I’m not sure if any nerves were being experienced in the City dressing room following what felt like a comprehensive defeat by Lincoln (even if the scoreline didn’t really suggest that) in the game billed as a title decider between the top two and a draw at Barnsley where we started like a Rolls Royce, but then resembled a Reliant Robin for long stretches of the last hour and more.
However, things were certainly getting twitchy among some of the club’s support and I doubt if any of the worriers were calmed as, in complete contrast to Oakwell on Tuesday, their team stumbled through the first ten minutes of their game at Exeter today.
On what could be called the first spring like afternoon of the season, what appeared to be a lively pitch threatened to test our player’s techniques and the early signs were that they’d flunk the examination as possession was lost and passes went astray. Meanwhile, the home team, without a win in their last ten games, were testing City’s resolve with a series of long throw ins that were repulsed without too many alarms with former City goalkeeper Josh Magennis one of the targets being aimed for.
City had purred through the opening stages in their last game to the extent that their goal felt overdue when it arrived in the tenth minute – here though, it felt like they were going to waste the opportunity given them by Bolton in one of the lunchtime kick offs.
Lincoln, of course, had won in one of the other 12.30 kick offs to stretch their lead at the top to seven points, but, at least the side they beat 3-1 was Stockport and so, even if we were to lose today, the gap of seventeen points between the teams looked too big for the other Hatters to make up so late in the season.
Bolton had trailed 2-0 at half time for a second successive Saturday and, once again, staged a second half recovery, but I would have thought that their point from a 2-2 draw would have felt like two dropped against a Rotherham team that were absolutely woeful in both of their matches against us.
So, City were eight points clear of third place as they kicked off knowing that it could be reduced to six if Bradford were to win at Wigan (whose performance in losing 1-0 at Cardiff City Stadium remains the worst I’ve see from an opposing team this season).
There were three changes from Barnsley with Gabriel Osho, Joel Bagan and Cian Ashford replacing Calum Chambers, Calum Scanlon and Chris Willock, but no change to the formation which sees us playing with a false number nine as Omari Kellyman was again supported by Rubin Colwill.
The latter failed to make a clean contact with Ollie Tanner’s inviting low cross to offer hope that there may be something in the game for us despite our uncertain start.
Strangely enough, an incident which would only have added to the sinking feeling of the last week proved to be a turning point because, after it, we began to play as impressively as we had done for those opening minutes at Barnsley. The difference was that, this time, we were able to maintain our form for eighty minutes as we recorded our fourth 4-0 win of the season to go with those two 4-3s and a 4-1!
Perry Ng headed an Alex Robertson corner on to the crossbar from close range and Kellyman’s follow up header was blocked on the line by a defender to increase the feeling of frustration following our last two games. However, it seemed like the players took heart from the incident as their poise returned and their simple, but effective, passing of the ball forward, which always looks so easy when they’re playing well, returned.
Tanner, Ng and Kellyman had efforts which added to the feeling that we had taken control and their captain then provided the goals that ensured that their control would be reflected in the scoreline in the 31st and 34th minutes.
Tanner added to his growing number of assists when he played a simple pass to Colwill who took a couple of touches before blasting a right foot shot reminiscent of the one he scored against the wurzels in 23/24 across Joe Whitworth from twelve yards.
Three minutes later, Osho, very assured here, picked out Ashford with a measured pass inside the full back and the young winger, who had a very good return to the first team, burst clear of his marker to deliver a precise left footed cross from the bye line which Rubin nodded in from point blank range for exactly the sort of six yard box goal that I had said we were struggling to score in Yousef Salech’s absence!.
Exeter had very little to offer in an attacking sense as City continued to pick them apart with a surgeon’s precision so that the only slight criticism which could be levelled at them at half time was that the aforesaid precision did not extend to their shooting. Seventeen goal attempts was probably as many as they’ve managed in a half all season, but only three of them were on target.
At times the second half resembled a training game played at a slow pace. I’ve heard it said that 2-0 is a dangerous lead to have and I’m baffled every time I come across it. I suppose they mean that one goal for your opponent and it becomes a completely different type of game? That makes some sense, but, in this instance, even with the doubts which have crept in this week, I was sure the points were already ours, such was the extent of our control.
That said, there wasn’t much sign in the game’s third quarter that we were going to add to our lead – in fact, it looked like we were going to play out the game fairly quietly, satisfied that 2-0 would be good enough.
