"we are top of the league" was the cry that rang out loud and proud at the end
of a hard fought battle - that and the true but harsh "2 1 and its your keepers
fault".
Make no mistake , in many ways we were lucky to win this one, not least for the
manner and timing of the winning goal.
Norwich were without doubt the best team to visit ER this season, they were
quick, eager and sharp, they passed the ball well and harried us when we had
possession forcing us into errors. Apart from the last 10 -15mins they were the
better side for long periods and caused us lots of problems Half way through
the second half me and mate decided that we would settle for 1 1 as it was at
the time so concerned were we by Norwich.
Having said all that they did not create many chances, and second half the only
real scare was caused by a typical Casper flap at the ball followed up by a
typical Casper block. Other than that they huffed and puffed with not a lot of
end product. Even in the first half when they were vastly superior - one or
maybe 2 of their best chances occurred whilst Naylor was off the pitch having
his eye stitched after a self inflicted injury that also saw him booked. During
the time he was off Higgs was forced into 2 good saves - the first he really
should have caught ok but let the ball bounce off his body and spin goalwards
where an acrobatic leap and twist let him palm it clear. Then he saved a point
blank effort from an unmarked player 6 yrds out. The goal was down to rank bad
defending Hughes gave away an unnecessary free kick and we allowed 3 of them to
stand near the touchline with only Hughes for company and so when the ball came
back to them they were
able to get a good cross in and Johnson was beaten by the forward (thought
Casper should maybe have come off his line and collected it - but would need to
see again)
Our goal - against the run of play - was from a corner which we won when BJ
played a lovely crossfield ball to Beckford who was tackled by the defender who
put the ball out. A good corner from Snoddy went to the back post where BJ got
above the full back - something that he does really well and headed home.
As I said we were overrun for much of the game, especially first half, where
out midfield two were totally ineffectual. A rather large foul mouthed lad
behind me launched into a four letter tirade against Doyle in the second half
(I am sure his mother would be so proud it she could hear him !) the gist of
which was that Doyle was a defensive holding midfielder who cannot tackle or
hold or pass the ball. A bit harsh but mainly true on last nights showing and
Howson for the most part was not much better, This put the defence under real
pressure and as we all know Hughes and Crowe both struggle defensively
against good opposition. Thankfully Naylor and Bromby (he is a centre half not
a right back) coped pretty well.
The last 15 mins was a totally different game. They looked tired and
the introduction of Kandol and then Gradel really lifted us.
Vokes had an OK game, he won a few headers and held the ball well given very
limited service, he did not link up at all well with Beckford but time could
and should change that. His two shots were pretty woeful. He is here till
January at least and it is to soon to judge.
Kandol on the other hand linked up well with Beckford - it was the start of the
-15 season all over again - as if the last 18 months had never happened. He was
a real threat and handful and was made all the more dangerous and effective by
the introduction of Gredal.
He is the little black lad with the ginger streak \ line running straight down
his head who was at Leicester. He was a real live wire - think Seb Carole at
his best or even a poor mans Rod Wallace. Twice Kandol flicked on to Gradel who
fed Becks. The first time the keeper saved well (he also saved a good free kick
from Snoddy earlier), the second just on 90 mins was a lovely ball across goal
that Beckford could only poke wide - it was just an inch or 2 ahead of where he
wanted and we thought our chance of victory had gone. However the keeper took
the dead ball and hit it straight to the alert Beckford who ran forward with it
and put it into the net as he was being tackled - cue pandemonium on the
terraces. I had called the keepers kicking early and had urged Leeds players to
charge him down so I was almost right (this mistake had nothing to do with
Leeds players)
So 3 more points and an 11 point gap over this good Norwich team.
A perhaps undeserved win but Beckford could have had 3, Johnson also headed
over, Doyle had a woeful shot when he should have hit the target and Grandel
had a shot pushed round the post in addition to the chances \ shots already
mentioned so on actual shots \ chances we were more prolific.
So well done to Grayson for a good use of subs and the team as a whole for
sticking with it
Couple of bad points- the ironic cheers when Casper catches it (I was guilty of
doing it myself on one occasion !) - it cannot help his fragile confidence and
with Higgs going off again we may need him
Second the crowd of only 19,000 the announcement of which brought derision from
the away fans and chants of "if you're watching on the tele you're a c*nt" -
harsh but a bit true given that we had 38k to watch Liverpool reserves also
midweek and also on TV !!
19,000 is poor for a team that is top of the league and the only unbeaten team
in the country and it was only a Cat B game
Anyway - moan over - last night was great in the end and now we have 2 big away
games where good results could really leave us sitting pretty and the signing
of 2 hopefully decent players and the re-birth of Kandol are all positives
Dave
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