We kicked off. They scored. Half time. They kicked off. We scored. Full time.
Not much of an exaggeration either. If you are looking for positives to take into WBA next week, they are few and far between.
We scored a lovely goal. Welsh played a neat ball into the left channel, Duffy raced onto it, lofted over a hanging cross and Fagan headed powerfully past the 'keeper. It was a bright spot in a game of few chances. Duffy mis-hit a half chance on the volley and Welsh hit a tame shot from 30 yards, other then that, nothing.
Welsh was great. He replaced the ineffective Andrews at half time and set about tackling and passing between their box and ours. Just prior to the goal, he won the ball brilliantly 30 yards from goal, but was harshly penalised. The game changed for us when he came on. Andrews has had 3 big chances to prove his worth and in every game we've looked much better when Welsh was on the pitch. If Parky plays Andrews at WBA, it'll be as big of a head scratcher as anything PT ever did.
Thelwell slotted in nicely alongside Turner. They looked a good combination and didn't miss a lot. Thelwell made several nicely timed challenges, but did back off on occasion. The defence came out very quickly after corners and the like. Very nice to see, should save a few cat calls in the East Stand next season!
Er, that's about it. Most players were mediocre rather than poor. Bo didn't have a lot to do, but his kicking was 50/50 again. Dawson didn't dominate against 2 lively players who liked to stay very wide. No idea where he'd gone when they scored. Marney didn't get in the game. Elliott did nothing of note at either end. Fagan scored a good goal, but did little else and wasted possession trying to hit Beckham style glory balls on 2 or 3 occasions. Paynter put himself a notch down the pecking order with an ineffectual effort and Duffy struggled to get anything to happen. He chased willingly and was only offside once, so that's progress. Comedy Lynch was OK. He just looks so uncomfortable and you can see the panic on his face whenever there's a sniff of danger.
Andrews was the only stinker. He played one nice long pass. He's got a good long passing game, but he wouldn't need it if he just bloody moved. Several poor touches, poor pass choices and poor passes put the nail in his coffin. In the face of the competition, you just can't see a place for him.
So, a miserable end to pre-season in a dead stadium. Bring on WBA and a decent atmosphere. This team shows flashes of excellence, flashes that bring on hope of a famous 1-0 win over the expensively assembled Baggies. On the other hand, they show lots of un-intelligence and inexperience that bring on fears of a cricket score. At this moment, we have 11 players better than we had at any point last season, but we've played 5 games and we don't look like a team. That Parkinson doesn't seem to know his best side is equally worrying. Here's to that 1-0 win and all fears being for nothing. Please, Lord, please.