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| Birmingham 2 Wolves 2 09/03/2002 |
| Match Report | |||||||||||||||||
| Report by Fat Stat Birmingham lost at home to Man City in mid week, so would this match be an indication of which side is better? With Keegan suddenly changing tack to say that Man City are favourites and the best in the League, it's pretty obvious that the Keegster will try to draw comparisons in his own inept way. But this was a local derby, and the Birmingham we saw today was not the same one which met Man City 5 days earlier. From the Kick off you could see that Birmingham were up for this match. A long ball into our half saw a Camara back header fall too close for comfort for one of their attackers, but Oakes was able to punt clear, albeit at the expense of a corner. It was very windy and the conditions were helping their frantic way of playing. They were closing us down very quickly and our long balls forward were only finding players in off-side positions. Birmingham seemed really fire up and all the chances were falling their way. A ball from the left wing, went right across the edge of our box, eluding everyone until it found one of their players on the right wing on the edge of the box. His shot was well saved by Oakes. They seemed to have a man over on the right wing (where was Kennedy) and a right wing cross in saw a header just loop over the bar. Lescott was making some very important tackles, and Horsfield was trying to get a foul by continually falling over. Conversely Kennedy kept getting chopped - but, much to his annoyance the Ref refused to give a foul. More about the Ref later. Good work on the right wing between Kennedy, Blake and Camara nearly saw Camara through, but a desperate last minute tackle by a Blues defender gave us a corner. Rae nearly connected with the corner, but it was a fraction too high. Cameron then won a free kick on the left wing, Kennedy took the free kick and floated in a perfect delivery to the far post where Butler headed by across the goal and into the net. Against the run of play but a perfect ball by Kennedy and Butler's first goal for Wolves. Lescott then gave away a foul but Camara got booked, this was for apparently kicking away the ball but the ref hadn't even blown his whistle when Camara kicked it away. The Ref - who was obviously a biased nutter - marched the ball 10 yards forward, but luckily the free kick went straight into the wall and the move ended up with a header well over the bar. Rae was then booked for having a go at one of their players who had performed a late tackle on Cameron. The game was threatening to boil over and the nuttier was doing nothing to help. Wolves then, at least for the moment, let the football do the talking. A short corner was laid back to Kennedy whose in swinging cross fell perfectly onto Lescott's head and into the net. We now seem to be cruising after a poor start and the crowd started singing "We never win 1-0" but was this to soon? Birmingham still seemed to be fired up and the ref was still inept. At one point Lescott got pushed off the ball and elbowed in the eye but they got the corner. Then came two mistakes by two players who for different reasons will probably not be in our first team next season. A short header by Muscat, gave Lescott no chance to get the ball and so Stern John was able to get a shot in at goal. Oakes seemed to have it covered but somehow it slipped through his hands and into the net. This was the turning point of the game and really let Birmingham back into it. After this they seemed to attack with more self belief. Muscat partially made up for his earlier mistake by executing a perfect tackle in the box when John seemed likely to score. Then a Birmingham free kick caused panic in the Wolves box and the ball eventually fell to Mooney whose looping shot was headed off the line by Lescott. The ref then again demonstrated whose side he was on. Camara won the ball fairly in a tackle and tried to break clear but a Birmingham player kicked him on the top of his thigh. No decision given by the ref. Then came the moment we had been dreading but probably expecting. A looping ball from the left wing was caught on the full by Devlin who volleyed the ball into the back of the net. A good goal on the strike of half time to send us in all square. Half time: 2-2 After the restart, the play was untidy. Kennedy and Cameron left the ball for each other and then Newton left the ball, thinking he was off-side, when clean through. The game was getting more and more frantic and luckily John passed the ball to Cameron when Birmingham were on the counter-attack with men over. The award of a free kick against Butler for climbing saw him confront the Linesman nose to nose and he was lucky to escape with only a yellow card. Blake got one as well for arguing. The subsequent free kick was sent well over the bar. Lescott then, uncharacteristically, made a poor back header which almost gave John a chance. On another occasion, John had a free header but Oakes saved well. Birmingham weren't getting it all their own way and good play by Blake sent Newton on a skillful run and he played the ball off to Sturridge, who was fouled on the edge of the box. A free kick was won by Rae and taken by Kennedy. It fell to Andrews (who was on for Cameron) whose shot was deflected just wide. The rubbish tip that is St Andrews then started falling apart with bits of the corrugated roof being blown about in the wind. Although it looked quite dangerous, after consultations the ref decided to carry on. The Brummies then showed what they know about fair play by trying to turn a bounce up to their own advantage, luckily it came to nothing. The final meaningful play saw confusion in our box. John managed to get a shot in whilst lying on the floor but fortunately it went just wide of the goal with Oakes well beaten. This takes us a small step closer to the Premiership. It also demonstrates one of the reasons why we've been kept in the division of death for so long. This was a typical local derby where strength and passion were more important then the football. Disappointed in the performance? Yes. Disappointed in the result? Yes. Thought we should have won when we were 2 - 0 up? Yes. Happy to get a draw in the end? Yes. Top of the league? Yes.
Attendance: 22,104
Goals: Wolves: Butler (20 mins); Lescott (29 mins) Birmingham: John (36 mins) Devlin (45 mins) Best Player : Rae (4 votes) Lescott (1 vote) Notes: Butler's first goal for Wolves.
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| Average player ratings are taken from a number of newspapers, magazines and web-sites ...more.... |
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