There was no chance of a lie-in this morning despite a later start out to get to Southampton which is obviously closer to me than home games. Nellie was reminding me that not only was there a new day and she needed to be let out but as far as she was concerned it was high time that I was up and at it. So with some reluctance, I arose, washed and shaved and took Nellie out for her constitutional. It was a pleasantly bright, mild morning in the local woods although wet underfoot from the copious amounts of rain that we’ve had in recent days. A lengthy walk, lots of chasing ball and it was back for breakfast.
It had been a long time since I’d managed to get hold of a ticket for an away game. I always enjoy away days. The atmosphere is more intense and raucous somehow and if you find you are in the happy position of coming away with a win, there is simply nothing like it. However, I reckoned it was going to be a tough game. Southampton have run into a bit of form of late winning four of their last five matches under coach Tonda Eckert and will provide a stern test. Their recent win at the Valley by a 5-1 margin was particularly impressive and Blues will have to defend well to nullify their obvious threat.
Last time out, we overcame Watford on Monday evening. The result was a narrow one in the end and we would only have had ourselves to blame had Watford equalised but we managed the game pretty well in the end. I think that win may prove to be one of our best results this season given that the Hornets have accrued more points from losing positions that any team in the top four divisions. For our part, we had enough chances to have put that game to bed before they scored their consolation and although we have been scoring more freely of late we could still improve our conversion rate in my opinion.
I caught the train from Farnborough Main at about a quarter to one and changed at Winchester for Southampton Central, reaching there about an hour later. I decided to catch the shuttle bus up to the ground as I thought I’d arrived too late to walk up to the Giddy Bridge for a pint. Most of the lads had got down earlier and had already imbibed and moved on. I thought I’d grab a beer at the ground instead. I did just that and was soon joined by Chris, Will and little Will. The team was announced and Tomoki Iwata was restored to the line up in place of Bright Osayi-Samuel.
Blues started on the front foot but nevertheless contrived to concede the opening goal in the sixth minute. Far too much time and space was afforded to Finn Azaz who rifled a low left-footed effort from 20 yards into the bottom left hand corner just inside the post. The reason it seems to me that our away form is so indifferent is because of gifting the oppositions chances like this. We keep going behind to lapses of concentration and failure to apply the basics and you have a mountain to climb especially after only six minutes! After this, Southampton took control of the game and did everything possible to slow down the taking of corners and free kicks. I don’t blame them of course. When you are winning and the referee allows you to get away with it, why wouldn’t you?
Blues weren’t exactly under the cosh but they weren’t threatening the hosts either. They learned nothing from the first concession and mid way through the half they allowed Adam Armstrong to drive towards the edge of the box with no pressure on the ball. Klarer wasn’t tight enough to him and he needed no invitation to shoot and his strike found the net despite Beadle getting a hand to the shot. For the second game running Beadle has allowed the ball to escape him when with a stronger hand the effort is saved. The Saints remained on top and deservedly went into the break 2-0 up. It could have been worse as before the second goal Tom Fellows crashed an effort pulled back to him by Scienza from only ten yards against the crossbar when by rights he should have scored. It was a first half to forget from Blues.
Blues came out with more earnest determination in the second period and a cracking goal by Demarai Gray from a similar move to Monday night against Norwich reduced the arrears. The strike was a bit further out compared to Monday’s effort but it was a lovely strike for all that. Blues were now on top and were putting the hosts under severe pressure. Then the moment that killed the game as far as we were concerned occurred. Tomoki Iwata turned inside in midfield and was fouled. Mr Webb waved play on as the Blues man stumbled. He tried to pass to a colleague but in truth was never properly balanced and the pass went astray. Southampton broke and another shot from the edge of the area resulted… James Beadle saved the effort but failed to push the ball wide and Armstrong was on hand to slot home the rebound for his second. The keeper was again culpable but his retreating defenders must take some of the blame. Saints’ third goal was a killer and although Blues hammered at the Saints’ defensive door in the last 15 minutes, they couldn’t make a second breakthrough of their own. Substitute, Kyogo had the best chance to notch a second for us with a decent amount of time left but shot over from six yards on the half volley when Jack Robinson’s header had rebounded off a post. Head in hands again. It’s so frustrating as the Blues faithful are willing him to score because we all feel that once he does, the dam will break. Good defending and excellent goalkeeping kept the waves of Birmingham attacks at bay. Southampton for their part had a couple of clear chances to really rub our noses in it but with two one on ones on the break, James Beadle stood up to the challenge and saved well from Armstrong to deny him his hat trick and Cameron Archer just before the end making some atonement for errors earlier.
This was a disappointing performance overall although Blues were much better in the second half. We lost this match in the first half and we simply have to defend better if we are to turn our indifferent away form around. I felt 3-1 was a harsh scoreline but make no mistake, the better side won. I saw one comment on line that stated that we were rubbish and we made an average Southampton side look better than they are. I think this view is churlish. I felt Saints were very good and they were better than us in a number of important areas: They pressed the man on the ball, confronting him before he got a sight of goal. They were tenacious in defence putting their bodies on the line. Their keeper did his job throughout the whole game. They took the chances gifted to them. Blues weren’t rubbish, at least not in the second half but they weren’t good enough to break a stubborn Saints side down. At times our lads played some nice stuff but failed in the final details. We were unfortunate with their third goal; the play should have been stopped for the foul on Tomoki when no clear advantage occurred.
The Good: The second half performance and a cracking goal from Demarai.
The Bad: The first half showing, poor pressing of the man on the ball. Sooner rather than later you have to stop backing off. We simply cannot allow top quality players to have clear shots on goal from the edge of our box.
The Ugly: A tackle on Tommy Doyle on 92 minutes by Joe Aribo that was sanctioned by a yellow card. It was an awful challenge and should have been a straight red.
Southampton: Gavin Bazunu 7, Nathan Wood 7, Taylor Harwood-Bellis 7, Jack Stephens 7, Finn Azaz 8 (Joe Aribo 79, 6) Casper Jander 7 (Oriel Romeu 79, 6) Tom Fellows 7 (Ronnie Edwards 87, N/A) Flynn Downes 7, Ryan Manning 7, Leo Scienza 8 (Jay Robinson 62,7) Adam Armstrong 9 (Cameron Archer 62, 7).
Subs not used: Alex McCarthy, Joshua Quarshie, Ryan Fraser, Cameron Bragg.
Goals: Azaz 6, Armstrong 24, 58.
Yellow cards: Joe Aribo 90+2.
Birmingham City: James Beadle 5, Alex Cochrane 6, Christoph Klarer 6, Phil Neumann 6, Tomoki Iwata 6, Patrick Roberts 7 (Keshi Anderson 80, 6) Tommy Doyle 5, Demarai Gray 7 (Lewis Koumas 86, N/A) Jay Stansfield 5 (Lyndon Dykes 86, N/A) Marvin Ducksch 5 (Kyogo Furuhashi 72, 6)
Subs not used: Ryan Allsop, Bright Osayi-Samuel, Eiran Cashin, Marc Leonard.
Goals: Gray 54.
Yellow cards: Iwata 49
Referee: David Webb; 5. A poor game from the man in the middle. Referees don’t generally influence the outcome over the whole piece but his failure to apply the advantage law properly when Iwata was fouled initially led to Southampton’s third and that did kill any chance of Blues getting back into the match. At the time we were well on top and the momentum was with us. I feel we could have equalised at that stage and should it have remained 2-1 at the time of the incident by a free kick award since no advantage occurred, who knows?
Attendance: 29,309
Bazza KRO
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