SOBS V POZNAN
Everybody should see a Poznan done properly, and we did as the Lads somehow contrived not to win a game in which 11 of our 25 shots were on target - but only one went in, and of the rest only Nordi's second half blast forced the keeper into anything spectacular. Poznan's leveller came after our weird quadruple substitution knocked our rhythm and for a couple of minutes they had the upper hand.
Didn't get beat, though.
The journey there had begun at 1815 on Wednesday and ended in Poznan town at 1100 (the taxi driver thought I was Colombian) to collect the tickets on Thursday, meaning that a fair few who followed the same itinerary didn't know what day of the week or was by kickoff - especially after the 10mph bus ride to the ground. A very impressive ground, with lots of stickers from around Europe.
In pink (for no apparent reason) we faced the home fans (blue upstairs, white downstairs) and their impressive and well orchestrated songs and bouncing. Apparently, they'd scored 21 goals in their last five games so we'd have to be on our toes at the back...
Roefs
Mukiele O'Nien Danso Methalie
Xhaka (c) Ahoka
Angulo Diarra Fofana
Tutierov
...and a bench of Moore, Alderete, Rigg, Le Fee, Reinildo, Hume, Sadiki, Proctor, Jenson Jones, Ogunsuyi, Whitaker, and Scott - twelve!
Xhaka kicked off and set the tone by not playing it straight back to Roefs, instead launching it up the left wing - aiming for a modern day Gordon Armstrong, but Fofana isn't that tall. Where we started with no wingers at Bournemouth (sorry) we started with two in Poland, and they were backed up by forward runs by Methalie and Nordi. Positive stuff, and we immediately got forward only for Nordi to slash one wide. Never mind, from the goal kick Angulo nicked the ball back on the right and crossed to the near post from where Toots knocked it in. Yeehah!
Well I'll gan to the foot of our stairs! Not even two minutes on the clock and a goal to the good. Both sides tried to push forward and after Roefs had pulled of a decisive, on nine they should have equalised but managed to shoot across and wide. We went back up the other end and looked certain to score, but a combination of the keeper and some defensive legs kept it out. Oh, and Fofana's effort flew past the keeper but hit the inside of the far post.
Their number 9 looked an absolute beast on the big screen, but Luke and Danso managed to make him look quite ineffective - must be all that training with Brobbey. Up top, Toots was covering a lot of ground as the three forwards closed the Poznanian defence down - what Reidy used to call "the squeeze." It did keep us fans interested, and our overall play, and chances created, should have got us further ahead - but it didn't. Xhaka tried a couple of free kicks that were a bit too clever and slightly over hit, meaning that they outran our runners and went for goal kicks - but at least we were pegging away and looking the better side. However, with five to go to the break an attack broke down and Poznan looked set to burst forward, so Danso pulled their man back in the centre circle and was carded. Hell get a reputation if he's not careful.
A single minute was added and we went in level - the natural sceptic in me felt quite satisfied to be leading, but the realist felt disappointed that it was only by one - several shots (eight, actually) had got through but six were very much of the "me grandma could have stopped that" variety. Still, mustn't grumble - but we did, a bit. It's in the rules.
The availability of beer to be brought into the seats was a European novelty, and it was taken advantage of. Not by me, as I was still struggling with two hours kip, having only just recovered from Sunday's early start.
No changes for the second half, and we were straight into the high squeeze, forcing the opposition right back to the goal line and nicking the ball off them. Five minutes in, Fofana was away down the left and tore along the edge of the box, but when he decided to shoot he was leaning back and the right-footed effort went way over. Should at least have made the keeper work.
As in the first half, we got shots away, but as in the first half the keeper wasn't troubled by them - until the 58th minute when Nordi got that screamer that was tipped over. The keeper tipped the corner, from our left, on for another on the other side but they dealt with that as well.
Then came the confusing bit. Off went Xhaka, Mukiele, Angulo, and Diarra and on came Rigg, Le Fee, Sadiki, and Hume. Personally, I'd have left Angulo on as he was getting closer to an end product than Fofana - but I don't pick the team. Naturally it took a while for them all to settle in, and Poznan took advantage - they got forward more and missed another very good chance when they again fired across and wide, this time from the right.
However, it went wrong on 70 minutes when a corner from their right was only partially cleared and when it dropped at the back of the box it was smashed through a forest of pink socks and past Roefs. Bah.
For a brief while, and with their fans getting right behind them, they looked dangerous and Roefs had to pull off an impressive double save. It's his job, as Keano says, but he did it well.
A winner looked inevitable once we calmed that little storm, and we got bodies in the box but with the ball at his feet and clear sight of goal, Enzo for some reason waited and laid into to Fofana coming in from the left and he hit the side netting - as did Methalie soon after. It looked like we had win it when Rigg worked space and hit a curler off his left peg that had the net rippling - because it had landed in top of it.
Our defence did well in the later stages in terms of keeping the ball and patiently looking for the pass, but at 1-1 there was always the chance of a break by Poznan. With five to go Reinildo replaced Toots to make sure we kept what we had, and our scorer was warmly applauded as we walked round the corner in front of our fans. Well played, young man.
Three added minutes were announced, Poznan won a soft free kick just outside their own box, which the keeper took and they were a bit mad 'cos the ref blew for time while the ball was in the air. This meant the game ended in a bit of a raggedy fashion, with some of us wondering if was still going on.
It wasn't and we got a point and remain unbeaten in Europe. Now for the League Cup and another Sunday Premier game - or is it the other way round?
Man of the Match? Luke. He bullied their big forward, carried it forward when he could, and was calm when he needed to be.
P.S. I and the others who travelled with Hays were given a half and half scarf - each, otherwise there might have been a fight. It's nice, if such a thing can ever be nice, and it was a nice gesture, but I left it in the hotel and took my proper one. There are young family members who might appreciate it - on second thoughts, no.
