View from the South – Sheffield United vs Birmingham City

I’ve always looked forward to FA Cup games and yesterday was no different. I was up early to take Dilys, my Welsh Terrier and most loyal companion out for her walk before setting off for Guildford to meet up with Will and Alex, a childhood Wednesday fan but long since defector to the Royal Blue of Birmingham City. There was a special poignancy to this game for him therefore. We met at 09.15 and a welcome bacon and sausage bap was shoved into my hand which cheered the spirits washed down with a cup of coffee picked up at the garage where diesel was obtained to suffice for the journey (£107 most of which is going into Mr Osborne’s coffers!) Our intention was to drive up to the Baginton Oak to pick up Will’s brother, Chris and little Jack, Chris’ grandson attending his first away FA Cup game. The journey was uneventful, the weather clear and bright and we made excellent time arriving earlier than expected in Sheffield via Chesterfield and past the latter town’s famous crooked spire. We had more than enough time to grab a couple of pints, crisps, pork-scratchings and in my case, dry roasted peanuts before finally making our way to the ground. As we left the pub, I saw a young lad wearing a Sheffield United shirt waiting at the bus stop outside, deep in thought and looking troubled. I called to him “Oi son, why yow lookin’ so morose? Yow ain’t lost yet!” 😀 I’ll give him his due, he did laugh and so did my mates; it’s banter like that that makes football following what it is in my view. I also love the frisson of excitement as kick off approaches, the smells of the burger and hot dog vans, the colour provided by the fans of both sides, the hustle and bustle of people finding their way to their turnstile and the noisy build up inside the stadium as voices rise with a chant here and a song there; these are some of the many reasons I keep turning up week after week.

I was expecting a really tough game from Sheffield United who are riding high in League 1 in third place. Clearly Chris Hughton did too and set up as a 4-4-1-1 with Adam Rooney up top, Wade Elliott behind him, Chris Burke, Jordan Mutch, Mogaro Gomis and Nathan Redmond formed a strong if not necessarily first choice midfield and due respect was shown towards the hosts with Spector, Caldwell, Davies and Murphy at the back. Colin Doyle continued as the Cup custodian of choice between the sticks after his impressive performances against Wolves. Now as I’ve already said, I expected a tough encounter from the Blades and they started brightly enough and dominated the early play in the opening 15 minutes. McDonald and Quinn both had shots blocked after Evans stepped over a Lowton cross, whilst Doyle looked wobbly to say the least. In fact he failed to gather anything first time all afternoon but fortunately Sheffield United weren’t good enough or lucky enough to take advantage. Colin ‘Teflon’ (nothing is sticking to these gloves today) Doyle needed two attempts to gather a powerful shot from Ched Evans on 13 minutes and then was almost embarrassed as Cresswell chased down a clearance. I have to confess Doyle does make me nervous when he kicks clear; he certainly likes to take his time! Birmingham’s first effort came from defender Spector, who drilled wide at the near post after a mis-control by Jean-Francois.

Blues started to take control after Sheffield’s initial flurry and went ahead with the first corner of the game. Burke drilled the ball along the ground to Redmond 15 yards out. Will was convinced Burke mis-hit it but regardless, the youngster wasted no time in slamming the ball first time through a crowd of players under the keeper’s body for one-nil. After that, frankly the game became easy for Blues and in symmetrical fashion Blues added goals every twenty minutes to cruise to victory. Redmond had a chance to score again immediately after his strike on 18 minutes but, after cutting in from the left, he fired wide. A free-kick, 25 yards out, given against Caldwell for an alleged foul on Cresswell (should have been given the other way but the referee was Lee Mason after all!) presented an opportunity to level on 28 minutes. Doyle again dropped the shot from Evans but pounced on the loose ball before United’s onrushing strikers could arrive.

Blues were completely in control despite this and the home side’s chances were diminished further on 38 minutes when Rooney added a second. Elliott found Burke out on the right and from his near-post cross, Rooney sneaked in front of Maguire and directed the ball into the top corner for a lovely finish from a slick and accomplished move. The Blades were being outplayed and things could have been even worse for them just before the break had Burke’s left-footed curler found the top corner with Simonsen beaten. We all peeled off for refreshments at half time and I was ready for a pie and a pint. The caterer’s had run out of pies (poor given that they knew we were all coming) and only had burger’s left. I was hungry so decided to take one; yukk! A horrible over grilled apparition appeared the consistency of heavy cardboard and which tasted much worse, in a bun that was crispy; to add insult to injury there were no sauces of any kind available to make it remotely palatable. After one bite, my purchase was consigned to the bin and I was no longer hungry. I had to content myself with my bottle of Carling Lager (not my tipple of choice but beggars can’t be choosers! 🙁 )

