It seemed strange to be getting on the train at Blackwater going in the opposite direction to my usual journey but as it was I was meeting Will at Guildford for our onward journey to Wimbledon and from there to Putney Bridge. Will had been let out for good behaviour by his missus and was free of child minding duties for this day at least. We would eventually meet up with Chris and little Jack who were coming down to London from Coventry to add their voices to the over 3000 bluenoses who were making the trip to Craven Cottage which was going to make for a cracking atmosphere and I for one was very much looking forward to it. The day was dry and bright, if a little cold but it was still and pleasant for all that. We had been promised the ‘beast from the East’ with icy blasts from the north but so far we’d seen little evidence of such inclement weather.
I met up with Will and we boarded the train to Wimbledon and subsequent connection to Putney Bridge. We went into The Temperance pub for an ale or two whilst we waited for Chris and little Jack to arrive from Coventry and watched the Spurs v Arsenal game on the big screen. Soon it was time to walk up the road to the ground. The team was pretty much as you were with the continuing absence of Morrison and so Spector remained alongside Robinson in the centre of defence with the improved Jonathan Grounds at left back and Paul Caddis in his customary position on the right. Davies and Gleeson sat in front of the back four with Cotterill, Shinnie and Dyer in front of them.
Clayton Donaldson on the occasion of his 31st birthday ploughed a lone furrow up front as he has done so often. Unfortunately Blues got caught cold and were behind to a Hugo Rodallega goal after only four minutes. The pass in the inside right channel from Lasse Vigen Christensen was too easy and the striker was allowed far too much room and he made no mistake lifting the ball over the advancing Randolph. Blues responded quickly however and were level on 15 minutes. A free kick from Cotterill out wide on the left near the corner flag was whipped in to the far post and evaded everybody to nestle in the back of the net to send the massed ranks of over 3000 bluenoses into raptures.
It was deserved since immediately after going behind Blues had taken the game to Fulham and Davis had come very close to restoring parity from just outside the area after ten minutes and Cotterill nearly scored from wide again, this time from a corner just before his goal. Blues really should have been 2-1 ahead immediately after we scored when Paul Caddis did well to get to the bye-line and crossed to Lloyd Dyer at the back post only for the winger to head over when well placed. Dyer tried to make amends when he centred finding the onrushing David Cotterill whose connection goalwards was well saved by Bettinelli. Clayton Donaldson was the worst offender for missing chances however and really should have scored from two excellent chances that fell his way in the first half. A glorious 40-yard through ball from Stephen Gleeson was taken down beautifully by the striker on his chest but having done the technically difficult part he could only slide his shot wide with only the keeper to beat. Clayton missed a free header right on half time from another excellent Cotterill cross and should have netted rather than putting the effort wide.
Blues came out on the front foot after the break but failed to capitalise from a series of corners. From then Birmingham’s chance had gone. Fulham gained control of the game after that and probably edged the exchanges without seriously threatening us. However, the home side could quite easily have nicked this and Blues would have had only themselves to blame had they done so. We were very lucky to see a low drive from Rodallega well saved by Darren Randolph and the keeper had to save an acrobatic effort from the same player later in the half with only minutes to go. There was a sharp intake of breath from the away end when Leko Fofana shot inches wide from the edge of the area. Kit Symons remarked in the Mail on Sunday that the play-offs were an awful long way away and every lost point made the distance further. He’s right of course and this game summed up why neither of these sides is likely to make the play-offs and anybody who has such pretensions is dreaming.
From Birmingham’s standpoint, we simply don’t convert enough of the chances we create and the squad lacks the depth to mount a challenge in my opinion. Furthermore, we got off to such an awful start at the beginning of the season that there is simply too much ground to make up. As for Fulham, the same analysis applies and for them to go on the sort of run they would require to sneak in to the after season jamboree, we are the type of team they have to be looking to beat at home and frankly they only got a point because we wasted at least five gilt-edged chances. Neither side is good enough I’m afraid and the position they are both in is likely to be where they finish up.
The Good: The first half performance from Blues. It deserved better than the one goal it produced. David Davis was exceptional.
The Bad: The missed chances in the first half. The profligacy nearly cost us.
The Ugly: The fact that we could have lost this game when all three points were there for the taking.
Fulham: (4-1-2-1-2): Marcus Bettinelli 7, Ashley Richards 7, Shaun Hutchinson 7, Nikolay Bodurov 7, Kostantinos Stafylidis 6, Seko Fofana 7, Ryan Tunnicliffe 6, Lasse Vigen Christensen 7, (Patrick Roberts 79, N/A) Alexander Kacaniklic 7, Ross McCormack 6, Hugo Rodallega 7.
Subs not used: Gabor Kiraly, Cauley Woodrow, Moussa Dembele, George Williams, Dan Burn, Jack Grimmer
Goals: Rodallega 4
Bookings: None
Birmingham City: Darren Randolph 7, Paul Caddis 7, Jonathan Spector 7, Paul Robinson 7, Jonathan Grounds 7, Stephen Gleeson 7, David Davies 8, Lloyd Dyer 6 (Callum Reilly 88, N/A) Andrew Shinnie 7 (Demarai Gray 72, 6) David Cotterill 7 Clayton Donaldson 6 (Nikola Zigic 82, N/A)
Subs not used: Colin Doyle, Wes Thomas, Mitch Hancox, Lee Novak.
Goals: Cotterill 14
Bookings: Shinnie
Referee: Fred Graham 8: A very good performance from the man in the middle I thought. He refereed the game fairly, decisively and allowed the game to flow. He kept his cards in his pocket for the most part; only cautioning Andrew Shinnie which was a reflection of the game which was played in the right spirit.
Attendance: 19,086
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