The trains turned up on time and I soon arrived at Coventry just before 12.30 where Chris was waiting to pick me up. It was just as well that I’d booked my ticket and seat the night before because the Reading to Coventry train was rammed. Will and Will junior appeared at Baginton just after 1.15 and we were able to enjoy a quiet pint and a Cajun chicken wrap before proceeding down the A45 to the ground.
We were seated in the Gil Merrick stand, our seats in the Kop still to be seen to our right empty until who knows when? There was a bit of a saga getting little Jack into the ground to start with as his ticket hadn’t arrived on line but a quick visit to the ticket office ironed things out. The game was a bit of a curate’s egg and will not stick long in the memory. 0-0 was a fair result and some wags would say both teams were lucky to get nil but whilst it wasn’t a great game it was by no means the worst goalless draw I’ve ever seen. The stats show possession to be 50-50 with 302 passes for Preston and 301 for Blues but of course what the numbers don’t tell you is the accuracy which was pretty poor from both sides. Will commented that the teams had 20% possession each and the remainder was for the atmospheric layer above the pitch!
Both teams had clear chances to win this game. Troy Deeney clipped the outside of the post on five minutes from an excellent cross from Dion Sanderson making his first league start in place of the injured Marc Roberts. The cross was worked from a corner that Preston had failed to clear effectively and Sanderson wasted no time in whipping the ball back into the box. Deeney’s header was right in every respect except one and that was that it clipped the wrong side of the post. It would have been a picture goal with more accuracy. Preston had their moments and carved out an excellent chance a few moments later when Josh Earl was put in 15 yards out in the inside left position. His shot from his weaker right foot brought a good save out of Sarkic to prevent the strike nestling in the bottom corner. The keeper was also lucky to see a clearance kick charged down by Sean Maguire rebound on to the roof of the net. I do feel the Wolves loanee takes his time to the point of reckless sometimes and we nearly had another Northampton moment. Still no harm done in the end!
Tahith Chong was causing the Preston midfield problems and the number of fouls against him mounted but he did get free early to sting the Preston keeper’s hands on 11 minutes but Iversen saved well from the young Dutchman to beat the attempt away. Up the other end a good through ball out Jakobsen through but Sarkic emulated his opposite number with an excellent save to maintain the clean sheet. Blues went close themselves when Deeney chased down a lost cause to volley across to Hogan whose overhead kick attempt was bravely blocked by the Preston rearguard to keep the score goalless at the break.
The visitors started on the front foot in the second half and aided and abetted by some error-ridden, sloppy defending, Blues had to see off a sustained period of pressure for the first ten minutes or so. However, when Birmingham did break out a superb pass inside the full back to Jeremie Bela from Deeney got the wide man in behind. His well directed cross towards Hogan was deflected off a defender to deny the striker a tap in but the ball broke to Colin whose fierce drive was well saved by Iversen. The contest became scrappy and attritional after that and despite the introduction of fresh strikers in the form of Chuks Aneke and Lukas Jutkiewicz, no further clear chances were created for either side and the game fizzled out into a goalless draw. In fairness, this was one of those games when you say “if you can’t win it, don’t lose it.” I believe this is just the sort of match Blues would have lost twelve months ago. I said in my last blog that a clean sheet was a priority even if we failed to win. It was essential to stop the rot of seven goals conceded in the previous two games.
The Good: The pleasant sunny afternoon, decent atmosphere; good to be back at St Andrew’s on a Saturday afternoon.
The Bad: The standard of passing and finishing from both sides.
The Ugly: The empty stands. Can’t wait for our grand old ground to be back to full health.
Birmingham City: Matija Sarkic, Maxime Colin, Dion Sanderson, Harlee Dean, George Friend Tahith Chong, Ryan Woods, Ivan Sunjic, Jeremie Bela, Troy Deeney (Lukas Jutkiewicz 68) Scott Hogan (Chuks Aneke 67)
Subs not used: Connal Trueman, Marcel Oakley, Alfie Chang, Riley McGree, Jordan Graham.
Goals: None
Bookings: Bela 45 + 1.
Preston North End: Daniel Iversen, Jordan Storey, Patrick Bauer, Andrew Hughes, Sepp van den Berg, Ben Whiteman (Alistair McCann 70) Ryan Ledson, Josh Earl, Daniel Johnson (Brad Potts 88) Sean Maguire (Josh Murphy 70) Emil Riis Jakobsen.
Subs not used: Declan Rudd, Gregg Cunningham, Paul Huntington, Scott Sinclair.
Goals: None
Bookings: Bauer 39, Storey 62, Ledson 72.
Attendance: 14,925
Referee: Matt Donohue: it’s easy for us as fans to pick holes in the performance of the officials and they are rarely right about anything after all depending on which side you’re on. There are two incidents however that I feel need highlighting as they could have swung the game decisively. On 30 minutes, the ball crossed from the left and bounced deceiving Bela and his marker. The Preston player definitely flicked his hand upwards touching the ball. It was instinctive and we’ve all done it but it was a clear hand ball. I was sitting twenty yards away with a clear line of sight. The loud shout of “hand ball!” and the Birmingham players’ protests went unheeded. In the second half Patrick Bauer running away from goal towards to sideline but still in the penalty area, flicked out a foot backwards to engage the chasing Sanderson’s leg. He then went down claiming a penalty. Fortunately, Mr Donohue wasn’t fooled. However, Bauer was already on a booking. Should he not have been given a second yellow card and dismissal for simulation?
It’s on to the next one which is Loftus Road on Tuesday against QPR who sit just above us in the table on goal difference. It is a venue I avoid nowadays ever since the last time I went there only to be kettled by the Met Police and not allowed into the ground until nearly half-time! Having paid £35 for a ticket with a restrictive view, zero catering and not be able to get a pint in the ground, I decided that they can shove their hospitality if that is what it represents. Needless to say I won’t be going! Good luck to those that do. KRO.
Bazza
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