Looking back on Wednesday's match I don't think I've ever felt so good about a defeat before. To fight back with ten men against a side that not long ago was in the Premier League and had at least two players valued at over £15 million was heart-warming.
I think we'll get another result today but there'll clearly be one or two changes with Neil being suspended, the possible return of Evans and the further possibility that Batth will be out injured. I thought Matete really got stuck in when he came on as sub, a bit too much at times, but he set up our goal and gave us some oomph in midfield. A lot of fans have questioned why Simms has been subbed but they should know by now that he's been playing catch-up on his fitness. The bench is looking thin at the moment but it seems likely that more signings are on their way. Stoke haven't done too well so far having lost twice and conceded almost two goals a game. I'll be listening on SAFSEE again and my match prediction is a draw, probably 2-2.
When I got the team-news around 2.15, Batth was starting against his former club and the only change was Matete in for Neil. Evans was on the bench. Wright was a sub too and he's a good man to shore up the side later on if needs be. I'm not sure why he's not starting, though. Anyway, I trust in Neil. I was surprised to see that Jagielka was still paying for Stoke. Rory Delap's son was also starting for them.
Stoke kicked off and our fans were coming across loud and clear. Patterson made an early error when his clearance was charged down but Stoke didn't capitalise on it. Stoke won the first corner after five minutes following a mistake by O'Nien that culminated in Wilmot heading over but we were sounding shaky. We didn't put much together at all in the opening ten minutes with passes going astray and an overall air of hesitancy. Next thing Patterson tipped over in style to give Stoke their second corner, which resulted in a free-kick to us.
O'Nien picked up his third yellow of the season and the resultant free-kick was in a dangerous position. Once again Patterson parried well and kept it to 0-0. I had the horrible feeling that it wouldn't be 0-0 for long. Matete was soon booked for a foul on Baker and we were giving away too many free-kicks. Twenty minutes in and we still hadn't created anything of note with Simms and Stewart barely having had a mention.
A few minutes later we managed our first opportunity when Simms ran on to a pass and shot into the side-netting. Our fans were still in good voice and we soon won our first corner but Smallbone cleared it right up the pitch. We won a second corner that ended with Matete blasting it over the bar but we'd finally started to get some flow going. We were still sounding very wobbly at the back, though thankfully we had Patterson to clear up the mess. Kilkenny was down injured for a few minutes around the half-hour mark so there'd be a fair bit of stoppage-time. Kilkenny had to go off for further treatment on his nose so for a very short while we had a one-man advantage. Commentator Benno predicted that Matete would be subbed at the break as he was a liability. Stoke won their sixth corner and I was hoping that the whistle would blow soon. Embleton was booked too as another free-kick in a dangerous spot was conceded. Baker struck it wide and we breathed again.
There were four minutes of stoppage-time and instead of us trying to hold out we suddenly went ahead when Clarke fed Stewart and he slotted the ball into the bottom left corner. That sounded like our worst half of the season by a long way but somehow we were 1-0 up. It still seemed more than likely that changes were in order with Benno suggesting we get Wright and Evans on pronto, especially with O'Nien and Matete on yellow cards.
As expected Wright and Evans had replaced Matete and O'Nien as we kicked off again. We started off in great style after a no doubt bracing half-time chat from Alex. Stoke were catching us up on the yellows as Delap was booked for a foul. Wright soon joined him in his third minute on the pitch after being put under pressure. We continued to put on some pressure of our own and Simms had a decent shot that went not far wide. Evans then had a shot that Bursik turned out for a corner but it culminated in a Stoke free-kick. The Stoke fans were in uproar as Brown and Wright tangled in our box but ref Oliver Langford wasn't having any of it – he soon gave Brown a yellow, though, to make it 3-4 on that score.
The hour-mark passed and things were sounding decidedly cheerier than they had earlier. Clarke was booked for pushing over Fosu and it looked likely that double figures would be reached before long. Twenty minutes to go and we hadn't been under any real threat for a good while but given recent games, I wondered if we could hold out. A second for us would seal it. Embleton had plenty of time to score but he fired wide after running on to a pass from Simms. Stoke brought on Wright-Phillips as their fifth sub but we didn't seem about to make any further changes. The home fans didn't sound at all happy as we entered the final ten minutes. Stoke started to do more pressing and won another corner in the eighty-second but we got it clear.
In the dying minutes Hume came on for Pritchard. Stewart missed a great opportunity to wrap things up as he went out too wide before shooting and I was up pacing around the room checking the time every few seconds. Five minutes of stoppage-time were announced and my heart sank. Our fans were singing. “Sing yer hearts out for the lads” as the home fans started leaving. It ended 0-1.
This was a great win and after a poor first-half we stuck at it and got the crucial goal completely against the run of play. A much improved second-half performance saw us hold on well and now we're fifth.