Robertson then put such thoughts to bed with the latest Cardiff City goal of the season candidate in what is now a very congested field. The midfielder brought a bout of controlled and patient passing to an end by finding Ryan Wintle and when the player who was my City man of the match (Wintle’s chasing back to cover for sub Callum Scanlon in the dying minutes when we were 3-0 up was the thing that finally persuaded me in my decision), backheeled the ball into his path, the Australian struck a shot from twenty yards which started out wide of the upright, but curled back so much that it flew high up into the net leaving Whitworth with no chance.
This brought the City attack to life and, although they had fewer goal attempts after the break (thirteen), seven of them were on target as Whitworth was given an opportunity to re-confirm the positive impression he made in the Boxing Day game between the clubs.
Whitworth had no chance though in the eighty sixth minute when Callum Robinson, one of five subs used by BBM, scored from close range when another sub, Chris Willock’s shot was diverted into his path by Joel Colwill who had earlier replaced his brother. The doubt I had about this goal was to do with Robinson maybe being offside, but it seems not and so Exeter had suffered the second defeat by a four goal margins in their last four home games.
Exeter had confirmation that it just wasn’t their day when sub Sonny Cox volleyed against the same crossbar Ng had hit earlier, but it would have been no more than a consolation as City, understandably, began to get a little careless in the dying minutes.
It turned into a better day for City with Bradford’s wobbly away form continuing with a 2-0 loss at Wigan and Huddersfield involved in a goalless draw with bottom club, while Stevenage’s win over Wimbledon puts them in sixth place as Stockport drop out of the Play Off positions – Wycombe, due here on Tuesday, also suffered a blow to their promotion hopes as they went down 2-1 at home to Luton.
Two similar games for our age group sides this weekend, the under 21s drew 1-1 at Swansea last night with Jake Davies scoring our equaliser and it was Paul Moreno who brought the under 18s level today at Leckwith in another 1-1, this time against top of the league Charlton as they stay on course for a place in the end of season Play Offs. A quick word too for the Women’s team who, after consecutive defeats by Wrexham on the previous two weekends, beat the same opponents 2-1 in a Welsh Cup Semi Final last Sunday – they now play Swansea in the Final.
Treherbert Boys and Girls Club’s relegation from the Ardal South West League looks inevitable after a 6-1 loss at Goytre. Ton Pentre were 4-3 home winners over Vale United in the Highadmit Championship, while Treorchy Boys and Girls Club lost 2-1 at Cwmbach Royal Stars in Division One West.
I made it to Exeter from Cornwall thanks partly due to a daughter and granddaughter wanting to shop! This was my first live league match since covid and it was well worth it. Only two things to add to Paul’s account. First, while I thought City were good after the first 10 minutes, I thought Exeter were very poor indeed – a view supported by the Exeter fans surrounding me who said that they had been much better against Lincoln in midweek. So how much of our dominance was down to their inability to compete? I honestly don’t know but it certainly made for a fairly easy time of it in the second half. Secondly I can add to the doubt about our final goal result in from an offside. I was seated in the stand on the other side of the field almost immediately opposite where Chris Willock received the ball in the lead up. While he looked offside to the fans around me and actually myself too what was definite was that the assistant referee below us was yards behind the play for some reason. The shouts of the Exeter fans around me were drowned out by the noise of our brilliant fans behind the goal. I didn’t have a level view of whether Robison was offside. The general view of the Exeter fans was that we were a different class so upwards and onwards with two home games next.
Hats off to you Paul for yet another very readable report, and to Mike Herbert for crossing the Tamar to support the lads.
I was expecting a tougher test, for as Mike says, this Exeter team limited The Imps to a single goal victory last Tuesday, whereas Lincoln doubled that margin against us just three days before they travelled to Exeter. And thus maybe Exeter’s noble 0-1 defeat midweek took too much out of them. Who knows?
Regarding the 4th goal: I was less struck by whether it was offside, as by the club’s PA announcer choosing the very moment Robinson administered the coup de grace*, to inform everyone of the match sponsor’s (Exeter) man of the match…!! Talk about bad timing…?
‘Good timing’ was the Sky Sports lunchtime screening from Sincil Bank. It was a good physical encounter, and Stockport’s Brad Hills, their official winner of the ‘player of the month’ award for January, was outmuscled for Lincoln’s third by Alfie Lloyd who fastened on to a colossal punt from their goalie, thus giving George Wickens the ‘assist’ in his goal**.
