Dawn’s milky light broke to a bright, mild, pleasant Autumn morning. A light breeze greeted us as Nellie and I stepped out for our walk. Equipped with a ball to chase, I was able to keep Nellie amused as she scrambled in her relentless pursuit through autumn’s golden carpet on the woodland floor after it. We got back after an hour and having fed Nellie, I grabbed some breakfast and it was soon time to set off to my usual rendezvous point to meet up with Will and Will Junior at the Meadows. We made really good time via the M40 and arrived at the Carvery in Hall Green at around 12.30. We were joined by Chris, Jack and Seb at about 1 pm. A pint, a pork bap with sage and onion stuffing and apple sauce, the inner man was restored. We sat and watched some of the early game; Baggies v Sheffield Wednesday which was excruciatingly boring. Our neighbours seemed to be making similar heavy weather against them as we did if the evidence of the first half was anything to go by. Chris joined us about 1 pm and from there we all piled into Chris’s car and parked up behind the old bus depot in Arthur Street. The £10 fee is worth not getting your vehicle either stolen or vandalised.
There were remembrance commemorations before the game and for this reason I did wonder whether the usual fireworks as the players entered the playing arena could have been omitted since it didn’t quite seem appropriate. The last post was played and a minute’s silence observed by all in the ground except one individual in the Tilton who was very loudly told to “SHUT THE **** UP!” which rather destroyed the point of the somber occasion. However, for the most part, it was impeccably observed and it was finally time for kick off.
Blues started on the front foot, moving the ball quickly and after only three minutes, Blues had a golden opportunity to get ahead when, following a mazy run by Patrick Roberts down the right and into the area, he laid the ball off to Marvin Ducksch whose beautiful turn rolling the defender led to the German being clumsily felled in the box by Andre Dozzell for a clear penalty. As usual, Jay Stansfield stepped up but placed his kick much too close to Bursik, in goal for Pompey, who made a fairly straightforward save for a professional keeper. He was off his line before the kick was taken but nevertheless it was a poor penalty. The rebound was recycled back in by Roberts to Stansfield who sadly was unable to make amends for the original miss when from barely four yards his touch only diverted the ball wide. In truth, this miss was worse than the penalty! Every head around me was in its owners’ hands.
Portsmouth were under the cosh, however and the home faithful did not have to wait long for the opener to come. A corner on nine minutes delivered by Alex Cochrane was accurately placed onto the head of Paik Seung-ho who had held back from the melee in the six yard box. His header was dispatched just inside the near post from ten yards. The way Blues were playing they could easily have been three up in the first twenty minutes but as so often this season the goals wouldn’t come and Pompey settled down towards the end of the half without really threatening. Remarkably, the visitors enjoyed the majority of possession over the piece but this was mainly derived of square passing across the back line and back passes to the keeper.
The second half started with Blues carrying on where they left off and should have doubled their lead within a minute of the restart. A floated ball from the inside left channel found Demarai Gray free at the far post. His first time volley was put wide. This summed up a below par performance from Gray who had a poor game by his standards. A glorious chance not long after was carved out by Jay Stansfield who burrowed into the box following a quick throw in taken by himself and delivered back into his path. His weighted square ball across the box found Iwata who took a touch and got his shot off but the keeper smothered the shot. Eventually, the pressure told and an inswinging corner taken by Tommy Doyle was met at the near post by Tomoki Iwata whose deft flick header found the inside of the side netting at the far post. It goes to show you don’t have to be tall to win the ball in the air if you make the right movement and get across the defender.
Not long after Blues had the comfort of a three goal lead when a beautifully flighted free kick from Alex Cochrane from the left was delivered into the corridor of uncertainty where captain, Christoph Klarer was on hand to bury another header past the helpless Josef Bursik. So, we had scored three headed goals, all from set pieces! When was the last time we had done that? It was the stuff of fantasy this! A fourth nearly followed when Bursik dithered on the ball and was lucky that the pacy Kyogo didn’t block his clearance back into the net. The ball was delivered back in to the forward who headed in but his original follow in meant he was likely to be offside which was confirmed by the assistant’s flag. Never mind son, a legitimate first league goal will come and when it does the celebrations will be something to behold!