At the start of the second period, the Blades made a bright start in similar vain to the first. Cresswell could not get on the end of a good move down the left involving Jean-Francois, Evans and Quinn. The ball flashed across the six yard box just in front of the Sheffield player to safety and on 53 minutes the home team cam even closer to halving the deficit. Williamson saw a well hit shot blocked by Doyle and in the ensuing melee; Lowton’s left-footer struck a post and dropped into the goalmouth, hitting Doyle before being cleared by Caldwell off the line. This was as good as it got for Sheffield United however and Birmingham added a third soon after to finally nail the coffin lid down tight. Williamson failed to cut out a diagonal pass to Elliott who evaded a weak tackle to drive at the defence who backed off allowing the midfielder to run to the edge of the area before unleashing his shot beyond the reach of Simonsen’s left hand on 58 minutes.

The home side attempted to freshen up their demoralised side and dwindling home support as he replaced Jean-Francois just after the hour mark and Flynn and Porter took the places of Quinn and Cresswell, respectively. However, it failed to change the momentum in the match as Birmingham added a fourth on 78 minutes. Murphy’s run down the left needed was deftly guided wide of the hapless Simonsen by Rooney to into the bottom corner of the net for a comprehensive win. A frustrated McDonald picked up a booking for a petulant foul on former team-mate Elliott and the United midfielder fired over high and not so handsome late on. Williamson forced Doyle into a save just before the final whistle but Sheffield looked a totally dispirited outfit and could not muster the consolation of a goal to give their supporters something to go home with. Chris Hughton used the opportunity to bring on youngsters Eddy Gnahore and Callum Reilly ten minutes before the end which was good to see. The gulf in ability between the two sides was huge on the evidence of this encounter. The Blades, should they achieve promotion back to the Championship at the season’s end, have a lot of strengthening to do if they are to be competitive. They would struggle in the division above on this showing. As for Blues, this was the most complete, controlled and solid performance I’ve seen from us all season but it has to be considered in context; Sheffield United were poor and Blues should beat teams like this but that having been said you can only beat what is put in front of you and Blues dispatched their opponents efficiently enough. The Blades were unlucky not to score at the start of the second half but I always felt that Blues played well within themselves and could have, if required, have stepped up a couple of gears had the home side threatened to get back into the game.

As a final postscript I was enraged at the coverage or should I say lack of of what was the biggest and most impressive win of the day in the fourth round by ITV. I recommend you read Aljamir’s open letter on Often Partisan which echoes my sentiments and those of many, I suspect, perfectly.

The Good: The overall performance, the atmosphere generated by the 4,100 of us there (we could have filled a lot of the empty seats to be fair) and the fact that we’ve been able to rest a number of our squad for the important game at Leeds on Tuesday.

The Bad: The burger I purchased at half time.

The Ugly: The burger I purchased at half time.

Sheffield United: Steve Simonsen 6, Matt Lowton 5, Lescinel Jean-Francois 5 (Marcus Williams 61, 5), Michael Doyle (C) 6, Ched Evans 5, Lee Williamson 5, Neill Collins 5, Richard Cresswell 6 (Chris Porter 73, 5), Harry Maguire 5, Kevin McDonald 5, Stephen Quinn 6 (Ryan Flynn 72, 5).

Subs (unused): Nick Montgomery, Johnny Ertl, Danny Philliskirk, George Long.

Bookings: McDonald (79)

Goals: None

Birmingham City: Colin Doyle 6, Jonathan Spector 6, Steven Caldwell (C) 7, Curtis Davies 7, David Murphy 6, Chris Burke 9 (Eddy Gnahore 80, N/A), Morgaro Gomis 6, Wade Elliott 7, Jordon Mutch 7 (Callum Reilly 81, N/A), Nathan Redmond 7, Adam Rooney 8.

Subs (unused): Jack Butland, Pablo Ibanez, Enric Valles, Keith Fahey, Nikola Zigic.

Bookings: None

Goals: Redmond (18), Rooney (38, 78), Elliott (59)

Referee: Lee Mason 7: Not my favourite official but this was a far better performance than the one the last time he refereed this fixture. At least he didn’t give a goal that was offside and a ridiculous penalty award that allowed Sheffield United a 2-1 win in a Championship match.

Attendance: 18, 072 (4,100 Blues fans)

Bazza

KRO SOTV