fbm
Blue tinted optimist⭐
BATTLING BLUES PUT BRUM OUT TO SEED
Southend pulled off one of the results of the season by deservedly claiming all three points on the sponge that is now the St Andrews pitch.
On an all too rare fbm awayday, the result rounded off a decent visit to England's second city. Travelling up in the afternoon with 2 mates, we parked in the car park pretty much next to the away entrance and then set off in the direction of a decent balti house.
Smiling natives cheerfully directed us down the Coventry Road, which was more Arab than Indian with not a curry house in sight. Well, not one I'd want to eat in. It was all Halal and fried chicken stuff and the area resembled Leyton on a bad day. We did walk past an award winning pub, the George and Dragon however. I think the award must have been for the "Worst Pub in the World". It was absolutely chronic. Following on from walking past another pub where there appeared to be some shady drug deal going on, we elected to grab a cab to the Balti triangle and the driver dropped us at Nawat, a superb and clean curry house where we enjoyed the local fare. The chilli nan bread was particularly violent and the Tropical Balti I enjoyed was Madras strength - but that is much hotter than a Madras down here. "Ring of Fire" became appropriate in more ways than one during the evening.
Onto the game then, and into the superb St Andrews stadium. If Fossets is anything like this I'll be well happy. The Southend fans were in good voice from the off and after we'd met up with another 3 mates in the ground we settled down to enjoy the match.
Blues started promisingly but in Birminghams first attack after 4 minutes they won a corner, which Upson promptly forced Flahavan to make the first of 3 fine saves during the match. The defenders powerful goalbound header was clawed away at full stretch by the Shrimpers custodian.
With the home side rampant and Southend seemingly powerless to stop them, a goal seemed inevitable. However, it took a misunderstanding between Clarke and Flahavan to gift the midlanders the opener after 8 minutes. A nothing ball was played into the box, Flahavan came for it at the same time that Clarke elected to head it back to him. The resultant scramble failed to keep the ball out and it has been credited as an own goal.
Birmingham turned on the style and it seemed to be a case of how many? A free kick 25 yards out was curled against the post and the follow up went narrowly wide, and Flahavan had to be at his best again to keep out another effort which deflected off a defender.
At this point, all Southend had to show for their efforts was a Freddy free kick that ended up in the upper tier of the stand behind the goal. However, on 21 minutes the game changed completely. The excellent Campbell-Ryce chased a lost cause and forced Taylor to clear hurriedly. This hit one of his own defenders and JCR chased the rebound, beating Taylor to it and laying it back for Maher to strike home from 10 yards.
Almost immediately both sets of player's body language changed and the home crowd lost their voice. Birmingham became ordinary, the sponge pitch making it difficult to play fluent football, and Blues gave as good as they got. The half time whistle was greeted by a chorus of boos towards the home side, and this also gave the visitors a lift.
After another up tempo start to the second half, Freddy made it 2-1 three minutes in. A sweeping move saw McCormack cushion a header back to Eastwood, who switched feet and hit a low drive into the corner.
Birmingham seemed clueless at this point although there were prolonged periods of possession and Flahavan again made a full length save - his best of the night - from a misplaced header by Clarke that seemed destined for the bottom corner. But the longer the game went on the more restless the crowd got and the more desperate and ineffective the home side became. Although Birmingham had probably more possession and a 12-3 corner count advantage, it was Southend who had the better chances. Freddy hit a shot a whisker wide and also forced a good save out of Taylor, while JCR made a fantastic run, beating the full back and putting over a pinpoint cross for Bradbury. His leap and powerful downward header would have gone in on a proper pitch, but the St Andrews sponge absorbed the impact as the ball hit the ground and stayed there, allowing Taylor to make the save.
In the end there was an almost inevitable third goal to kill the game off. With 5 minutes of normal time remaining, a short corner routine saw Freddy lay the ball back to Gower who amazingly had no Birmingham player near him. He had plenty of time to line his shot up and duly fired into the top corner from 20 yards.
Cue delerious scenes from the travelling faithful (about 500 I guess) who celebrated Blues first ever win at St Andrews. "Ring of Fire" rang out relentlessly from the visiting terrace as what was left of the home support were stunned into silence.
This is what we football fans live for. A win totally against all odds and the chance to say "I was there" to revel in the atmosphere of a superb night. Amazing.
