View from the South – Birmingham City v Huddersfield Town

The EFL in their wisdom had decided to move the first home game of the season to a Friday evening; something no doubt to do with the Commonwealth Games going on in our fair city. Moreover, it wasn’t to be shown on the telly so there was nothing for it, I would have to drive up, something that I don’t like doing as I prefer the train but the last one doesn’t get to Reading in time for my connection. All in all, it’s logistically impossible and so I thought I’d kill two birds with one stone; go to the game, stay over with Chris and go on the following morning to see my disabled cousin in Sutton Coldfield. I had all the season tickets so I had to attend come what may. The journey took longer than normal because of negotiating the car park that is the M25 and getting held up at one or two points on the M40 but I arrived at Baginton at about 5.30 pm. It was soon time to set off down the Coventry Road to the ground. Besides Chris, little Seb was joining us. His brother Jack had been unwell the day before and decided to rest up. I don’t know if the prospect of meeting up with his new girlfriend had anything to do with it; but benefit of the doubt and all that! Chris and I weren’t in a particularly optimistic mood and the usual expectation and hope simply wasn’t there. Things were a little subdued anyway because unfortunately there is sad backdrop to the start of this season. Chris’s wife Gayle died suddenly and wholly unexpectedly two weeks ago. There are simply no words to express how devastated everyone who knew her is.  (Editor’s note – the whole of Joys and Sorrows pass on our wholehearted sympathy here, Bazza. Football may well be more important than life or death at times, copyright Bill Shankly, but there are times when we all realise just how hollow those words ring.  Our thoughts and prayers are literally with Gayle’s family, with Chris and with you Bazza.)

We arrived in bright sunlight at St Andrew’s and in plenty of time for a pint in the George. I didn’t see many people sporting the new shirt which wasn’t altogether totally surprising given the £55 price tag. I feel it’s a bit steep especially in the middle of a cost of living crisis and I’m bound to say that I haven’t succumbed to exploitive commercialism on this occasion. Whilst walking down Cattell Road on the way back to the ground, I bumped into Tim, a friend of mine who is an occasional travelling companion on the train up from Surrey. We lamented that we were all here again for more torture. Like us he was not optimistic about our prospects and felt the reality was, we were likely to get beaten by the night’s opponents. We said our goodbyes and proceeded onwards in search of a bite to eat. We had intended to go for a curry before the game but timings didn’t allow for that so we picked up some food outside the turnstiles. It was Greek meze chicken in pitta bread which was very tasty and went down very well with another pint for which there was a £2 off voucher courtesy of the club that came with the season tickets.

We took our usual seats just as the teams were coming out onto the pitch. Talking of football strips, ours is pretty reasonable this year apart from the price but Huddersfield’s away kit; OMG!!!!!! ? Rather than me describe it, just take a look at the picture and make your own mind up….

I feel a bit for their fans having to watch their team in that all season. I don’t know what goes through the heads of the marketing people connected with some clubs but I just wonder how many of their fans have purchased one of these shirts. I don’t see it as a best seller and didn’t spot any in the away contingent to my left.

The game kicked off with Blues immediately on the front foot. The hosts nearly took the lead in the fourth minute when a scuffed shot by Norwich loanee, Przemyslaw Placheta was saved on the line at the foot of the post by Nicholls in goal for the visitors. From our position it looked as if the ball was actually over the line but it must have been a trick of the light reflecting off the white glove of the goalkeeper. The referee motioned towards his wrist to confirm that the ball had not broken the plane of the line. Barely a minute later however, there was no doubt that the ball had crossed the line as it was in the back of the net. Scott Hogan notched his first goal since January with a low stooping header from a superb cross from Bacuna from the right. The striker got ahead of Turton and buried the ball past a helpless Nicholls from just outside the six yard box. Huddersfield looked sluggish and second best to everything as Blues dominated the early exchanges. Bacuna struck a fierce drive just wide from the corner of the box as he and Placheta on the flanks were leading the Terriers defence a merry dance. Despite their dominance, Blues had John Ruddy to thank for an excellent save from a lightning bolt shot from the edge of the area from Josh Ruffels which when he struck it, I thought it had to be the equaliser. Fortunately for us the lead remained intact and crisis averted. Blues continued to dominate midfield and create chances. Just before half time Blues took a deserved 2-0 lead through Placheta. Hogan crossed the ball in to the box and a speculative shot from Jordan James, having another impressive game for Blues, was blocked. The ball came out to the Polish  international, Placheta  who capped off a fine first half performance with a fierce shot that Nicholls could only parry into the net.

