Tuesday 16th August 2022
EFL Championship
At St. Andrew's
Birmingham City (1) 1
George Hall 19
Watford (0) 1
Ken Sema 63
Attendance: 16,811
Birmingham City:
John Ruddy, Maxime Colin, Dion Sanderson, Auston Trusty, Josh Williams, Jordan James, Juninho Bacuna, George Hall (Alfie Chang 79), Przemyslaw Placheta (George Friend 90+2), Scott Hogan (Lukas Jutkiewicz 85), Troy Deeney (Captain) (Jonathan Leko 85).
Unused subs -
Neil Etheridge, Jobe Bellingham, Sam Cosgrove.
Watford:
Daniel Bachmann, Christian Kabasele, Francisco Sierralta, Craig Cathcart (captain), Mario Gaspar, Edo Kayembe (Keinan Davis 89), Hamza Choudhury, Ken Sema (Joseph Hungbo 89), Yaser Asprilla (Dan Gosling 76), Vakoun Bayo (Rey Manaj 55), Joao Pedro.
Unused subs -
Maduka Okoye, Jeremy Ngakia, William Troost-Ekong.
"And I guess that's why they call it the Blues"
Blues TV (other internet streams are available) offers you the option to watch midweek games from the warmth and comfort of your own home, for a tenner a go.
But where's the fun in that? There's nothing to compare with actually being there in person. And any apparent discomfort and/or logistical inconvenience you might experience, is all part of the 'fun'.
If you don't understand the depths of the mindset and rationale that such sentiments emanate from deep down inside, then you've probably happened upon this long winded, self indulgent, bullshit blog with added football content, by mistake... and subsequently you'd do well to skip the remainder of this post and piss off somewhere else instead.
Chuck in the sights and sounds of a really bad referee, aided (and abetted) by an equally poor assistant, upsetting the completely drenched Blues faithful in the Main Stand paddock... and your total entertainment package for the night is complete.
Birmingham City are among most 'experts' favourites for the drop to League 1 this season and Watford were odds on to win tonight's game handsomely. As a slight on Blues 'make do and mend' cache of youngsters making up tonight's squad, social media has been awash with: "You'll win nothing with kids" rhetoric.
Well, shurrup, eat your words and pay attention... there's a siege mentality going down at St. Andrew's that's defiantly cocking a deaf 'un your way and flicking Vs in the face of your presumptions and criticism.
Blues squad does need bolstering, extra cover needs bringing in for certain positions and the availability of game changing options to add to the mix from on the bench is extremely thin on the ground.
And just to compound all of the above, there will be games where the opposition will exploit chinks in this teams armour, but none of that justifies blaming players who are giving it their all.
Blues elder statesman: Troy Deeney (who isn't actually that old) seems to be the latest target in a long line of scapegoats for the keyboard warrior types who get a hard on from singling out players from teams they purport to be fans of, to aim their barbs at and hang their own baggage on.
Get real! All of you blinkered plebs should be publicly flogged (to death if necessary) while watching a re-run of just how much graft the Blues captain has actually put in over the course of tonight; sitting deep, breaking up Watford's midfield diamond and keeping Yasar Asprilla busy while cutting off his supply line to Watford's front men. And, quite clearly, bringing Blues youngsters into the game and supporting Scott Hogan by supplying the Republic of Ireland striker with plenty of ammunition to run onto, i.e. the kind of service that he thrives on.
As regards the allegedly: lazy, overweight, past it, merely going through the motions and only here for the money, (AKA wrongly accused) Troy Deeney, he personally has no case to answer whatsoever. The shift he put in tonight, was nothing short of phenomenal... and I bet his Birmingham City tattoo is a whole lot better than yours too.
The youthful element of Birmingham's team shone brightly over the course of the game... and credit where it's due to that end. But, a large percentage of what they achieved revolved around the centrifugal force and input of one person in particular. At least the Watford fan's seemed to appreciate their former player's efforts, in pretty much the same way as the Blues supporters who actually attend matches, even if there are internet snipers wanting to take pot-shots at him.
Blues manager: John Eustace also played for the Hornets for five years too. He will doubtless have been pleased with the way that his 'work in progress' side stood up to one of the best team's who'll visit St. Andrew's all season and came through the experience relatively unscathed.
Eustace had asked for a positive reaction following the weekend's disappointing loss at Cardiff... and that is exactly what he got.
The visitors, pretty much as expected, made a flying start and peppered John Ruddy's goalmouth with a string of half chances flying in from all directions. Vakoun Bayo touched Craig Cathcart's header against the inside of upright as Blues put in their gum-shields, raised their guard and kept an eye out for a chance to land a sucker punch. And guess who it was that spotted that opportunity?
.JPG)
During the opening eighteen minutes the Hornets had swarmed with menace inside the hosts half of the pitch, threatening to completely overrun Blues at any given moment. But then,,, Birmingham won a throw in, right in front of the dug-outs and quick as a flash, "that old one that never does anything", grabbed the ball and launched a throw down the right flank (y'see, he even takes throw-ins too) that landed perfectly, a yard in front of Scott Hogan, who turned his marker, advanced to the dead ball line and hooked the ball back, to just beyond the penalty spot, where George Hall arrived right on time and belted it, first time, past Daniel Bachmann.
Advantage Blues! But the eighteen year old: George Cardinal Joseph Hall, had just stirred up an Hornets nest with his precision strike.
.JPG)
Hornets are generally less aggressive than wasps but will still sting and bite to defend their nest... and their stings are also more painful to humans than typical wasp stings because of the chemicals found in their venom, The little blighters are also capable of penetrating the kind of protective attire that is worn by Beekeepers.
Hornets are also capable of stinging repeatedly, unlike your common or garden honey bees. You should never under-estimate a swarm of these critters, while undertaking extensive research to pad out this blog report, I made the macabre discovery that they even eat wasps as part of their normal diet.
Blues stood up and went toe to toe as Watford upped the ante and pressed to get back into the game.
Mario Gaspar thought that he's levelled things up when he rolled the ball past John Ruddy, but Dion Sanderson slid in to make a last gasp clearance on the goal-line. It was one of those 'not all of the ball was over the line' but what will the officials make of it moments. As the referee's watch didn't buzz to indicate a goal, that was the end of the matter.
 |
| Goal-line technology :-D |
After the interval, Blues started to get the better of things and it was Watford's turn to play on the back foot, but in the sixty-third minute, the visitors launched a counter attack, that saw Gaspar advance through the right channel and launch a cross towards Ruddy's goal, that the keeper could only push out towards Ken Sema, who was just catching up with play on the edge of the area , but was in the right place at the right time to find the net with his opportunist strike.
The game could have gone either way from then on in, but I'd imagine that if you'd have offered either manager a point before this hard slog of a night on a wet and windy night at St. Andrew's, they would've snatched your hand off.
And both sets of fans seemed happy and content, with the highly entertaining game of football that they had just been treated to as well. And besides... it's only a bit of rain, innit!?.
FT: Birmingham City 1 v Watford 1
