City 5 v Scunthorpe 1
I think I am in dreamland! After the dire fare dished up on Tuesday, I was not expecting much from this game for a number of reasons. The most obvious one is the loss of Matty Fryatt, but in all honesty he was not missed; he could have a problem getting his place back if the team perform like this in his absence!
But then, based on previous experience, this is not going to happen; after the QPR away game at the end of October, my hopes were high, only to be dashed. Another reason is that City often fail to perform against teams they should see off the park; Bristol City had not won away all season until they came to the Walkers and City, being the generous team that they are, obviously felt sorry for them!
I missed the train I normally catch, so in fact did not get into the ground until two minutes after the start, and apparently missed a good opportunity at either end (one of which I’ve since seen on the BBC). However, we did not have long to wait: a Waghorn free kick was converted by Michael Morrison under the bar after just five minutes. Shortly afterwards, Gallagher scored from a scorching shot that took a deflection, apparently his first goal since October. He didn’t have to wait long for his second: in the 24th minute he took a sweet free kick on the edge of the box which curled into the net.…
It got better and better. In the 33rd minute Gallagher did well to stop the ball from going out of play and whipped in a quick cross; it eventually fell to Waghorn who chested it down and scored another beauty. 4-0 up before half-time.
Although Gallagher didn’t have time to think about his cross, it demonstrated how a quick cross is usually a lot more effective than when a player beats more than one defender and eventually crosses, by which time the opposition have got men behind the ball in great numbers. During this rampage Scunthorpe barely got over the half-way line.
The second half did not continue in the same rampant fashion, to my disappointment, but then like all City fans I am just greedy! I don’t know what the players had to drink at half-time but it seemed to slow them down and there was shades of the Doncaster game. To add insult to injury, Scunthorpe scored in the 54th minute, and we wondered if they were about to find a way back into the game – just like Watford did when we played there and were so dominant in the first half.
With about half an hour left, Pearson substituted Morrison for Solano and Oakley for Kermorgant. Both seemed rather strange choices but then nobody had played badly so it was difficult to see who would go off. I have been very critical of Oakley (and to some extent Wellens) but he has been playing better in the last few games. Neither substitute had a great impact but the tempo increased again and City began to look more like the team they were in the first half. Gallagher’s third, which gave him his hat trick, was unbelievable; with his back to goal he headed the ball and it looped over the Scunthorpe goalkeeper. Now we wanted six but had to settle for five.
We were all speculating when City had last scored five and I was amazed to discover that it was nearly ten years ago against Sunderland, a game I remember well. It was the only time Heskey and Colleymore played together, and the latter also got a hat trick; the next day Heskey was transferred to Liverpool and the City fans were left to speculate on what might have been.
A final substitution, N’Guessen for the hero of the hour, Gallagher, who left to a standing ovation, came in the 83rd minute. As an aside, I wonder what the point is of these late substitutions; every manager does it, sometimes in time added on, but unless a player is injured it seems pointless.
So I travelled back south (to north Hertfordshire) in a much happier frame of mind than I have recently. It was a fantastic performance, all we want now is for the team to continue to play with that amount of energy and passion. Alright, they won’t score five every game – or even three or four – but what I guess all City fans want is the same level of commitment.
I suspect that they had had a rollicking after Tuesday’s abysmal display, despite Nigel Pearson’s brave face in public, and they responded magnificently. I have the dubious pleasure of sitting in front of a loud-mouth who criticises the players at nearly every game – his language is appalling and he isn’t a youngster! At the Doncaster game, he was saying that Pearson is a joke and the worst manager ever, etc, etc. Yesterday I didn’t hear a peep out of him! Well done lads, it was a great game.
City: Weale; Morrison, Hobbs, Brown, Berner, Oakley, A King, Wellens, Dyer, Gallagher, Waghorn. Subs: Logan, McGivern, Solano (60 for Morrison), Howard, N'Guessan (83 for Gallagher), Kermorgant (60 for Oakley), Bruce.
Scunthorpe: Murphy; Jones, Mirfin, Raynes, Williams, Togwell, McCann, O'Connor, J Wright, Hayes, Hooper. Subs: Lillis, A Wright, Morris, Sparrow, Woolford, McDermott, Forte.
Referee: D Phillips. Attendance: 21,626