View from the South – Birmingham City vs Portsmouth

Will arrived at my work place to change having been to an interview which had involved him dressing up in human form but it was time to don the regalia of the faithful. We were in good time as we approached my car for the journey north when Will stated that he had left his keys in my office so I went back to retrieve them. We are just about to depart when he asked if I could remember seeing his wallet while I was there as well! So, back I went and sure enough Will’s wallet was sitting on my desk along with his mobile phone, money, odd receipts etc. I told him on my return that it was like looking after a two year-old and if we were to get anywhere near St Andrews today we were going to have to set off unless there was anything else he’d forgotten! All the usual excuses came out and of course none of what had just happened was Will’s fault! Fortunately, despite all of Will’s attempts to delay us into rush hour we avoided the M25 car park and made excellent time up to Baginton to meet up with Chris and Little Jack for the onward journey. We took the opportunity to grab some food before going on which was just as well as things turned out since catering at St Andrews ran out of hot pies early doors and I don’t think a chocolate bar alone would have filled the gap somehow.

The team was the same as that that had played out the rather farcical 0-0 draw against Southampton on Saturday evening with Mogaro Gomis being the only change on the bench as he came in for Jake Jervis. Blues started brightly enough on a freezing cold night and on two minutes Jordon Mutch sent a deep ball to the back post for Marlon King whose cross shot was cleared by Jason Pearce just ahead of Adam Rooney waiting for a tap in at the far post. It was to prove not to be one way traffic however and despite the visitors lowly position in the league they caused problems from the off. Kelvin Etuhu burst down the right leaving Mutch and David Murphy in his wake before crossing for Marko Futacs who for me was an impressive force for Pompey all evening. He caused problems for Caldwell and Davies all night but having pulled away from his marker couldn’t keep his effort down and fortunately for Blues the chance was dispatched into the Tilton.

After only 12 minutes Blues lost the influential Guirane N’Daw clutching his left hamstring. Things were not helped when later Marlon King appeared to go lame again with what looks like an exacerbation of his groin injury; I hope I’m wrong but if this is a correct assertion we now only have one fit senior centre-forward. King gamely soldiered on before being replaced in the second half by Nathan Redmond, a forced move that was to prove to be the catalyst for what was looking an increasingly unlikely win. In the meantime Mutch filled the void created by N’Daw’s departure in the middle of the park as Wade Elliott came on and moved to the left.

Blues continued on the front foot and Elliott started to create problems as the home side probed for an opening. The crowd was on its feet midway through the half as Jonathan Spector surged past three Pompey players having dispossessed the dithering Joel Ward in his own half. He ran all the way to the edge of the area only to slice his shot well wide to the disappointed groans of the home faithful. Pompey were settling into the game comfortably after their early jitters especially from Henderson, the Pompey keeper whose clearance kicking was highly suspect but Blues helped his cause by not closing him down effectively enough and also insisting on lofting crosses into the box for much needed catching practice instead of whipping the ball in with pace.

Despite getting into good positions out wide, the visitors comfortably dealt with nearly everything that Blues produced and the frustrations of the crowd grew as the game progressed. Portsmouth were wholly dominant in the air and the impressive young defender Halford, an acquisition from Wolves for Pompey kept Burke quiet and allowed him no space or room to work. Burke simply lacked the pace to get round him either and much of Blues’ threat was nullified on that flank as a result. Neither goalkeeper was troubled much in the first period until 40 minutes had elapsed when Portsmouth in the form of Etuhu put Ward through into a dangerous position but Myhill was equal to the latter player’s low drive and saved well. A further chance set up for Hayden Mullins on the edge of the Blues’ penalty area a minute before the break after good play by Greg Halford and Ward was thumped wide as Pompey finished the half in the ascendancy.

The second half became attritional with Blues repeating the mistakes of the first by lofting balls into the box for Henderson to catch and Portsmouth moving the ball around neatly without going anywhere. On the hour, the injured King was finally reprieved as Nathan Redmond came on to replace him. The change seemed to galvanize Blues as chinks started to appear in the Portsmouth rearguard. On 70 minutes Blues were nearly gifted a goal when Tal Ben Haim under-hit a back pass to his goalkeeper. Rooney seized on the chance and attempted to dink the ball over the advancing Henderson eight yards out. Fortune favoured the Portsmouth man as he got down superbly to tip the ball around the post.

Blues came even closer to breaking the deadlock on 79 minutes when Mutch rattled the post with a low drive that had Henderson beaten. It looked like it was going to be one of those nights and I for one had resigned myself to a 0-0 draw for the second home game running when salvation occurred with four minutes left. A short corner was cleared by Pompey but was pumped straight back in by Steven Caldwell to Curtis Davies whose header was flicked on to the on rushing Nathan Redmond. The volley from 12 yards was absolutely sublime as he crashed the ball past the diving Henderson. The Tilton erupted in tumultuous triumph for that is what it was as Blues saw the game out comfortably from then on.
Portsmouth came with a solid game plan which so nearly worked for them. They are a better side than their position would suggest and certainly better than some that have visited St Andrews this season. Had they taken a point, few could have begrudged them and on balance despite the fact that Blues edged the second half, they probably deserved to return to Fratton Park with one. However, football is a cruel game and if they were to be undone it was good that they fell to a superb strike. This wasn’t a great performance from Blues, in fact, it was poor at times but they won and this match ultimately was more about the result than the performance on what was a testing, bitterly cold evening against tough, resilient, uncompromising and ultimately unfortunate opponents.

The Good: The fact that Blues were way under par and yet still won. A terrific goal from Nathan Redmond.

The Bad: The standard of the refereeing, the injuries to N’Daw and King.

The Ugly: The garish, lilac kit that Pompey’s keeper was decked out in!

Birmingham City (4-4-2): Boaz Myhill 7, Jonathan Spector 7, Curtis Davies 7, Steven Caldwell 7, David Murphy 7, Keith Fahey 7, Jordon Mutch 7, Guirane N’Daw 7, (Wade Elliott 12, 7) Chris Burke 6, Adam Rooney 7, Marlon King 6 (Nathan Redmond 61, 8).
Subs not used: Colin Doyle, Pablo Ibanez, Morgaro Gomis,

Portsmouth (4-5-1): Stephen Henderson 6, Joel Ward 7, Jason Pearce 7, Tal Ben Haim 6, Ricardo Rocha, Liam Lawrence 7, Hayden Mullins7, Greg Halford 8, Kelvin Etuhu 7 (Dave Kitson, 89, N/A), Erik Huseklepp 6, Marko Futacs 8 (Benjani Mwaruwari, 74, 6).
Subs not used: Ashdown, Mokoena, Webster.

Referee: Darren Drysdale (Lincolnshire) 5: I thought this official looked out of his depth at times. There were some bizarre decisions made and Blues should definitely have had a penalty in the first half when Fahey was body-checked in the first half and in the second period Curtis Davies was being manhandled round his neck as a corner came in; it simply could not be any more blatant. There was one episode when Murphy and then a Pompey midfielder were fouled in quick succession and the referee gave neither offence as if he was trying to even things up! Well below the standard I would expect from a referee at this level I’m afraid. The assistants, Mr Neil Hair and Mr Mark Scholes were reasonable I felt.

Attendance: 16,930 (488 away fans)

Bazza
KRO SOTV