Another Very Pragmatic But Very Welcome Win

Another game, another shift in pre-match expectations. No disrespect intended, but I think most of us looked on this game as an opportunity, despite playing away, to get back on the winning track after a loss and a draw, perhaps even the sort of game we need to win if we are to challenge at the top. Victory and we’ve started with four wins out of six, anything else and the focus is three without a win. Of course it’s too early to be thinking this way, but there’s no stopping it.

We did get the win, very welcome it was too. As a game it was like the others. We were tough, competitive, strong, disciplined at the back, and struggled to make anything happen with the ball. Like all before it bar Bolton it was one where we failed to trouble the scorer in the first half (although we did start the game brightly and might have gone ahead) and ended up with one to our name. Like all bar Reading and Rotherham that proved to be enough as we marked up another clean sheet. Pretty is wasn’t, effective it certainly was.

The team showed one change to the starting line-up from Rotherham, with Campbell(T) and Godden changing places again. Perhaps a curious decision, given it put a stop to the chance to develop an Ahadme-Godden partnership, but perhaps Jones was thinking in terms of playing away and the strengths and weaknesses of the opposition. Otherwise it was as you were, to nobody’s surprise. With Kanu available again he was named among the subs, with a switch back to three forwards (him, Aneke and Godden) for some reason. With Potts and Watson retained Edmonds-Green dropped out and Campbell(A) remained the only midfield replacement option. Would have thought going with two forwards and adding Anderson would have made sense, but there you go. That said, it seemed to me at the end of the Rotherham game that Aneke was struggling and he wasn’t introduced yesterday, so perhaps he was not fully fit.

Again, we started brightly and it was all us in the first 10 minutes. Berry was almost in but chose not to shoot, it ended up with Small who did, well over the bar. Berry also poked the ball over the line from a corner but was obviously offside. And having conceded goals from super shots from distance in the previous two games we almost had one of our own as a cross into the box was headed out for Coventry to meet. He hit it sweetly from a difficult position but it flashed just wide.

The game then seemed to shift as Shrewsbury came more into it – and they may well have taken the lead against the run of play. A free kick sent into our box found a guy surprisingly in the clear but he put it wide. As we were pushed back they enjoyed most of the play in the remainder of the half, but we generally kept them at bay. They had a scramble at the far post which saw a close-range shot diverted wide, plus a couple of headers over the bar and a couple of appeals for a penalty, one where the ref had to decide if there had been enough contact from behind to send him to the ground. I think the ref got it right, but you’d say ‘seen ‘em given’. Mitchell and Ramsay picked up yellows in quick succession, which obviously caused concern about the risk of a red later in the game.

At the break my note was ‘all up for grabs, will we have Wigan, when we scored and won, or Reading, where the opposite applied?’ Just no telling. Shrewsbury had caused us some problems and after the opening spell had generally been on top, but we’ve seen all that before and still won.

The answer to the question came early on when we finally scored from a set piece (Jones’ effort at Wigan doesn’t really count). A corner from our left was swung in to the far post, where Jones looped a header back towards the top corner of the net. A cluster of players jumped for it and happily it ended up in the net. Replays seemed to indicate that a defender had nodded it out but the ball then hit Ahadme’s shoulder and went in. They talk about forwards needing one where it goes in off their backside. This was the equivalent, but he’s off and running.

Thereafter we probed and prodded, with Campbell(T) causing them problems with his pace and movement, while their increasing desperation led to them taking risks and a more open game, just that neither side managed to score or fashion a really good chance. Our substitutions came on 70 minutes, with Kanu (rather than Aneke) and Godden replacing Ahadme and Campbell(T), while Campbell(A) came on for Berry. Mannion was called into action to block a dangerous cross and came out well a few times to deal with high balls. For us a Kanu shot going wide took a nearly fortuitious deflection but went over the bar, and Godden headed into the net but after an obvious shove on the defender. Overall we saw out the game reasonably comfortably.

We learnt nothing new from the game, but no doubt it raised questions. The most pertinent for me is does our style of play simply preclude attacking football or is this just an area we can get better at and perhaps will as players gel? The evidence so far points to the former. The no-nonsense, take no chances approach to clearing our lines puts the emphasis on long balls in the direction of Ahadme or finding channels for Campbell(T), for them to try to do something or hold up play to give midfielders the chance to get up in support. More often than not the ball is lost and those midfielders have no chance of getting anywhere near it (the notable exception was our late goal against Orient). It’s just asking too much for them to make up the ground and then get back into place when we’ve lost it. Can we get more out of the wing-backs as an attacking threat? We need to if we are to provide Ahadme with the arial service into the box he needs. And do we prefer the contribution of Campbell(T) outside the box or the greater goalscoring instincts of Godden?

It’s tempting to suggest that all this might change as and when Leaburn is match-fit, but that’s really asking too much too soon. For me, for now it’s just an area we have to work harder at, to improve understanding and play to strengths. In the interim, we appreciate the excellent defensive work (such a contrast to recent seasons), the effectiveness of Jones’ approach in terms of grinding out results, and accept that most games are going to be determined if not usually decided by who scores first. To say that we are going to win few friends is an understatement; we’re not going to win any. For now at least I’m in the camp that cares less about that than getting promoted.