It’s three hundred and sixty four days since we last won at the Stadium of Light but I have the feeling that we may well win today. Last week’s performance against Wolves wasn’t pretty but it was effective and we’ve had a clean sheet in two of our four games since Coleman took over. Catts will be out following his dismissal last week and on his recent form he’ll be no great loss. McManaman will be available and will no doubt feature at some point while Asoro had a rest last week and should be used if we need a shot in the arm. I’d like to see him on at the start but that still seems unlikely. Fulham have got fourteen more points than us but have only scored one more goal. I’d also like to see Vaughan and Grabban play together for some if not all the game as against Wolves Grabban won nothing in the air but Vaughan was battling for every high ball when he came on. Together they could produce an early goal and then we could defend like we did last Saturday. Sooner or later we’ll get a home win and if it’s today, we’ve got fellow strugglers Birmingham at home next Saturday and should fancy our chances against them. Speaking of Birmingham, they’re at home to Q.P.R. today and Bolton are home to Burton and there’s likely to be two home wins there so that puts more pressure on us to get something today ourselves to avoid slipping away. Match prediction (everything crossed and making a big wish) 1-0 to us.
When I got the team-news I was pleased to see Vaughan in for Catts, and also Ndong and Maja on the bench. I got the match on SAFSEE and the crowd sounded lively as we kicked off. We were playing three at the back with two wing-backs and made a lively start, with Grabban getting a soft effort on target in the first minute which was a lot earlier than last week. Fulham then fought back and won the first corners of the game with Fredericks sounding speedy down the right wing. Gibson put in a good shot that Bettinelli in goal spilled but Fulham managed to clear it eventually so in the opening ten minutes honours sounded even. Both sides pressed without producing any real chances but I was pleased to hear commentator Gary Bennett say we were keeping our shape well. I was also pleased to hear that Q.P.R. had taken the lead at Birmingham. Midway through the half Gibson had to go off injured for a couple of minutes so I hoped that would be the only period of the game we’d be down to ten men. Elsewhere Burton took the lead against Bolton and that was all to the good. Bettinelli, who hasn’t had much experience, sounded nervous and he failed to hold a decent shot from Honeyman. We were certainly getting a few efforts on target while Fulham hadn’t troubled Ruiter so far. We had our best chance in the thirty-fifth minute when Mathews crossed but Grabban shot just wide of the post. We were getting a few bodies in the box for a change and I felt a goal would come eventually. Fulham still sounded quite threatening and they won their fourth corner with five minutes to the break. Bennett criticized Gooch for the second time when he chose to shoot instead of passing to unmarked colleagues. It remained goalless at the break but we’d been solid enough and had got a few decent efforts on target. We needed to go a bit further, though, in order to break that hoodoo.
We created a good move from the off in the second-half but Vaughan shot straight at Bettinelli. Still, it boded well. Just afterwards Bettinelli made a great save when he pushed a Vaughan header onto the bar and the crowd were roaring. Grabban should have done better again when a Gooch shot was pushed into his path by Bettinelli but he shot wide. (Plenty of mentions for Bettinelli there and I hoped it would stay that way.) Fulham were piling up the corners and won their seventh around the hour-mark while we hadn’t won any yet. I began to wonder about substitutions and hoped that Asoro would come on. We won our first corner five minutes later but it was punched away. Next thing Ndong came on for Gooch, who’d been yellow-carded not long before. With a quarter of the match to go it was still anybody’s game but I was ready to settle for a scrambled effort in the ninety-third minute. With just under twenty minutes to go we made a double substitution, bringing on Maja and Asoro for Vaughan and Grabban. This was greeted rapturously by our fans and I was very happy about it too as I felt they’d have the zip to create something in their box. Within a few minutes we were ahead when Mathews fed Maja and he turned before shooting home into the bottom right-hand corner. I could feel the joy pumping down my laptop but we still had twelve minutes to hold out (or maybe get a second?). Fulham were going for that equalizer and the pressure was on. Elsewhere Q.P.R. went 2-1 up against Birmingham, which would be great for us if both scores remained the same. As the final minutes ticked away I couldn’t sit down any more and began pacing around my flat. Then four minutes of stoppage-time were announced, which was not exactly what I required. We held out well and when that whistle blew there was a huge cry of joy from our fans. Nobody had gone home.
Coleman certainly knows how to make a substitution. See you at the Birmingham game.
ALS T Shirts click here
|