Blues were not to be denied a fourth however when substitute, Keshi Anderson received a short pass from Tomoki Iwata who laid the ball off to him. Receiving the ball on the edge of the area, he took a touch and unleashed a right footed shot that deflected off the foot of a defender and nestled in the top corner for a comprehensive 4-0 win. The scoreline did not flatter Birmingham. This could and should have been seven or eight, such was Blues’ dominance.
The Good: The overall performance. This was as complete and comprehensive as we’ve seen this season. Iwata was outstanding, Klarer superb and Ducksch excellent. Patrick Roberts put in as good a winger’s performance as you will see in the first half. The ball was moved quickly, accurately and with energy and purpose. Where was this against Hull and Bristol City? The standard is set Blues; keep it up and keep right on!
The Bad: The ones that got away; the penalty of course and even worse the miss when the ball was recycled. Ducksch by rights should score in the first minute with his chance and Demarai Gray’s miss early in the second half? I’ve no words. The chance that Iwata had was a good save but I wonder whether he could have hit it first time?
The Ugly: The traffic was awful after the game not helped by some selfish and inconsiderate driving blocking off exit roads due to impatience. A bloke tried to turn right across us but he had jumped the traffic and was on the wrong side of the road. He wound his window down and gave Chris who was driving our car a mouthful despite being totally in the wrong. When I informed him that he was not only blocking the King’s highway but was on the wrong side of the road and should consult the Highway Code, he violently threw a Red Bull can into our car. It bounced off Chris’ head and missed me narrowly. He then sped off down Herbert Road. He was fortunate that he had a clear exit run at this stage as I have no doubt that Will who was in pursuit would have ended his day badly. Nasty, cowardly piece of work; all too common nowadays sadly.
Birmingham City: James Beadle 7, Tomoki Iwata 9 (Bright Osayi-Samuel 89, N/A), Christoph Klarer 8, Phil Neumann 7, Alex Cochrane 8, Tommy Doyle 7, Paik Seung-ho 8, Demarai Gray 5 (Lewis Koumas 76, 7), Marvin Ducksch 8 (Kyogo Furuhashi 63, 7), Patrick Roberts 8 (Keshi Anderson HT, 8), Jay Stansfield 7 (Lyndon Dykes 76, 7).
Subs not used: Ryan Allsop, Kanya Fujimoto, Eiran Cashin, Marc Leonard.
Goals: Seung-Ho 9, Iwata 56, Klarer 61, Anderson 88.
Yellow cards: Klarer 23.
Portsmouth: Josef Bursik 7, Jordan Williams 6, Regan Poole 7, Marlon Pack 7, John Swift 6 (Conor Chaplin 68, 6) Hayden Matthews 6 (Josh Knight 82, N/A) Ibane Bowat 6 (Zak Swanson 53, 6) Mark Kosznovszky 6, Andrew Dozzell 6, Mackenzie Kirk 6 (Colby Bishop 53, 6) Yang-Ming Hyeok 6 (Josh Murphy 53, 6)
Subs not used: Ben Killip, Florian Bianchini, Luke Le Roux, Terry Devlin.
Goals: None.
Yellow cards: Williams 60, Murphy 90+2.
Referee: Andrew Kitchen: I thought Mr Kitchen had a reasonable game. He didn’t need to resort his pocket for cards very often and kept control throughout. The Portsmouth fans may take a different view but the reality is they lost this one because they were defensively poor and they were frankly outplayed.
Attendance: 27,903 (2,003 Pompey fans including John Portsmouth Football Club Westwood!)
Bazza KRO
When we have such a performance, it’s always great to see the extended highlights 🙂
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