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| "You make me happy, when skies are grey" |
SkyBet EFL Championship
at St. Andrew's Stadium
Birmingham City (0) 1
Lukas Jutkiewicz 64
Bristol City (0) 1
Tommy Rowe 83
Attendance: 21,808 (inc. 2,167 away fans)
Point & hope photo gallery: click HERE
Birmingham City:
Lee Camp, Kristian Pedersen, Marc Roberts, Maxime Colin, Harlee Dean (C), Ivan Sunjic, Gary Gardner, David Davis, Dan Crowley (Wes Harding 66), Fran Villalba (Agustin Medina 89), Lukas Jutkiewicz.
Unused subs - David Stockdale (GK), Craig Gardner, Jake Clarke-Salter, Alvaro Gimenez, Odin Bailey.
Bristol City:
Dan Bentley, Adam Nagy, Bailey Wright (C) (Niclas Eliasson 72), Nathan Baker, Josh Brownhill, Andi Weimann (Famara Diedhiou 72), Tomas Kalas, Tommy Rowe, Pedro Perreira (Jack Hunt, 51), Benik Afobe, Kasey Palmer.
Unused subs - Rene Gilmartin (GK), Sammie Szmodics, Antoine Semenyo, Han-Noah Massengo.
Opinion was split in the aftermath of the defeat at Pompey, in an approximately 80/20 landslide ratio, tilting heavily towards supporters who would have preferred Blues to have featured a few more experienced players on Tuesday night. The youngsters need to be 'showcased' at some point, and assessed in a first team environment, but though hindsight is a wonderful thing, blooding so many academy products all at once, was something of 'a bridge to far', for all of them, collectively, at the same time.
Alas, among the other sort of season preview's, there were a few that proved, if nothing else, that this blog isn't the only place within the football stratosphere, where you can read uninformed and semi-literate (at best), half-baked and embarrassingly biased, cringe-worthy crap.
Football... and Championship football in particular, is an unpredictable beast, and I'd be hard pressed to have a punt at what the final league table might be myself, other than to say that any team in this division, can beat any other one on their day, while the contest for positions will most likely remain in a constant state of flux, between August and May.
The fact that 2,167 made the trip up from Bristol to support their side, does suggest that, despite the auspicious start that they made last weekend, there is still plenty of belief and enthusiasm among their fan base for the season ahead, while optimism abounds at Ashton Gate.
Blues will be gutted to have conceded a late equaliser, but to that end, the Robins would have justifiably had good cause to feel aggrieved too, if they had left St. Andrew's empty handed.
Fran Villalba, one of nine new signings that Blues have made during the transfer window, almost opened the scoring, early in the game, but David Bentley, the Bristol keeper, was alert to the danger posed by the former Valencia player, and got down well to turn his fizzing shot from the edge of the area around the upright at the expense of a corner.
Gary Gardner, whose season long loan from Aston Villa became a permanent move this Summer, went close, when his downward header, took a bounce and ricocheted back up and over the bar.
It was a pleasant surprise for the Blues faithful to see the tactics their side were embracing this afternoon, as they put on a display of aesthetically tidy, pass and move, high tempo football, working their way deep into their visitors territory, using an impressive array of geometry.
Of course, this system still needs honing to incorporate a few more clinical touches inside the final third itself, but it was highly entertaining stuff nevertheless.
Kasey Palmer, an England U21 international, who arrived at Ashton Gate from Chelsea for a fee of £3.5 million, after an initial loan spell, proved to be a thorn in the hosts side, on numerous occasions throughout the afternoon, and it was he who created the Robins first real goal-scoring opportunity of the game, with a defence splitting pass through to Benik Afobe, who forced Lee Camp into action, but was denied by Blues keeper who turned the ball away at full-stretch.
Gardner looked dangerous once again, but his snap shot from outside the area, took a wind assisted flight high and wide of its intended target.
The stiff diagonal swirling breeze across the pitch, played an unwanted part in proceedings at times, but it kept two kids I was sat near entertained, as a small yellow balloon and a blue carrier bag vied for dominance of the touchline, right in front of the Kop for most of the afternoon.
Afobe, a deadline day capture from Stoke, took aim from eighteen yards out, but 'spooned' his effort over the bar, causing more of a nuisance to a spectator carrying two cups of coffee back to his seat in Row 16, than the St. Andrew's cult hero that is Lee Camp.
Blues were denied what looked like a stonewall penalty, when Bailey Wright pushed Lukas Jutkiewicz over as he challenged for a header in front of Bailey's goal, but the match referee, Oliver Langford was unmoved by the hosts appeals, or unsighted. Either way, the visitors had got away with that one. Though football myth and folklore decrees that such things balance themselves out over the course of a season.
HT: Blue 0 v Robins 0
Gary Gardner, whose season long loan from Aston Villa became a permanent move this Summer, went close, when his downward header, took a bounce and ricocheted back up and over the bar.
