South Stand Balti wrote:Won 3-1 today after extra time in the Fa Cup v Brum
That counts as a really good win today cos we didn't play well at all. One of those good old bobbly pitches that levels things out and Birmingnam are quite a well organised side with some good athletes. After taking quite an early lead when Nadim latched onto a half save by their keeper it appeared for a while that it might be a fairly easy game. But after Lawley had a great chance saved it all started to go wrong.
Long balls were the key to it.Into a bit of a wind they were holding up and our back line , apart from Demi Stokes , are pretty slow. On such ball caught us out and their England ran on , past the keeper to score. For maybe 30 minutes , including the start of the 2nd half they pressed with real energy and just kept winning balls and pressing us back. We kept trying to play but, under pressure , our first touch or pass wasn't good enough.
Gradually the message got through , or they started to tire, and we started to dominate again. It still took till extra time for the 2nd goal when Emslie, instead of trying to beat the full back, laid a ball inside to Stanway who just turned inside the defender and smashed it home. Relief , even tho Brum were not threatening as I didn't fancy pens. The last goal , a gem from a breakaway by Emslie was just the icing on the cake.