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Match Report

IBO Reporter: channonite

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|Well, I didn’t see that coming. Not after we conceded a silly penalty in the first half. It was then a long, grinding game of absolutely diabolical decisions by the ref. Non-decision after non-decision. One of my friends, who is a referee to a decent non-league standard and a member of the 92 Club, said that it was the worst display by a referee he could ever remember seeing. So, when Manning scored the sort of free kick that JWP would have been proud of in the 90th minute, the immediate feeling was one of relief. We would not lose on the opening day. In the dying seconds of the match, Shea Charles (who had a blinder of a match) sent a wonderful crossfield pass to the feet of Ryan Manning, who then passed across the face of the goal, where Downs managed to completely miss the ball. Rushing in at high speed was none other than the much-maligned Jack Stephens, who cannoned a shot against the underside of the crossbar and into the net. For a fraction of a second, there was silence, and then the ground just erupted. Just bloody brilliant!

But I am getting ahead of myself. My day started at about 6.30 am, leaving the house just after 7 am to pick up one of my friends as we set off for Southampton to meet three others in a car park reasonably close to St.Mary’s. Getting a ticket for the car, we had a chat with a couple of Wrexham fans. Apparently, the car parks in Wrexham had gone up in price each season since they went all Hollywood at the club. To begin with, they could park for four hours for £3 in the council car parks, but that has now gone up to £10. It seemed a bargain to then have to pay “just” £5.50! We then walked to Ocean Village for brunch.

We had spent some time arguing about the team that Will Still would put out, but to be honest, we didn’t really know what he would do. When the team news was released, I was on my third black Americano (I can’t drink beer any more - even alcohol free is off the menu), so I was well primed for the 12.30 pm kickoff. i was surprised that having two 6’+ strikers in Downs and Stewart, Still had plumped for the Armstrong Hobbit as the Centre-Forward. The other surprise was starting with Flynn Downes, who was supposed to be still in the recovery phase, post-injury.

At the stadium, there was more evidence of the club trying to get us to spend more time and money on food and drink, but frankly, it’s just more junk food at the end of the day. The pizza slice in particular looked somewhat less than appealing.

So, to kick off, and although it was taken by Wrexham, they soon lost the ball and Saints were on the attack, with Fraser maurauding through the Welsh defence, but sadly shooting just wide of the far post. It was a good start though.

Like most things Saints at the moment, this didn’t last, and Wrexham were soon on the offensive, winning a corner. They took it short, feeding the ball back to Windass, who sent a wicked curling cross to the waiting Conor Coady, who could only sky his shot way over the bar. He should have scored.

Our defensive unit was neither thing at this point. Neither defensive nor a unit. Edwards, in particular, was struggling on the right.

The next scare was when Moore put Josh Windass through, and he curled in a shot which bounced off the crossbar and away. We seemed determined to hand Wrexham the lead.

Just as we were both worrying about Saints’ defending and the awful Ref making really bad decisions, Saints almost scored. Charles sent a lovely cross into the box, where Robinson shot, but the keeper dived and pushed it onto the upright and away. Sugawara won the ball and sent it straight back into the area, where Armstrong, with his back to the goal, teed Robinson up for another go. His shot cannoned off a defender, straight to Downes, whose rocket-like shot was goal-bound, but took a deflection over. Phew!

The ‘harum-scarum’ football, as one of my friends described it, continued. O’Brien sent a wonderful 30-yard pass to Moore, who was clean through. Like a car crash in slow motion, you could see what was going to happen. Both Edwards and Stephens raced to cut out the danger. Stephens raced across from a more central position and would probably have got to Moore, but for Edwards, who, on catching the Wrexham player, just pushed him over in the penalty area. The referee, quite rightly, pointed straight to the spot. We fans just looked on in disbelief. Josh Windass stepped up and crashed his shot beyond Baz. 0-1 to Hollywood.

The worry now was would all the demons from last season sap the Saints players’ fragile confidence?

Saints had two problems; the first was the speed with which Wrexham players withdrew into a low block at the slightest sign of any threat from Saints. The second problem was the bloody referee, who was monumentally awful. Inexplicable decision after inexplicable decision. The assistant running the line on the Itchen side was almost as bad.

Despite that, Saints still had their chances, and Armstrong had a good chance that he hit straight at the keeper, who gratefully clutched the ball to his chest and theatrically fell to the floor. Shortly after that, Fraser shot/crossed from a very acute angle, but there was nobody able to take advantage.

