The last thing I expected was that I was actually going to be in attendance for this game, given the scarcity of tickets and my modest rating in the pecking order. I received a text from Jacob of Sussex Blues fame who offered me a ticket since his uncle was no longer able to go. I told Mrs Bazza who gave me the folded arms and cold stare but knew that I’d already been vaccinated against those two things and gave in gracefully with a shrug of the shoulders, a roll of the eyes and a sigh. She kindly gave me a lift to Farnborough station for me to catch the 09.38 train to London but I was actually just in time for the one before as it pulled in just as I got onto the platform. Met some Spurs fans on their way to their game against the Vile and of course wished them every good fortune going. I was soon changing at Clapham Junction and arrived at Sutton at about 10.45. I went off to the Moon on the Hill pub a few hundred yards away and enjoyed a pint and a chin wag with Jacob and his dad, Stephen. I noted that there were a few fat boy’s breakfasts being consumed by hungry bluenoses who had undoubtedly had an early start.
This game was not to be taken lightly especially if the experiences of Huddersfield Town and Northampton Town against Tamworth and Kettering respectively are anything to go by. I watched both those matches and Huddersfield particularly were very poor but both of our League 1 contemporaries deserved their fate. The non league oppositions in each case thoroughly deserved their progression. There was no place whatsoever for complacency in today’s game and it was essential that Blues were in the hat for round two.
12.30 arrived and the match kicked off. I am certain that I do not need to tell the vast majority of you reading this that this was not a great spectacle. I thought before the game that we would have too much for our National League opponents and frankly I felt that if we could get ahead early we would run out comfortable winners. Sutton sat deep, kept their shape, restricted any space between the lines and defended stubbornly. Their plan was clearly to protect their clean sheet for as long as possible and catch us on the break. Their plan worked well enough but they offered very little threat. They were lucky not to concede a penalty on nine minutes when Ethan Laird was fouled, as has been shown by video evidence inside the box. Laird managed to squeeze his cross in and the ball was slotted into the net by Willumsson but the referee had blown his whistle, negating the goal to give a free kick outside the box. The rest of the half comprised of Blues ping-ponging the ball back and across the pitch in an attempt to tempt Sutton out and release a bit of space. The Sutton rearguard weren’t for tempting and kept a low block. The only way that Sutton were going to score was a Birmingham mistake which nearly happened just before the break. A poor touch in midfield presented Jayden Harris a clear stretch of grass to run into. He ran half the length of the pitch with the hooves of the Blues players thundering behind him. With only Allsopp to beat Harris’ panicky finish ended up wide much to the relief of Paik Seung-ho.
The second half was largely attritional but Blues were in control keeping possession but failing to convert their dominance into goals. A combination of the low block by Sutton United, slow movement of the ball by our players (helped by the lush pitch which had been left long; if you’ve got home advantage, why not?) good defending, solid goalkeeping and dare I say it, lack of the luck you need to score sometimes, kept the score at a precarious 1-0 and the jeopardy that brings. Despite this Blues were in control and Sutton showed little in the way of threat that is until the very last minute of the game when a cross from the right was heading towards two Sutton players at the far post who had been left inadequately marked. One of them, Ashley Nadesan sized up the dropping ball, volleyed goalwards but fortunately for us, his connection wasn’t the cleanest and the ball struck the ground and looped up over the bar onto the top netting. It was their only real chance of the half and their “moment” that could have spelled the nausea of extra time and who knows, penalties? That lottery we did well to avoid. Look, the correct team won but it should have been more comfortable.
The Good: The fact that we won and are in the next round. As Steve pointed out on the way out of the ground; it would only have been a story if we had lost.
The Bad: The match. It wasn’t a great game due to multiple factors. The referee and the assistant down our side were very poor.
The Ugly: This! (See picture)
Sutton United: Jack Sims 7, Josh Coley 5, Tyler French 6, A Kirk 5, Jeremy Sivi 6 (Matt Rush75, 5) Finley Barbrook 6, O Odelusi 5, Charlie Waller 6, Jayden Harris 6, Eduino Vaz 6 (Dillon De Silva 61, 5) Will Davies 5 (Ashley Nadesan 50, 5)
Subs not used: Chinwike Okoli, Hayden Muller, Nana Boateng, Steve Arnold.
Goals: None
Yellow cards: Sivi 10, Barbrook 90+3.
Birmingham City: Ryan Allsop 6, Ethan Laird 6 (Alfons Samsted 79, 5) Ben Davies 6, Christoph Klarer 7, Alex Cochrane 6, Paik Seung-ho 8, Keshi Anderson 7 (A Yokoyama 66, 6) Willum Willumsson 7 Tomoki Iwata 7, Luke Harris 6 (Alfie May 66, 6) Jay Stansfield 7 (Lukas Jutkiewicz 79, 6)
Subs not used: Bailey Peacock-Farrell, Marc Leonard, Dion Sanderson, Lyndon Dykes, Tyler Gardner-Hickman.
Goals: Willumsson 34.
Yellow cards: Allsop 15, Laird 57, Anderson 62, Cochrane 90+4.
Referee: Ben Atkinson: 4; a poor performance from the man in the middle but the assistant on our side did not help him. He was truly terrible. There were too many decisions given the wrong way. Being close to the pitch frustrated onlookers could see that this was the case. In the ninth minute Ethan Laird was clearly fouled trying to cross the ball which was dispatched into the net but the referee blew for the foul which TV images show was a yard inside the box. No goal, no penalty, merely a free kick just outside the area. Perfect! Fortunately, it didn’t matter.
Attendance: 4,804 (1,582 bluenoses)
Bazza KRO.
As a postscript we have drawn Blackpool away. Given the teams left in the hat, I do not believe we could have been handed a tougher draw. If we make the third round we will have deserved it but we will have to play a lot better than against Sutton United.
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