It was a pleasant surprise for the Blues faithful to see the tactics their side were embracing this afternoon, as they put on a display of aesthetically tidy, pass and move, high tempo football, working their way deep into their visitors territory, using an impressive array of geometry.
Of course, this system still needs honing to incorporate a few more clinical touches inside the final third itself, but it was highly entertaining stuff nevertheless.
Gardner looked dangerous once again, but his snap shot from outside the area, took a wind assisted flight high and wide of its intended target.
The stiff diagonal swirling breeze across the pitch, played an unwanted part in proceedings at times, but it kept two kids I was sat near entertained, as a small yellow balloon and a blue carrier bag vied for dominance of the touchline, right in front of the Kop for most of the afternoon.
Blues were denied what looked like a stonewall penalty, when Bailey Wright pushed Lukas Jutkiewicz over as he challenged for a header in front of Bailey's goal, but the match referee, Oliver Langford was unmoved by the hosts appeals, or unsighted. Either way, the visitors had got away with that one. Though football myth and folklore decrees that such things balance themselves out over the course of a season.
HT: Blue 0 v Robins 0
The visitors started the second half on the front foot but Blues were defending stoutly, with the ever dependable Harlee Dean putting in a captain's shift, while Marc Roberts appears to be growing in both stature and confidence this season, which can only be beneficial for both the player and the club.
Fran Villalba and Dan Crowley, two of Blues Summer signings, appear to have immediately hit it off via some kind of telepathy and their link up play was a joy to behold at times.
A mesmerising exchange of passes inside the visitors half (do not adjust your monitor screen, this really is Birmingham City I'm talking about), released Jutkiewicz into the left hand channel of the Robins area, but Bentley pulled off another decent save to thwart Blues number ten.
But there was nothing that Bentley could do to deny Jutkiewicz from Blues next attack, when Roberts lifted a dipping cross from the right hand edge of the area, that dropped invitingly for the big front-man to meet head on at the back post, to break the deadlock in the sixty-fourth minute.
Wes Harding came on from the subs bench and almost made his mark moments later, as he slipped the ball forward to Gardner, who shot narrowly wide and into the side netting.
Besides being introduced to bolster the defence, as Blues strove to defend their hard won lead, Harding also offered more options going forward on the right, for the most part, during his twenty six minutes on the pitch, though he did appear to be playing as a right half, as opposed to a right back... but hey! WTF do I know about tactics and the 'caretaker head coaches' instructions to his players?
Wes Harding came on from the subs bench and almost made his mark moments later, as he slipped the ball forward to Gardner, who shot narrowly wide and into the side netting.
Besides being introduced to bolster the defence, as Blues strove to defend their hard won lead, Harding also offered more options going forward on the right, for the most part, during his twenty six minutes on the pitch, though he did appear to be playing as a right half, as opposed to a right back... but hey! WTF do I know about tactics and the 'caretaker head coaches' instructions to his players?
Lee Camp had to race from his line, to thwart Afobe, who took a fraction too long on the ball, that afforded the Blues keeper the opportunity to block what had looked like an odds on goal for the bustling striker.
But the visitors persistence paid off in the closing stages of the game, when Palmer (who else would it have been!?), topped off a great shift, with a killer pass that unlocked the hosts defence and gave Tommy Rowe, a July capture from Doncaster Rovers, the chance to drag a low shot across Camp's body that bounced into the right hand side of the goal.
Both sides tried to forge another goal in the closing stages. but there was nothing doing, as Mr Langford brought this lively game, where the two teams and both sets of fans could be pleased with their afternoon's efforts, to a close.
FT: Birmingham City 1 v Bristol City 1
But the visitors persistence paid off in the closing stages of the game, when Palmer (who else would it have been!?), topped off a great shift, with a killer pass that unlocked the hosts defence and gave Tommy Rowe, a July capture from Doncaster Rovers, the chance to drag a low shot across Camp's body that bounced into the right hand side of the goal.
Both sides tried to forge another goal in the closing stages. but there was nothing doing, as Mr Langford brought this lively game, where the two teams and both sets of fans could be pleased with their afternoon's efforts, to a close.
FT: Birmingham City 1 v Bristol City 1
Bristol City will now face Queens Park Rangers twice in a week, with a League Cup game at Loftus Road on Tuesday night, followed by a home game in the Championship next weekend.
Blues have no midweek game and resume action on Saturday, when they will take a sell-out away following with them to the City Ground, where they'll face Nottingham Forest, who lost at home against West Bromwich Albion in the Championship last weekend, and held Leeds United to a draw at Elland Road earlier today. Sabri Lamouchi's side will be hoping to get a first win of the season under their belts on Tuesday night, when they take on Fleetwood Town in a League Cup tie.