We're now off the bottom and several clubs are coming into the mix. We are hitting form at the right time and it is difficult to put your finger on exactly why our fortunes have changed so dramatically. One factor is the arrival of Alan McCormack, who has added a tenacity in the midfield that was previously missing. His early departure tonight I believe to be because of an injury if I'm correct I hope he's not out too long. Another factor would be the form of JCR who tonight was awesome. He chased every ball, made some great runs and is now showing the potential that everyone thought that he possessed.
But whatever it is, long may it continue. We have taken half a season to get going but with teams like Norwich, Palace, Luton and QPR dropping like stones we now have a very real chance of clawing our way up the table. With 8 home games left we can almost guarantee safety if we win them all - which sounds a tall order - but they are almost all against the lower teams. They are most certainly all winnable and after tonight the lads must be in the mood to fear no-one. Onto Stoke and another stern test of the teams resolve.
Bring it on!
Ratings -
Flahavan - 8.5 - Another wonder display although I doubt whether he actually called for the ball which led to their goal. He certainly should have done.
Hunt - 7 - Solid tonight and defended doggedly
Hammell - 7 - Always a useful outlet wide on the left and again defended with determination
Barrett - 8.5 - Strong and defended with his life.
Clarke - 8 - Unfortunately scored an own goal and nearly scored another but made upf or those errors with an otherwise masterful display both in the air and on the deck
Gower - 6.5 - The only player not really at the races today but he did come good with a wonder strike with 5 minutes left
McCormack - 8 - A superb performance and if it was injury that forced him off I hope it's not serious
Maher - 8 - Worked well alongside McCormack and although he gave the ball away cheaply at times that could have been down to the pitch
JCR - 9 - MOM - What a perfomance. He attacked and defended with determination and pace. Got better and better.
Eastwood - 7 - Scored a fine goal from open play and worked hard up front
Bradbury - 7 - Battled away well against a strong back line and on another day would have scored
Subs -
Francis - 6 - Slotted in well at right back, allowing Hunt to move into midfield to replace McCormack
Harrold - 6 - A late substitution for Bradbury but hardly touched the ball
The ref - Mr Crossley - 7 - Very fair I thought. No doubt the home fans will moan as he waved away appeals for at least 3 penalties, only one of which had any merit in my view
Southend pulled off one of the results of the season by deservedly claiming all three points on the sponge that is now the St Andrews pitch.
On an all too rare fbm awayday, the result rounded off a decent visit to England's second city. Travelling up in the afternoon with 2 mates, we parked in the car park pretty much next to the away entrance and then set off in the direction of a decent balti house.
Smiling natives cheerfully directed us down the Coventry Road, which was more Arab than Indian with not a curry house in sight. Well, not one I'd want to eat in. It was all Halal and fried chicken stuff and the area resembled Leyton on a bad day. We did walk past an award winning pub, the George and Dragon however. I think the award must have been for the "Worst Pub in the World". It was absolutely chronic. Following on from walking past another pub where there appeared to be some shady drug deal going on, we elected to grab a cab to the Balti triangle and the driver dropped us at Nawat, a superb and clean curry house where we enjoyed the local fare. The chilli nan bread was particularly violent and the Tropical Balti I enjoyed was Madras strength - but that is much hotter than a Madras down here. "Ring of Fire" became appropriate in more ways than one during the evening.
Onto the game then, and into the superb St Andrews stadium. If Fossets is anything like this I'll be well happy. The Southend fans were in good voice from the off and after we'd met up with another 3 mates in the ground we settled down to enjoy the match.
Blues started promisingly but in Birminghams first attack after 4 minutes they won a corner, which Upson promptly forced Flahavan to make the first of 3 fine saves during the match. The defenders powerful goalbound header was clawed away at full stretch by the Shrimpers custodian.
With the home side rampant and Southend seemingly powerless to stop them, a goal seemed inevitable. However, it took a misunderstanding between Clarke and Flahavan to gift the midlanders the opener after 8 minutes. A nothing ball was played into the box, Flahavan came for it at the same time that Clarke elected to head it back to him. The resultant scramble failed to keep the ball out and it has been credited as an own goal.
Birmingham turned on the style and it seemed to be a case of how many? A free kick 25 yards out was curled against the post and the follow up went narrowly wide, and Flahavan had to be at his best again to keep out another effort which deflected off a defender.