Incidentally it was never a 3-1… when County equalised in the second half , I genuinely thought they might go on to win it
*and the next time I hear some TV co-comms declare it as a KOO-DE-GRAH… I will cut my ear off Van Gogh style. It is Koo-de-GRASS, you eejits. Alas it is an import from America… folk there have trouble with French pronunciation. Listen to them attempt to say ‘entrepreneur’… that invariably gets mangled into ‘on-TRAY-PREN-EWER’…!! Ouch.
And it was pure serendipity that I mentioned Vincent there, one of the greatest ever of the Netherlands’ artistic sons. We all know what Americans do to his surname…’Van GO’ indeed…
** I hope Liam Rosenior gets to see the beauty in that goal. He got the sack from Hull because of his Pepitis… and the hard nosed Americans running Chelsea won’t stand for too many kamikaze goals methinks.
Btw, I noted a curious remark from the Sky commentator. I was so struck by it that I wrote it down verbatim on a scrap of paper, just in case I later might doubt my memory.
Here it is…
‘Lincoln have the lowest average possession stat in the division’. Eh? That cannot be right… surely it can’t?
Will the statisticians amongst my MAYA brethren please put me (and more importantly him) ‘right’, as to where The Imps stand in that ‘possession’ league?
I realise we must be first… but Lincoln cannot be last… well, they can’t CAN they?
DW
Thank-you again Paul for your report on the Exeter C (a) game. If a team going for promotion towards the end of the season could script a game-plan beforehand you could not have wished for a better scenario or delivery of it than yesterday’s encounter. Truth be told there were few hairy moments for the City rearguard (Shots on Target / City first: 10-1) whilst the home team were a well beaten side at the close.
The issue of statistics thrown up by football today, and discussed following the last game, can cloud the issue but I note two further salient statistics from yesterday’s match (City stat first) viz Touches in the Opposition Box (52-11) and Shots from Inside the Box (21-4) are pretty clearcut evidence of the visitor’s superiority. Surely, no-one can dispute those.
When played as a #10, and with Tanner outside him on the right, Colwill (R) is quite a handful. So it was at Exeter. The older Colwill, Ng and Tanner caused many problems for the home team’s defence during the first half. Had Tanner’s final ball been better on times, we would have had more than our two goals by 35 minutes.
One of Tanner’s excellent passes, a beautiful reverse pass to Colwill, whose thunderous shot opened the scoring whilst the same player easily got his second heading in Ashford’s cross. Robertson’s goal, City’s third, dipped almost as much it curled. It was a thing of beauty.
I’ll seek to answer the offside query about City’s fourth goal, scored by Robinson. Having freeze framed the pass to Willock at least two Exeter defenders were playing him onside. Secondly, when Willock’s through-ball was diverted by Colwill (J) one defender was in front of Robbo.
I must say that I am so pleased for Robbo. Having started so few matches this season (6), he would have an excuse to be moping around and a negative influence. He has averaged less than 30 mins a game yet he always seems to be such an encouraging influence on the team. That he will probably end the season scoring more than 10 goals will be quite remarkable.
A special mention for Ryan Wintle who controlled the midfield with prodigious running and expert passing. Meanwhile Gabe Osho’s strength and pace was a valued asset in the City defence.
The referee, Mr Ben Speedie (Merseyside) also reffed our early season home game against Peterborough. That day he gave a poor penalty decision against City from which the visitor’s scored. Yesterday he was unobtrusive. He let the game flow whilst there were no controversial incidents.
Thank-you again Paul for your report on the Exeter C (a) game. If a team going for promotion towards the end of the season could script a game-plan beforehand you could not have wished for a better scenario or delivery of it than yesterday’s encounter. Truth be told there were few hairy moments for the City rearguard (Shots on Target / City first: 10-1) whilst the home team were a well beaten side at the close.
The issue of statistics thrown up by football today, and discussed following the last game, can cloud the issue but I note two further salient statistics from yesterday’s match (City stat first) viz Touches in the Opposition Box (52-11) and Shots from Inside the Box (21-4) are pretty clearcut evidence of the visitor’s superiority. Surely, no-one can dispute those.
When played as a #10, and with Tanner outside him on the right, Colwill (R) is quite a handful. So it was at Exeter. The older Colwill, Ng and Tanner caused many problems for the home team’s defence during the first half. Had Tanner’s final ball been better on times, we would have had more than our two goals by 35 minutes.