Into stoppage time at the end of the first half, Stevens sent a pinpoint 30-yard pass, which found Robinson at the far post, and his shot across the face of the goal hit the opposite upright. Armstrong snatched a shot, which Conor Coady blocked on the line, but Arma couldn’t make his follow-up count.

So, halftime arrived and Saints were losing 0-1, but definitely not out of it. The stats were just ridiculously one-sided, and Wrexham were under siege, but always threatening on the break. That, and Saints’ defence looking to have all the durability of an ice cube on a hot day, meant that we were nervous about whether even an equaliser was possible.

HT 0-1

|The second half began with no changes to either side, and after a bit of pussyfooting around, Saints burst into life down the right with a lovely ball finding Charles driving into the penalty area, and firing a blistering shot which the keeper pushed away. Immediately, Charles appealed to the ref for handball in the area, but he waved him away. Even though it was right in front of me, I missed it, but looking at the replays in the evening, it was a certain penalty as their No.4 pushed it away with his left hand. No VAR in the Championship though.

The team still looked just as disjointed as they had done in the first half, and the Northem had been chanting “Matty Fernandes, Matty Fernandes, etc." on and off ever since the start of the half. On 60 minutes, Still gave in, taking off Armstrong for Downs, and Sugawara for ... Fernandes. A popular move.

Still was not happy, and just a handful of minutes later, Downes was replaced by Archer, and Welington by Manning.

The game was now being played almost completely in the Wrexham half, with Saints making shot after shot. Robinson went on a mazy run through a forest of defenders and shot, but didn’t strike it cleanly, and for the umpteenth time, Ward gratefully clutched the ball to his chest and fell to the ground.

The danger in this sort of one-sided game is that eventually someone will make a slight mistake, and the other team will catch you on the break. And that is what very nearly happened when O’Brien burst clean through, with only Baz to beat. Somehow, Jack Stephens caught up with him and tackled him/dragged him down right on the edge of the penalty area. appeals for a penalty were waved away to the disbelief of the Wrexham player - and mine to be honest...

The next mistake by the ref was probably the worst of the lot, as Fraser sent a raking crossfield pass to Quarshie, who was unceremoniously hauled down in the Wrexham area. You could clearly see his shirt being pulled. Somehow, the ref gave a goal kick. Imbecile.

Still, the Saints manager was not happy, and with ten minutes of normal time remaining, he took off Edwards and sent on Stewart. We now had six attacking players on the pitch.

This was almost immediately followed by another Wrexham break, ending with Ryan Hardie, the ex-Plymouth Argyle striker, shooting on the run, and the ball looked destined for the bottom far corner of the net, when somehow Baz just got a finger tip to it, pushing it around the post for a corner. An outstanding save!

Then, in the dying seconds of normal time, Charles was hacked down, and the ref awarded a free kick to Saints. It was slightly to the right of centre, and Manning stood over the ball as the defender’s wall was organised. The ref was finally happy, and Manning took three steps and sent the most beautiful curling shot into the very top right corner of the net! Ward had no chance at all. Perfection, and a free kick which JWP would have been proud of. It was Manning’s first goal for Saints as well. I think this might have been the point where I lost my voice...

1-1, and the fourth official held the board up showing six minutes. To say the stadium was rocking now was an understatement, as the Saints fans roared on the team.

The minutes ticked away, and Saints were passing it around at the back, then with less than a minute left, Charles sent a long, long pass from deep in the half, right to the feet of Manning on the left. Outstanding. Manning looked up and squared it across the face of the goal, where Downs missed it, only for Jack Stephens, running in like an express train, to thump the ball into the net off the underside of the crossbar. And the crowd went wild!!! 2-1.

There was just enough time for the kick-off and a few nervous seconds of meaningless football. The Saints fans were already in full voice, celebrating. Except for me, as whatever voice I did have after the equaliser had now deserted me. The incompetent ref finally blew the whistle, and we had only witnessed Saints win their opening fixture of the season for the first time in eleven years. It is also worth noting that even with six forwards on the pitch, it was the defenders who scored the goals.

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Man of the Match

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Really, this feels a little bit mean, given the heroics of Manning and Stephens, but I was really struck by the improvement in Shea Charles’ game. He was excellent today, and the pass to Manning, which led to the winning goal, was out of this world. So he is my first MoM of the new season.