At this point, all Southend had to show for their efforts was a Freddy free kick that ended up in the upper tier of the stand behind the goal. However, on 21 minutes the game changed completely. The excellent Campbell-Ryce chased a lost cause and forced Taylor to clear hurriedly. This hit one of his own defenders and JCR chased the rebound, beating Taylor to it and laying it back for Maher to strike home from 10 yards.
Almost immediately both sets of player's body language changed and the home crowd lost their voice. Birmingham became ordinary, the sponge pitch making it difficult to play fluent football, and Blues gave as good as they got. The half time whistle was greeted by a chorus of boos towards the home side, and this also gave the visitors a lift.
After another up tempo start to the second half, Freddy made it 2-1 three minutes in. A sweeping move saw McCormack cushion a header back to Eastwood, who switched feet and hit a low drive into the corner.
Birmingham seemed clueless at this point although there were prolonged periods of possession and Flahavan again made a full length save - his best of the night - from a misplaced header by Clarke that seemed destined for the bottom corner. But the longer the game went on the more restless the crowd got and the more desperate and ineffective the home side became. Although Birmingham had probably more possession and a 12-3 corner count advantage, it was Southend who had the better chances. Freddy hit a shot a whisker wide and also forced a good save out of Taylor, while JCR made a fantastic run, beating the full back and putting over a pinpoint cross for Bradbury. His leap and powerful downward header would have gone in on a proper pitch, but the St Andrews sponge absorbed the impact as the ball hit the ground and stayed there, allowing Taylor to make the save.
In the end there was an almost inevitable third goal to kill the game off. With 5 minutes of normal time remaining, a short corner routine saw Freddy lay the ball back to Gower who amazingly had no Birmingham player near him. He had plenty of time to line his shot up and duly fired into the top corner from 20 yards.
Cue delerious scenes from the travelling faithful (about 500 I guess) who celebrated Blues first ever win at St Andrews. "Ring of Fire" rang out relentlessly from the visiting terrace as what was left of the home support were stunned into silence.
This is what we football fans live for. A win totally against all odds and the chance to say "I was there" to revel in the atmosphere of a superb night. Amazing.
We're now off the bottom and several clubs are coming into the mix. We are hitting form at the right time and it is difficult to put your finger on exactly why our fortunes have changed so dramatically. One factor is the arrival of Alan McCormack, who has added a tenacity in the midfield that was previously missing. His early departure tonight I believe to be because of an injury if I'm correct I hope he's not out too long. Another factor would be the form of JCR who tonight was awesome. He chased every ball, made some great runs and is now showing the potential that everyone thought that he possessed.
But whatever it is, long may it continue. We have taken half a season to get going but with teams like Norwich, Palace, Luton and QPR dropping like stones we now have a very real chance of clawing our way up the table. With 8 home games left we can almost guarantee safety if we win them all - which sounds a tall order - but they are almost all against the lower teams. They are most certainly all winnable and after tonight the lads must be in the mood to fear no-one. Onto Stoke and another stern test of the teams resolve.
Bring it on!
Ratings -
Flahavan - 8.5 - Another wonder display although I doubt whether he actually called for the ball which led to their goal. He certainly should have done.
Hunt - 7 - Solid tonight and defended doggedly
Hammell - 7 - Always a useful outlet wide on the left and again defended with determination
Barrett - 8.5 - Strong and defended with his life.
Clarke - 8 - Unfortunately scored an own goal and nearly scored another but made upf or those errors with an otherwise masterful display both in the air and on the deck
Gower - 6.5 - The only player not really at the races today but he did come good with a wonder strike with 5 minutes left
McCormack - 8 - A superb performance and if it was injury that forced him off I hope it's not serious
Maher - 8 - Worked well alongside McCormack and although he gave the ball away cheaply at times that could have been down to the pitch
JCR - 9 - MOM - What a perfomance. He attacked and defended with determination and pace. Got better and better.
Eastwood - 7 - Scored a fine goal from open play and worked hard up front
Bradbury - 7 - Battled away well against a strong back line and on another day would have scored
Subs -
Francis - 6 - Slotted in well at right back, allowing Hunt to move into midfield to replace McCormack
Harrold - 6 - A late substitution for Bradbury but hardly touched the ball
The ref - Mr Crossley - 7 - Very fair I thought. No doubt the home fans will moan as he waved away appeals for at least 3 penalties, only one of which had any merit in my view