One of Tanner’s excellent passes, a beautiful reverse pass to Colwill, whose thunderous shot opened the scoring whilst the same player easily got his second heading in Ashford’s cross. Robertson’s goal, City’s third, dipped almost as much it curled. It was a thing of beauty.
I’ll seek to answer the offside query about City’s fourth goal, scored by Robinson. Having freeze framed the pass to Willock at least two Exeter defenders were playing him onside. Secondly, when Willock’s through-ball was diverted by Colwill (J) one defender was in front of Robbo.
I must say that I am so pleased for Robbo. Having started so few matches this season (6), he would have an excuse to be moping around and a negative influence. He has averaged less than 30 mins a game yet he always seems to be such an encouraging influence on the team. That he will probably end the season scoring more than 10 goals will be quite remarkable.
A special mention for Ryan Wintle who controlled the midfield with prodigious running and expert passing. Meanwhile Gabe Osho’s strength and pace was a valued asset in the City defence.
The referee, Mr Ben Speedie (Merseyside) also reffed our early season home game against Peterborough. That day he gave a poor penalty decision against City from which the visitor’s scored. Yesterday he was unobtrusive. He let the game flow whilst there were no controversial incidents.
PS: Yes Lincoln are 24th and bottom with 41% possession.
Thanks Steve for that PS.
I find that immensely pleasing… and I feel sure that Graham will too.
TTFN,
Dai.
Thanks for the replies all. Mike, I read the BBC report on the Exeter v Lincoln game and it sounded like it was a comfortable 1-0 for the league leaders – Exeter had a bit of a go at the end, but should have been further behind by that stage as Lincoln missed some good chances. Therefore, I’d like to suggest that the size of our victory had as much to do with how good we were, once we got going, as it did to Exeter’s failings – I hope they stay up as I was quite impressed with them at our place on Boxing Day, it’s just that Caldwell leaving for Wigan seems to have hit them really hard.
Steve mentions some stats and I came up with a couple more in my reaction piece which conveyed a clear impression that, if stats are your thing, this was maybe the most one sided game we’ve had this season. This is backed by my, much less scientific, “feel” for the game – I say that, despite it being a match where there were a few nerves around at the start, I had no issues as I was watching about it, say, all going wrong for us in the second half. Once we’d got over our slow start, it was a game we were always going to win as long as Exeter weren’t given the chance to hang in there at 0-0 for, say, an hour after which they could maybe take advantage of our less than brilliant defending from set pieces.
Were Exeter as bad as the stats suggest? They were pretty poor, but I don’t think they were – I thought they were better than Rotherham in both games against us and definitely better than the awful Wigan team that played down here, I’d put them on a par with Doncaster who I think will stay up because they have something about them and I feel that Exeter just need something to go their way and then they’ll be okay.
Didn’t realise it was the same ref as for the Peterborough game, I thought he was awful that day, bui maybe as it was the first day of the season, U wasn’t as used to League One refs as I am now! I thought he was pretty good on Saturday – certainly better than the clown who took charge of the Rotherham V Bolton game who the away commentators were fuming at during the half time interval!
I watched more of the Bolton game than I did Lincoln v Stockport, but I saw enough of the latter to agree with Dai that the score very much flattered the home side. The team with the worst possession figures in the division were much as expected really based on what I’ve seen of them this season – very hard to play against, but nothing truly eye catching of the type our individuals can come up with from time to time (e.g. the quality of so many of our goals this season which is so high that even a beauty like Robertson’s on Saturday may not make it into the top ten).
I go back to that odd and untypical feeling I got early in our recent game with Lincoln where I just knew they had the measure of us – if I watched on Saturday content that we would be fine, it was completely different that day. I think that by and large, City fans have given Lincoln full credit for their win down here, but I never thought they were going to thrash us – what they did was be very good at what they do and, in total contrast to us, they rose to the challenge on what was being billed as both sides biggest game of the season.
Lincoln were very good, but hardly memorable because they play in a way that almost wants the opposition to have the ball for two thirds of the game because they can feed off the anxiety engendered when all of that possession comes to nothing on the scoreboard.
Of course, I fully accept that all of this is a bit rich coming from someone who follows a side that, until this season, had favoured a Lincoln type approach (albeit with not the results they’re getting) through the 2020s, but what all of that, which I’ll ungenerously call Warnockball, has got me is into a position where I can say that I’ve had more than enough of it – let Lincoln have the title, they deserve it more than we do, I’ll be happy enough if we can just maintain our form long enough to ensure we go up automatically (I don’t rate our chances at all if we end up in the Play Offs from where we are now) because I’ve enjoyed this season more than any other in our recent history.
