taylor, Beevers, Flanagan, Burke, Osede (Noone 56), Vela, Henry (Kirchhoff 75), Buckley (Clough 72), Ameobi, Le Fondre
Unused subs - Howard, Robinson, Wilbraham, Wheater
Birmingham City:
Stockdale; Harding, Morrison, Dean, Colin; Jota (Kieftenbeld 77), Ndoye, Davis, Maghoma (Dacres-Cogley 84), Adams, Jutkiewicz (Roberts 90)
Unused subs - Kuszczak, Grounds, Lowe, Boga
Alnwick, Taylor, Beevers, Flanagan, Burke, Osede (Noone 56), Vela, Henry (Kirchhoff 75), Buckley (Clough 72), Ameobi, Le Fondre
Unused subs - Howard, Robinson, Wilbraham, Wheater
Stockdale; Harding, Morrison, Dean, Colin; Jota (Kieftenbeld 77), Ndoye, Davis, Maghoma (Dacres-Cogley 84), Adams, Jutkiewicz (Roberts 90)
Unused subs - Kuszczak, Grounds, Lowe, Boga
4,816! That's not a bad away following, for a relegation threatened side, who ply their trade in the second tier of English football, for a midweek 8PM kick off, over one hundred miles away from the visiting club's home turf, via a maze of road closures and diversions, is it?
You really have to wonder if anybody actually still goes to work or school in this country anymore... although I could probably count myself into that equation over the past (and next) few weeks.
To hear virtually the entire travelling hordes all singing: "We're Birmingham City, we'll fight 'til the end!" in unison, must've been a real boost for Garry Monk's side, especially when they had to play out the closing twenty three minutes with ten men, after Che Adams had been red carded for an apparent two footed flying lunge on Craig Noone. I didn't get a clear view of the challenge from behind the goal at the far end of the pitch, but am led to believe that an appealagainst wrongful dismissal is being lodged with the FA.
With so much at stake for both teams, it was always likely to be a close fought game, with very little scope for open play, but the points that were up for grabs tonight were the only thing that were important, with anything resembling tippy-tappy football for the purists tumbling well down the list of priorities.
That said, it was a moment of quality that broke the deadlock on forty minutes, when Lukas Jutkiewicz swept Jacques Maghoma's great delivery from a free kick, into the roof of the net.
Blues slender lead meant that Bolton had to come at them after the break... and so they did!
Wes Harding and Harlee Dean were immense at the back for Birmingham, while other players, such as Jota, who'd looked subdued and out of sorts under the previous Blues manager, are enjoying a new lease of life under Monk, who is playing to the strengths of the players he's got as opposed to trying to hammer them like square pegs into round holes in an inflexible system that wasn't working.
Momentum is a wonderful thing, it breeds confidence and self belief... and it is evident that Blues have got both of these vital attributes in abundance at the present time.
Perhaps they were favoured with a slice of luck tonight too, which makes a change given the way that the season has gone thus far, when the referee chose to ignore the home sides penalty appeals, when Will Buckley’s in-swinging cross was handled by Wes Harding, but if the match referee: Oliver Langford, was happy that it was a ball to hand incident rather than anything deliberate, he had a better close up view than me, so I'm not going to dispute his decision.
Birmingham held onto their lead and won the game... it was a massive result for them that sees Blues climb five points above the relegation places, where they have drawn level with both Reading and Bolton in the table... and Burton Albion who are languishing at the foot of the table with a minus 42 goal difference will provide Birmingham's next opposition, at St. Andrew's on Saturday afternoon.
If anybody had told me that such a scenario was even a faint possibility following City's recent home defeat against Barnsley (THE66POW match report here), I would probably have restrained them until the imminent arrival of the men in white coats to cart them off to a loony bin.
Barnsley face Sheffield United at home this coming weekend, while Sunderland travel to Leeds United, so both of those two relegation threatened sides will have their work cut out.
Bolton don't play again until next Tuesday, when Millw3all are the visitors to the Macron Stadium, on the same night that Blues have an awkward looking away game on the same night, at Ashton Gate, where of course they secured their Championship survival against Bristol City on the final day of last season.
You really have to wonder if anybody actually still goes to work or school in this country anymore... although I could probably count myself into that equation over the past (and next) few weeks.
With so much at stake for both teams, it was always likely to be a close fought game, with very little scope for open play, but the points that were up for grabs tonight were the only thing that were important, with anything resembling tippy-tappy football for the purists tumbling well down the list of priorities.
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| It's a goal!!! |
Blues slender lead meant that Bolton had to come at them after the break... and so they did!
Wes Harding and Harlee Dean were immense at the back for Birmingham, while other players, such as Jota, who'd looked subdued and out of sorts under the previous Blues manager, are enjoying a new lease of life under Monk, who is playing to the strengths of the players he's got as opposed to trying to hammer them like square pegs into round holes in an inflexible system that wasn't working.
Momentum is a wonderful thing, it breeds confidence and self belief... and it is evident that Blues have got both of these vital attributes in abundance at the present time.
Birmingham held onto their lead and won the game... it was a massive result for them that sees Blues climb five points above the relegation places, where they have drawn level with both Reading and Bolton in the table... and Burton Albion who are languishing at the foot of the table with a minus 42 goal difference will provide Birmingham's next opposition, at St. Andrew's on Saturday afternoon.
Barnsley face Sheffield United at home this coming weekend, while Sunderland travel to Leeds United, so both of those two relegation threatened sides will have their work cut out.
Bolton don't play again until next Tuesday, when Millw3all are the visitors to the Macron Stadium, on the same night that Blues have an awkward looking away game on the same night, at Ashton Gate, where of course they secured their Championship survival against Bristol City on the final day of last season.
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| Nat Lofthouse at night |
It's not over, not over, not over, not over yeeeett!
But Blues have given themselves a great fighting chance of avoiding the drop now, with three recent wins in a row and nine points out of the last available nine, giving their league standing a far more healthy look.
FT: Bolton Wanderers 0 v Birmingham City 0
Not the most aesthetically desirable spectacle you'll ever see, but an absolutely massive result for and backs to the wall performance by the 'boys in royal blue'.
Anyway goodly people, I'm extremely tired and weary after a complete nightmare of a drive home, which encompassed making several circuitous detours to avoid three separate overnight road closures, so that's all you're getting tonight.
