Amidst one of the most brutal runs of fixtures this season, Blues welcomed in-form Leyton Orient to St Andrews on Tuesday night.
I’m gutted to have been unable to attend a Blues game since the defeat to Newcastle in the FA Cup. Owing to other commitments and a visit to Rome, I missed our 4-0 demolition of Cambridge, our important 1-0 victory against Charlton, a huge semi final (this one I’m especially gutted about) where we ran 2-1 winners over Bradford to reach Wembley for the first time in 14 years, and finally the end-to-end 0-0 draw away at Reading.
These results, combined with the form of our league rivals, put us in a fantastic position 6 points clear of 2nd place Wycombe going into the match against in-form Leyton Orient. I was impressed with them when we played them away from home at the start of the season, and since they’ve flew up the league table after looking relegation threatened at the start of December, I expected a really tough game. The relentless Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday fixtures I thought would also play a part, as by all accounts we’ve started to look a little tired in recent games.
Despite the games coming thick and fast, and injuries limiting Davies’ selection choices, we made just 3 changes to the side who started against Reading (all enforced) and lined up as follows: Allsop, Laird, Klarer, Davies, Cochrane, Paik, Iwata, Willumsson, Dowell, Gardner-Hickman and May.
First half
Orient started strong, pressing with intensity and playing quick passes to get themselves into potentially dangerous positions around our box, without creating solid chances. Blues responded with much of the same as is our style this season, and a combination of one-touch football between Iwata, Laird, Dowell and May got us into the Orient penalty box on the 10th minute. The ball eventually dropped to Laird, but his shot was from a difficult angle with his right foot and it sailed wide of the target.
It was looking to be a competitive game. Richie Wellens’ side were certainly up for the challenge and were being incredibly physical in the tackle early on. This lead to Currie stretching out for the ball after taking a poor touch, and his lunge won the ball but caught the incoming Iwata on the follow-through. The referee took his time and spoke to the linesman close to the incident, and eventually produced a red card. I’ll be honest – I’m not sure whether it was justified. I can see why it was given, I think the kicking motion from Currie didn’t help his case, but I’d equally be aggrieved if it was given against us. That being said we’ve had our fair share of bad luck with decisions in recent weeks, so I’ll leave others to debate whether the red was fair or not.
What it did do is change the O’s gameplan completely. Now unable to press high effectively, Wellens made two subs and sat into a defensive low block with one up front in Dan Agyei for the rest of the game. Blues took the initiative and dominated possession for the rest of the match, creating chance after chance after chance.
Cochrane attempted plenty of crosses in the first half, and on the 20th minute found Willumsson in space, but his header looped over the bar. Cochrane delivered from the left again shortly after, this time his cross evaded all and came to Laird, who eventually laid it back to Klarer. Klarer’s ball found Iwata’s head, but his attempt was tame and the keeper made an easy save. A few minutes later, Paik had a shot deflected from the edge of the box which took it narrowly wide of the target.
Blues were peppering the Orient goal. Iwata shot from the edge of the area, forcing the keeper to spill his shot only as far as Gardner-Hickman. He lifted it over and past the keeper but couldn’t beat the near post. Cochrane again found the ball on the edge of the box following a Blues corner and aimed to curl one in the top corner, his shot again went narrowly wide.
And on the stroke of half-time, Gardner-Hickman, Paik and Willumsson combined to provide Alfie May with a good chance. His first time chipped attempt beat the keeper, but alike TGH not long before, he found the woodwork again and was denied the opener by the crossbar.
Blues had created enough decent chances to lead by 2 or 3, but strong defending from Orient and good fortune meant we went into half-time level.
Half time: Blues 0-0 Orient
The second half continued as the first ended, with Blues on top and throwing wave after wave of attack at the O’s backline. Willumsson looked to play a neat ball through the line two or three times before he positioned himself for a shot, but his effort was lacking quality and was easily saved.
We kept moving the ball from left to right, looking for an opening. And it finally came on the 53rd minute. Iwata and Klarer shifted the ball across to Laird, who took on his man and almost beat him. Ethan continued battling for possession in the box and the Orient defender Sweeney looked to have pulled Laird to the ground. Blues fans claimed for a penalty, Dowell ignored them and had a shot at goal, which the keeper could only deflect into the path of Gardner-Hickman for an easy tap-in to put us ahead.
The Blues assault didn’t stop there. Iwata played a superb dinked ball in towards May who took a great first touch and just had the keeper to beat from the penalty spot. His effort was well saved down to the keeper’s right – but you do feel that a confident Alfie May tucks that away with ease. Alfie later had another opportunity where he was played a long ball over the top of the defence and got in behind, but he slowed his run down looking for options instead of bearing down on goal and the opportunity was wasted. I’m sure a goal will rekindle his confidence and I back him to get one soon, but he really could’ve got himself on the scoresheet at least once.
Most likely down to the numerical advantage we held over Orient, Klarer played most of the match very high and wide, frequently combining with Willumsson, Dowell, Iwata, Paik and Laird to create opportunities. On the 85th minute, Laird laid it back to the big Austrian and made a run into the box. Klarer found him with a superbly weighted through ball, and Laird’s first time finish found the back of the net to double our advantage and put the game to bed.
Emil Hansson and Lukas Jutkiewicz made their respective returns off the bench, and combined late on with a cross from the left but Jukey’s header was wide of the mark. Emil in particular looked very bright and with our injuries piling up and the news that Scott Wright will not play another game this season, we best hope he stays fit to contribute in our final run in.
We ran out 2-0 winners in the end, but in truth, had it been 4 or 5 to nil I don’t think it would’ve flattered us. It felt a bit nervy before the 2nd goal and I was personally praying we didn’t “get Northampton’d” again, but this time we got that crucial second goal and saw the game out. Thankfully the early red card meant we dominated the ball and barely gave Orient a sniff for most of the game. We played at our own tempo and didn’t sustain any further injuries – which could turn out to be really important with another big game coming up this weekend.
It’s 1st vs 2nd next as we host Wycombe in the early kick-off on Saturday. St. Andrews is sold out, and Blues could (dare I say it) effectively wrap up the title with a win over our most direct rival. That would take us 12 points clear of 2nd with another game in hand still to play, and I cannot imagine this Blues side dropping enough points to not see the League One title out from that position. On the other hand, a defeat would shorten the gap to 6 points and keep Wycombe in with a shout for now. Needless to say it’s a huge game, but this side have been relentless this year and I back us to bring the 3 points home again. With a final at Wembley looming in April, might we see another League and Cup double as we managed the last time we played in the third tier of English football? It’s no less than what we deserve for the football what we’ve put up with for the last 13 years, and if any side can pull it off, it’s this group that Chris Davies has put together.
Keep Right On.
Full time: Blues 2-0 Orient (Gardner-Hickman, Laird)