Blue Square Premier - 9th February 2008
At KitKat Crescent - Att 2,531 (36 Grays)
Report
Another tame first half was followed by a better second as City
continued the remarkable run under Colin
Walker's stewardship with an ultimately comfortable win
over Grays Athletic. Goals change games, so the cliche goes,
and it certainly did here today as Nicky
Wroe's penalty heralded a total change in City's outlook
as they took control after a long period when formations cancelled
each other out.
Indeed, it was a huge complement to City by Justin Edinburgh
as he set his Grays charges up in a 3-5-2, seemingly in order
to di exactly what it ended up doing - producing a battle of
wills in midfield that, while quite possibly tense for the more
studious among the 2531 crowd, didn't really get the blood flowing.
Chances were few and far between. The City defence ensured that
Tom Evans didn't have
a lot to do, but when he was called upon, he was calmness personified.
Grays' better chances fell to Jon Ashton and Jack Obersteller,
but neither provided much of a test for the City stopper. At
the other end, City's best effort of the first 45 fell to Martyn
Woolford off a Wroe free-kick, but his scuffed effort was
easy for Ross Flitney.
The significant change came shortly before the penlaty incident.
At the break, Walker withdrew Richard
Brodie - he was looking tired and didn't have a great first
half - and threw on new signing Leo Fortune-West. The big feller
immediately set about causing havoc. Defenders just do not like
playing against him and he forces people into making swift decisions
and doing things they don't want to do.
Manny Panther
was enjoying being pushed further forward than usual and his
surging run into the box forced Jamie Stuart to make a decision.
It was the wrong one as he had an ugly swipe at the Scotsman
who went down in instalments. A clear penalty which Wroe blazed
into the bottom corner giving Flitney no chance. 20 minutes
later, the advantage was doubled as Darren
Craddock - one of City's best on the day - launched a well-weighted
long ball. Seeing Fortune-West racing onto it, Flitney hesitated
for a split-second which proved his undoing. It allowed the
big striker - he really is a huge man - to get to the ball just
before the keeper, sticking out one of those long legs to tap
it past Flitney and roll it into the net.
Both sides rang the changes after the goal with Grays bringing
on the dangerous Aaron O'Connor for the ineffectual Scott Taylor
while Onome Sodje
replaced the City captain. Wacky though that may sound, Panther
was visibly struggling with that slight knee injury, so it was
more of a precaution, but Sodje's pace combined with Fortune-West's
strength proved difficult for Grays to deal with. Clear cut
chances were, however, still hard to come by. The best chance
fell to Michael Standing whose 20-yarder brought out a fine
save from Evans, diving away to his right, capping a fine performance.
Not a classic then, but good enough to beat a stern opposition
and lift City into the top ten. The defence was outstanding,
stifling everything Grays had in attack. Any one of the back
three had good claim on man of the match honours, but Anthony
Lloyd outshone them all in a superb display full of energy.
"Best player on the pitch by
a country mile" was his manager's conclusion
while making special mention of Leo Fortune-West. "The
big feller is a massive figure both on and off the pitch. Every
other manager in the league would love to have a bench with
Fortune-West, Farrell, Sodje, Mimms and Rusk on it. I'm the
lucky one. I've got to make it work". It certainly
is an impressive array of substitutes and that half-time change
made all the difference. "It's
the most I've had to say at half-time. We were still going at
it as the bell went, but they came out and did what I asked
in the second half". Again, not playing at
the top of their game, City have won with something to spare.
This season is by no means over yet.
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