Felt like the start of the second half of the season and for sure a tough one to kick things off, against a team obviously much improved compared with when we beat them on their patch. Seven wins in 10 (but two defeats in the last five), sporting the Championship player of the month, and presumably keen on revenge, while we really didn’t know how we would be likely to perform. Always two teams involved of course, but it felt to me as though the outcome would be down to how well we stood up to the challenge, how we handled their threats.
In the event it ended up being decided by two rash challenges and deserved red cards, plus a goal for us. Their fans may have sung ‘1-0 to the referee’, we would have done the same. But they have nobody else to blame but their two players, whose actions turned what were surely going to be three points for them to the three for us.
There were a number of imponderables regarding the team/squad. Would any of Ramsay, Burke, Bell and Godden be available/included? Would Bree be selected ahead of what increasingly looks like a return to Southampton? And would new additions Clarke and Dykes go straight into the mix? In the event there were several changes. In defence, Kaminski returned in goal, Bree kept his place on the right-side, Ramsay returned from injury to partner Jones and Gillesphey as the central three, with Burke back on the bench as a potential replacement, while Clarke came straight in as the left-side wing-back, with Bell not making it. In midfield surprisingly Coventry was rested, while Docherty wasn’t even in the squad (injured?). Rankin-Costello, Anderson and Knibbs were the chosen three, with both Carey and Berry among the subs. And up front Leaburn would be partnered by Kelman, with Dykes and the returning Godden among the subs. Also starting on the bench would be Campbell and Apter, with Fullah missing out.
You’d say that the defensive choices were predictable with hindsight, ie knowing who would be available, but the new midfield trio was undoubtedly a surprise. The other surprise was that Bree would switch to operate on the left side, Clarke taking his position. Hindsight of course, but that meant we started the game with one defender just signed for the club, one just returning from injury, and one playing out of position, all behind an untried and unfamiliar midfield three. It was a recipe for chaos and I’ve no idea why Jones made all of the changes he did.
After 30 minutes everyone in the ground was just scratching their heads over just how we were not losing, badly. It was a repeat of Southampton in that Sheffield carved us open at will, looked dangerous from set pieces, and basically looked like scoring every time they went forward, with Bamford pulling the strings to good effect (before he displayed his poor side later in the game). That they didn’t was down to a combination of excellent Kaminski saves, the post, some near misses, and some poor finishing. I don’t usually bother too much about the opposition’s chances, but suffice to say that after 30 minutes the stats showed they had 61% possession with nine attempts on goal, two on target (zero on both scores for us).
Bree looked distinctly uncomfortable on his wrong side, picking up a yellow for a foul after he lost possession. Ramsay looked very rusty. Whatever gameplan the midfield had wasn’t working as we were caught out time and time again by runners not tracked, while we struggled to retain possession, let alone do anything with it.
Then on 34 minutes the game took its first turn in our favour. Knibbs contested what looked like a 50-50 and immediately looked in big trouble. The replays showed clearly enough that, intentional or not, their guy had lunged in and landed square on Knibbs’ ankle. Thankfully the ref saw it that way and had the red card out of his pocket immediately. Knibbs was stretchered off (it was good to see him on the touchlines later with a big medical boot on rather than having been taken straight to hospital, hopefully the injury will prove to be not as bad as we all first feared) and Carey replaced him.
Sheffield didn’t panic, Wilder presumably realising that they were tearing us apart and having no problems at the back, so leave things as they are. But as we entered five minutes of stoppage time we had turn number two. Long ball forward was contested by Carey and their guy came clattering into him from behind. The replays showed he led with his forearm/elbow and made full contact. The ref did his job and pulled out the red card again.
You might play with 10 in a similar fashion to with 11, but no way with nine. Wilder made two substitutions before the break and at half-time we had the luxury of considering what changes we could make to exploit the situation and address some defensive concerns. The first was reasonably straightforward in Campbell replacing Bree (who might have moved over to his normal side if Jones felt that Clarke might not last the full game, but Bree was on a yellow). The second, with Dykes coming on for Kelman, was perhaps in anticipation that Sheff Utd would pack their box whenever out of possession and that Kelman would have no space to operate in, better to have another physical/ariel option.
The changes worked to immediate effect. Campbell had already threatened a couple of times down the wing before a ball forward by Gillesphey found the head of Dykes, who had excellently positioned himself between two defenders. He nodded it back and down, perfectly for Carey to sweep it home on the volley.
In an ideal world, with still another 45 minutes or so to play against nine men, we go on to score a second or third, ensuring no banana skin late in the game, perhaps from a set piece. That didn’t happen, although there were chances to make the points safe. Shortly after our goal TC played in Leaburn, whose attempt to chip the keeper didn’t have enough on it and went wide. A low ball in from Clarke on the right just evaded Dykes, Carey had a goalbound shot blocked, and later from a corner a Jones header at the back post was deflected by a defender and then headed off the line by another.
The fact is that Sheff Utd still carried some threat on the break, albeit a fading one as they not surprisingly tired. And any set piece, including long throws into the box, needed care. We almost criminally got caught on the break after the Carey shot. And right at the end I thought Jones was crazy to take off Leaburn just when they were about to launch another long throw, to bring on Godden (I thought the change should have been made 10 minutes earlier, with perhaps Apter for Clarke – who had a very good game – to exploit the space down the wing).
All ifs and buts. I honestly don’t care that we didn’t get a second or third. In our situation any win, in whatever circumstances, has to be grabbed with both hands. Looking at some of the other results today, if we hadn’t won today – and at one point we easily could have been three down or worse before the sendings off – we would really be in the mire. As it is, with Derby coming to The Valley on Tuesday night we have the opportunity to put some distance between us and the bottom three. It really didn’t matter how we got there today. That said, Jones and his team will surely have a long look at those first 30 minutes to see what needs to be changed, because it very nearly went very badly wrong.
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