I’ll finish by repeating something I’m pretty sure I’ve said on here before. Not one boy or girl who gets into football to the extent that they spend a decent portion of the rest of their lives either playing it or following it avidly do so because they were enthralled by the thought of playing for a team that has, say, 40 per cent possession and gets results by being disciplined and organised. No, those kids want to be in possession of the ball expressing themselves and the 25/26 City side comes as close to playing with that child like sense of wonderment as any Cardiff side I’ve seen this century – in fact, bearing in mind that the best sides I saw in the twentieth century were managed by that old hard man Jimmy Scoular, I probably should be saying ever!
Thank-you Paul, for your final comments. I know what you mean when you say the game was a, “one-sided,” one. It really was a comfortable 90 mins for us. Being present at the game it was a pleasurable afternoon’s entertainment in the sun. Though it was fairly one-sided, it was made more so by the hosts only having one shot on target and another hitting the crossbar.
I guess, for me, the truly most one-sided match was the Wigan (h) game. That was a one in a million encounter. But I understand your feeling on Saturday’s game.
To try and capture the essence of Lincoln is perplexing. They waste so much time with the ball out of play (40%) and are prepared to get away with barely 41% possession of the other 60%. In old money I believe that means they get away with just 24.6% true possession during the 90 mins (ie 22.5 mins). And with that, their main attacking ploy are long throws, corners and free kicks. But even with Warnock we had Hoilett and Mendez-Laing on the wings that offered us another dimension from that which is open to Lincoln. I think that’s correct.
I’ve not seen them much, but Lincoln’s performance in winning here was the best I’ve seen from them this season Steve and they were more efficient than spectacular even then. It’s worth noting mind that, for all of the deserved praise we got for our display in losing 3-1 to Chelsea, Lincoln were only beaten 2-1 by them in the League Cup and that was only after the Imps had opened the scoring. We’re on course to better the number of goals Birmingham scored in amassing 111 points last season, yet Lincoln have only scored four less than us and they’re eleven clear of the next highest scorers, Barnsley. Therefore, they have the capability of scoring goals at a very healthy rate.
I agree with you that they are a hard team to define, but, to try and explain why I think they’re strong favourites now to finish first, I’d point to our recent game at Barnsley. If Lincoln had started a game as strongly as we did that night and went 1-0 up after ten minutes, I’m pretty sure they’d would have gone on to win, not ending up a little lucky (in terms of the chances the in form McGoldrick missed) to have got a point like we were – in truth, Lincoln probably wouldn’t have started as imperiously as we did because I don’t think anyone can match us when we play like we did on Saturday and for a short while a week ago, but they would have won at Oakwell doing what they do, whereas we showed a few signs of weakness and paid for them.
Dear gents…
A few random questions from me…
1. Which was the better goal… Robertson’s last Saturday, or Kellyman’s 2nd at Plymouth?
2. When did the habit START of the three officials lining up in the middle of the pitch at the end of the game to receive handshakes from the players and managers? Does it happen in all leagues in the English pyramid? Does it happen all over the world? Was it originally a FIFA diktat?
3. Do two male officials avoid gazing at the female official when she goes in the shower in the usually small referees dressing rooms? I have been on an overnight sleeper train in Russia where it is mixed use of the 4 bed couchettes, and you could be in with three strangers. There it is customary for males to get out into the corridor to allow the lady (assuming she is not your wife with your two kids of course) to undress and get into her bed.
Curiously I cannot recall if there was say an occasion where there were three unrelated women and one unrelated man, if the women go out into the corridor,,,!! (STRIKE that last sentence: they clearly do not.)
4. Reading that some of the apartments at the old Highbury Stadium are owned by former star players, got me looking at Google Maps and Ninian Park. And I see the ‘site of the old centre circle’ is clearly shown. Fascinating eh, to live just 15 yards from it, and muse every morning when you wake up and look out at it, on just how many Greats had kicked off from that spot. But the question here is… are there any City heroes from yesteryear who have bought a property there? Did Robbie Fowler add to his 80+ properties?
DW
I think Robertson’s was the better goal Dai. While I feel it was a marginally better finish than Kellyman’s. what clinches it for me is the build up to the Robertson goal, in. particular the perfectly weighted back flick by Wintle for the assist.