SOBS V FULHAM

Wearside went to the banks of Old Father Thames and lost out in a close, damp encounter that we didn't deserve to lose any more than the Cottagers deserved to win. We didn't play well enough, by a long way, to get the better of things, but likewise the home side, with the crucial moment being the nadir of a poor second half from the ref.

That's me trying to be diplomatic... being honest, I thought he was a bit iffy in the first half (high praise from me) and abysmal in the second. He summed it up by charging around the sodden, sodding pitch after the final whistle waving his yellow card around like a demented extra in Thomas The Tank Engine - The Guardsman's Revenge.

Parking up at Stanmore to avoid congestion charges, and there being a couple of options to get the Putney by tube, we indulged in a game of Non-Celebrity Race Across the Capital with Gilly aka Forrest Gimp.

His team got to the bar first. Bah.

There was a nice catch-up with Colin Randall, old Shildonian, then the Williams cousins in the Bricklayers, with most of the SAFC London branch, before a trudge through the park to the match. It was, as Paul Mooney says on Look North weather, hoying it down.

Safely ensconced in row ZZ (right at the back, out of the wet and with a wall to bang) I saw us line up:

Roefs 

Hume Ballard Mukiele Geertruida Reinildo 

Xhaka (c) Sadiki 

Traore Le Fee

Isidor

... and a bench of Patterson, Talbi, Adingra, Brobbey, Mayenda, Neil, Masuaku, O'Nien, and Alderete.

No injuries brought back from the internationals, we wore the (in my opinion) daft black away kit. Look, the blue one's smarter, contrasts with Fulham's white.... and why not the stripes for the same reason?

Anyway, they kicked off with Roefs in front of our fans (and the infamous neutral bit, where they actually wore the half and half scarves being sold outside) and we won the ball to take the game to them - for a while. Fulham then got hold of it and exerted a bit of pressure and drew a comfy save from Roefs about ten minutes in. We countered and nearly got in from the right, only to get pushed back and concede an unlucky corner - followed by one from the other side. The ball moved from one end to the other without a real chance being created, and there was lots of the short passing and close control from both sides that would have won any Championship game - but this is the Prem and you need that bit of something special to make it count.

Neither side had it, to be honest, and they huffed and puffed without a proper chance materialising. When Fulham broke down the middle, Roefs did well, and Traore linked with Issy to... not score, before a comfy save by Roefs from a back post header. Some unpleasant play-acting after what was admittedly a foul by Big Dan encouraged the ref to wave his card, then a clear push on Issy was ignored. An Issy shot was easily saved, there was a corner and a couple of added minutes, and it was half time.

Level, and that was about deserved as we'd not really come out of our shells.

No changes for the second half, and Enzo (gloves and all) fired across from the left and a foot wide almost immediately. Promising, but some shameful head-holding by a Cottager as we cleared our lines ended our promising attack - and he jumped up unscathed. Try that on a Sunday morning, son...

Anyway, that preceded a period of real Fulham pressure that we dealt with around the hour mark, then we brought on Talbi and Brobbey for Issy and Traore before Roefs took a knock and needed a wipe with the magic sponge. He then produced a mad dribble in his box that thankfully worked as our fans raised the roof.

What a noise compared to the tourists in other parts of the ground. If only the team could have responded proportionally. Captain Granit headed Enzo's corner back in, but only to the keeper. We were counting down the last six minutes to a point when a mystery free kick was awarded to Fulham (who hadn't even appealed for it), we were slow to react when it arrived in the box, and there was Jiminez to poke it away at the back post.

Aw, man. On came Adingra and Mayenda for Hume and Le Fee - who both looked paggered by then, to be honest. Some frantic but ineffective forays forward were all we could manage, then five added minutes were announced in which we couldn't do anything to get anything.

For some reason, there was a bit of discussion between the subs and backroom people of both sides after the whistle. No idea what it was about, but we'll no doubt find out in the tabloids.

Never really at the races, against a side who weren't really that much ahead of us in those races, and we should have done better against them. I expected bumps in our Prem road this season, but not against the likes of Fulham - no disrespect, but they're nee Arsenal.

Learn, move on, be better.

Man of the Match? Enzo showed in patches, Xhaka did his usual thing, and Mukiele was solid until running out of puff towards the end - like Hume. Probably Reinildo, as he stopped a lot of Fulham's stuff on his side. Feel free to disagree. I probably disagreed with myself as I plodged through the mess that the park had become on the way to the station.