Blues Res 3 - Newcastle Res 1

Big reserve matches tend to be played at St Andrews, rather than Solihull. Big games like Man Utd, Liverpool, Villa, West Brom etc. which can be expected to attract a crowd of 2-3,000. Some bright Herbert at the club seems to think that Newcastle fit into that category and so tonight the princely total of around 200 people trudged into a 99% empty stadium to see Blues play a club who, anywhere but Tyneside, are regarded as a complete non-entity in modern football. Ho-hum.

The game was played to a backdrop of firework parties taking place in the streets around the ground. One in particular, somewhere in the Tilton Road vicinity involved pyrotechnics that took old IP back to his days in ‘Nam and the Tet Offensive in particular. I guess the mental scars will never heal.

Anyhow, the game; Blues lined up 4-4-2…

Vaesen

Kenna – Purse – Sadler – Williams

Sheppard – Kirovski – Carter – Motteram

John – Morrison

Sadler started as The World’s Smallest Centre Back and it was good to see Tom Williams back in the fold after his lengthy exile at QPR. Stern John showed some great, if languid, touches and distributed the ball well, using strength to hold off the defenders and bring the midfielders into play. Carter was lively in midfield, Motteram pacy on the wing, Kirovski showed some nice touches, whilst Kenna and Purse showed that at this level they can play blindfolded.

Newcastle fielded what looked like a very young and under strength side. I suppose most of their usual squad players would have been rested, with a view to tomorrow’s UEFA Cup game. They played 4-4-2 but kept losing their shape and swung wildly from 8-1-1 to 4-1-5 via all possible combinations in between. Carl Cort (looking like a Negroid Peter Crouch but not as funny) was playing somewhere between centre forward and defensive midfield. Purse was taking responsibility for marking Cort when he assumed his centre-forward role.

Blues totally dominated the first half. Morrison had three good chances but failed to find the target, John had a fierce drive bravely blocked by a defender, following fine work by Carter and Motteram shot into the side netting after outpacing the defence to reach a clever diagonal ball from John. Williams was looking OK at left back until he turned his ankle and required treatment. After that, he began misplacing passes and was clearly struggling. Newcastle failed to muster a shot on goal in the first half and the only danger Vaesen encountered was via a mishit backpass from the ailing Williams which went out for a corner.

Half Time 0-0

The half time interval was a disturbing experience for your humble narrator. I went for a wee and noticed that the bloke next to me was staring at The Humungous IP Dong. Disconcerted, I went to the café and invested in a Balti Pie to calm my nerves. On taking my seat, I noticed that the Tannoy Bloke was playing Supertramp. Like the fireworks, this took me back to the ‘70s, a decade which I generally squandered, in a haze of booze and illicit substances, often to the accompaniment of some hairy beardy outfit like Supertramp. In a state of reverie, I bit into the Balti Pie and burned all the bleedin’ skin off the roof of my mouth!

Second half Blues came out with Marcus Painter having replaced the limping Williams. Sadler moved to left back, with Painter at centre-back. Sadler had an excellent second half, solid defensively and very effective on the overlap.

Blues took the lead after 51 minutes. Motteram skinned the fullback for the umpteenth time and swung in a cross. Morrison met the ball and headed it through the goalie’s hands and over the line. Bartlett, the Newcastle goalie, should have saved it but Blues deserved a goal after all the first-half pressure and something had to give eventually. John had had another shot blocked on the line just before the goal, following some neat interplay with Kirovski.

58 minutes and it was 2-0. John was put through by Sheppard, turned the defender inside out and then hit a firm shot in off the post. Rather reminiscent of his goal against West Ham last season.

Newcastle were looking more organised in the second half and the game was benefiting. A long ball from defence saw Painter get in Purse’s way and the resulting mis-clearance was played out to the wing. Martin Brittain drove a very good low cross into the space between the defenders and Vaesen for midfielder Andy Ferrell to convert. 2-1.

A lengthy spell of Blues dominance ensued, with Newcastle’s Chris Carr doing a fine job of trying to hold everything together at the back. Blues were creating lots of openings but trying to be too elaborate with the flicks and tricks around the penalty area. Newcastle, encouraged by the goal, were breaking well and looked like they may grab an equaliser. This had developed into quite a good game.

71 minutes Kirovski hits the post, following a fine build up mainly involving Sadler.

91 minutes. 3-1. Carter brings the ball from the halfway line. No Newcastle player takes responsibility for picking him up and he has time to drive the ball in from about 17 yds. Soft goal, but very well taken to cap a fine Savage-esque performance by young Darren.