c v Birmingham worthington cup

What a pity there was only a small crowd to witness the slaughter of Birmingham City. Their earlier visit to Maine Road ended in a 3-0 drubbing but this was even more one sided. It should have been more than six has City ran riot over the hapless Birmingham players. Below is the first of Darren Huckerby's four goals. It was as early as the 11th minute.A pass from Goater left Huckerby the chance to shoot past Nico Vaesen

Above is the second goal made by Huckerby's pace in midfield and finished by a Tiatto run down the left and the Australian's final shot cum centre was deflected into the Birmingham net by a defender. two nil after 15 minutes -sheer bliss !

Nico Vaesen is flat on his back again as the ball flies into the net for number three. The scorer- why Darren Huckerby of course.

Here he is on the left waltzing back to the half way line with the maker of the goal Ali Benarbia, who once again was on top form. The passing of City was excellent and the half time score of 3-0 could have been doubled if all chances had been taken.

Just after the second half started it was four nil. Danny Tiatto won the ball passed to Darren Huckerby who might have scored his third but he unselfishly passed to the unmarked Goater who scored his 13 th. of the season.

Ten minutes before the end Huckerby completed his hat trick when he took a pass from Shaun Goater before lashing the ball into the ball at Vaesen's near post. Huckerby scored his fourth and City's sixth in the last minute

Overall an excellent display against a very poor Birmingham side. For a short time Ali B played alongside Berkovic before he was substituted by Wright-Phillips. We also saw the debut of Mettomo a young defender. At last the squad is looking really strong and looks capable of sustaining a promotion bid and retaining Premier League status.

First draw of the season - but City would have won this but for a poor decision by the linesman as early as the 12th minutes. Huckerby robbed the keeper alongside the goal line and scored from the narrowest of angles. After the ball had gone into the net the lineman raised his flag - I know they are now called referee's assistants - But I can't see them as that. Referee's lackey - maybe. It ended up with a no goal and Huckerby being booked into the bargain.

County played well above themselves and fought hard for every ball so after a goalless first half and the goal avalanche City supporters were expecting a minute or so after the resumption County took the lead. Weaver who seems to be glued to his goal-line failed to come for a cross from Fradin and in the end Hurst scored.
City equalized straight away and it caught both me and the County keeper napping. Dunne's low shot cum centre was deflected in by Ali Benarbia - below

City applied pressure without ever making any solid chances. Ali Benarbia was not his very best. I suppose we can't expect 11 out of 10 every match. One positive thing to come out of the match was the improving form of young Dickson Etuhu who is gaining in confidence every match. Danny Tiatto however usually so consistent had one of his poorest games and stupidly gave a penalty away in the 66th minute.Shefi Kugi cracked the ball past Weaver and County were 2-1 ahead.

There was under ten minutes to go when Shawn Wright-Phillips a late substitute for Richard Dunne centred from the right and Goater crashed the ball into net and it was 2-2 - Phew !
Some interesting decisions for Kevin Keegan to make.
How long does he keep Weaver in the side ?
Do Ali B and Berkovic play together from the start ? If so who goes out ?
If Huckerby keeps scoring what happens to Wanchope on his recovery from injury ?
What are the alternatives when Ali B is closely marked as he was today?

I don't think many people would have bet on this being a goalless draw but there again when one arrives at Maine Road one does not know what to expect. This was a robust Lancs /Yorks derby spoilt as a spectacle by an appalling refereeing display by a certain Steve Bennett from Orpington in Kent and the stupidity of Horlock who got sent off for a second bookable offence.

Despite the odd City attack the opening half hour was almost devoid of both incident and skill with inaccurate passes from both sides.With bookings to Dunne and Mettomo ( replacing the injured Wiekens) for innocuous fouls by the over zealous referee within 30 minutes

There were two more City bookings just before half time. First Danny Tiatto was harshly yellow carded -left - Brown and Horlock obviously having a chat about the price of burgers in Sheffield !

Then a minute later Horlock himself got his name in the referee's book-below . Brown is laughing his socks off at the decision

Direct chances were few and far between but when there were, both goalkeepers were equal to the task - on the left Tracey is saving from a subdued Ali Benarbia..

At times Maine Road looked like a battlefield with stretchers coming and going
More problems for Kevin Keegan. It was strange that Darren Huckerby didn't get a go.
The ten men of City were unable to break the Sheffield defence so we ended with the first goalless game of the season.

For certain there will be some discussion at Maine Road about the present system. The difficulty of making progress down the flanks and getting the ball into the danger area has heightened. Goater needs to be better fed !
Weaver had a better game and made two crucial saves. Horlock looked well out of sorts. Dunne still looks out of position as a wing back and even Pearce made the odd mistake. Etuhu was once again excellent and his interceptions and tackling first rate though he did get booked for his pains - you just can't tackle strongly nowadays Nothing much was seen of the up and coming united youngster Michael Tonge and Peter Ndlovu did his best to get unloved by the City fans for his antics.

You may wonder why I have put the attendance at 30,800 plus - more than the official one. Well I was astonished to witness at least three people in front of me in the queue leap over the turnstiles with the stewards inside the ground half asleep ! Took me back to the fifties and sixties when ladders were used to get people over the wall. Anyway back to the game. After the recent poor form and loss at Preston on Sunday City were back to top form . Keegan changed the formation at last - playing a flat back four - and Grimsby were quite poor. How on earth they beat Liverpool in the Worthington Cup is beyond me.

An early goal for City within a couple of minutes. A Tiatto cross from the left found an unmarked Goater who scored his 15th of the season.

After twenty minutes City won a corner on the right and Stuart Pearce swung the corner in, Steve Howey's power header gave Coyne no chance.

City continued to press and it was no surprise when they added to their tally with a third goal , this time Darren Huckerby was the scorer. His pace took him past the Grimsby defender and he crashed the ball past Coyne.

A rare image to treasure - Nicky Weaver actually moving off his goal-line - only just- and catching a cross! Weaver had little to do but he did make one good save to keep another clean sheet.

Several chances went a begging before man-of-the-match Darren Huckerby got his second and City's fourth after 65 minutes. It really could have been ten with the number of chances City spurned.
Mettomo is improving at the centre of defence and Etuhu continues to impress considering his age. Tiatto had a slightly better game and we have yet to see Benarbia and Berkovic play together for any length of time.