Second half, it was expected that Huddersfield could only be better and they were. How they didn’t score within ten minutes of the restart is thanks to a very poor finish from eight yards by Sorba Thomas which went well wide but the visitors did haul themselves back into the contest just after the hour with a very well worked goal from a flowing move finished by Danny Ward whose cross shot into the bottom corner gave Ruddy no chance. Huddersfield were showing better rhythm from their first half display and Blues had to be on their mettle to prevent the Terriers restoring parity. There were nervy moments but Blues were resilient enough and could have capped things off in the 93rd minute with a glorious run from the left wing by Bacuna leaving three players looking at each other with that “where did he go?” look on their faces. He proceeded to burrow into the box and cut across goal leaving a further four defenders in his wake. It was a shame that the final shot was straight at Nicholls for had the strike registered, it would have qualified for goal of the season.

Corner flag antics after that ran down the remaining time to the final whistle which was greeted with a loud and relieved cheer. Well played Blues. Over the whole piece a deserved victory against one of the fancied teams in the Championship. Did the visitors play well? No, at least not in the first half. Are they a decent side? Yes, they were certainly a lot better in the second period when they were the better side for periods. Was it a good time to play them? Yes, right at the start of the season, they looked a little undercooked but I expect them to be contenders for at least a play off spot. As for Blues; top of the league! When were we last able to say that? However, let’s not get too carried away. I have to admit that we have four points more than I was expecting at this stage so a good start but there is a lot of hard work yet to do. We look so much more organised compared to last season so there are reasons to be cheerful.

The Good: Three cracking goals. Excellent result and performance from the team. The Greek meze was really good.

The Bad: A nasty tackle on Jordan James which surprisingly went unpunished. The traffic getting out. The problem with Friday night games is that the local mosques are rammed with worshippers and Small Heath has a large Muslim community. It was a good job that it was a moderate sized crowd because of the continuing ground repairs; another point to list under ‘bad’.

The Ugly: Huddersfield Town’s away kit! I’ve nothing against pink but this was shocking! ?

Birmingham City: John Ruddy 7, Dion Sanderson 7, Marc Roberts 7,  Auston Trusty 8, Maxime Colin 7, Ryan Woods 7, Jordan James 7, Juninho Bacuna 8, Przemyslaw Placheta 9 (George Friend 89, N/A), Scott Hogan 7 (Lukas Jutkiewicz 82, N/A), Troy Deeney 6 (Jordan Graham 75, 6).

Subs not used: Neil Etheridge, Alfie Chang, Jonathan Leko, Jobe Bellingham.

Goals: Hogan 5, Placheta 45.

Yellow cards: Trusty 16.

Huddersfield Town: Lee Nicholls 6, Ollie Turton 6, Rarmani Edmonds-Green 7 (Will Boyle 76, 6), Tom Lees 7, Josh Ruffels 7 (Josh Koroma 88, N/A), Sorba Thomas 6, Jonathan Hogg 7, Jon Russell 7, Jack Rudoni 6, Tino Anjorin 6 (Jordan Rhodes 76, 5) Danny Ward 7 (Duane Holmes 76, 6).

Subs not used: Jacob Chapman, Etienne Camara, Yuta Nakayama.

Goals: Ward 61.

Yellow cards: Thomas 25, Russell 32.

Referee: Gavin Ward: 7; I thought Mr Ward had a good game. I didn’t entirely agree with all of his decisions but he was consistent which most fans don’t mind. The only thing I don’t understand is why he didn’t book Jordan Rhodes for diving and trying to win a penalty. The decision to wave the challenge away and tell the forward to get up was correct but then no card? Other than that there was a nasty looking tackle on Jordan James late in the second half which went unpunished. It’s possible of course that the ball was played and James nevertheless received a sore one.

Attendance: 17,065

Bazza KRO