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Radii · 09-19-2011, 01:28 PM

December 19th, 2020

Birmingham(12-4-2, 2nd) @ Ipswich (6-6-6, 9th)

Birmingham were predicted to finish 14th by the media but have been on a real tear and with a recent Arsenal loss have actually moved up to 2nd place. Despite that they're only 6:4 favorites to win today at Portman Road. We are 13:8 dogs. We're 2-1-3 lifetime against them, getting one of our very few EPL wins last time we were up over Birmingham.

Sylvain Berthet, long time MR/DR at Ipswich has been starting with some regularity for Birmingham. He's got a rating of 6.62 in 14 total matches with 1 goal

GK: Capitani
D: Kirkland/Henrique/Welsh/Jackson
M: Hughes/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon
F: Khan/Constantino

Birmingham are led by Colin Meade with 9 goals and 5 assists in 16 league starts. I seem to remember that name from the Championship, QPR? ...checks history... yep, QPR bought him from Man U for $6.5M a few years ago, and after 2 straight seasons of 33 goals in the championship, they sold him to Birmingham for $14.75M. Birmingham are the first team I think Ive seen run a sweeper...

Jackson is back in at DR. I decide to give Hughes another start after a solid performance last outing, and Mills is at MC over Mariga again.

Its raining pretty heavily out there today.

7': We get a free kick 25 yards out. Neil Gordon takes it, its a sharp bending effort around the wall and into the right side of the net by the diving keeper! 1-0

11': They build up quickly on offense, a pass in from the right by Berthet, it skips by ST Ba and into the area, Ba chases it down, he's in the area, Capitani rushes out and tries to dive onto the ball... but doesn't get it, Ba puts it in easily. Maybe that pass was intentional but it looked a hell of a lot like the rain and wet field was causing weird things to happen there. 1-1

13': Another free kick for us, this one is a little right of center about 20 yards out. Gordon takes it, its another solid shot bending around the wall... and into the net by the keeper!!! Two free kick goals for Neil Gordon!!! 2-1

16': We attack down the right, Jackson deep near the end line... he crosses to the far side of the 6 yard box, Hughes with the header, our first clear cut chance, but the keeper saves it.

33': They get a free kick 20 yards out.. off the wall and behind for a corner. Corner comes into the 6 yard box, there's a header.. its high, whew.

36': They pass it around on offense looking for an opening, finally they find it with a through ball to a man who has beaten Welsh badly... he strikes from 15 yards out, their second clear cut chance.. but Capitani saves it! Poor shot, he had lots of room there to do better, but good save nonetheless.

44': Jack Hughes is hurt, he has to leave the pitch.

45': Free kick for us, this one is a bit left of center, right at the edge of the area, the most dangerous position yet... Gordon takes it, and just buries it into the left side of the net, its a hat trick all from free kicks!!!! 3-1

HALF: They shoot 11 times to our 5, they only have 3 on target, we've put 4 on target but this is just 100% Neil Gordon today. 3 free kick goals, incredible! He's a set piece master, our focus on Constantino up the middle sees his brilliant crosses and corners often going to waste, but its awesome to see this kind of outburst today. Burton is in for the injured Hughes at the half.

49': defender Bent with a yellow.

70': Cestor Mike in for Kirkland, Guarin in for Donnelly, getting some of our lesser used players in for a bit.

88': Mike with a yellow.

We end it easily.

Ipswich 3 : 1 Birmingham

So yeah, a very workmanlike, confident win against the 2nd best team in the EPL right now. We are pretty damn good right now!

Man of the Match: Neil Gordon (9.6)
Goals: Gordon 3
Assists: Constantino 3 (7.8)
Notables: Jackson (7.2)

All other starters earn exactly a 6.9. We didn't see the plays leading up to the free kicks but it looks like they were all Constantino running around drawing fouls!

That was our 19th match so we're at the midpoint of the season.

Injury Update

-- Jack Hughes is out 2-3 weeks.

09-19-2011, 01:28 PM	#910
Radii Head Coach Join Date: Jul 2001	December 19th, 2020 Birmingham(12-4-2, 2nd) @ Ipswich (6-6-6, 9th) Birmingham were predicted to finish 14th by the media but have been on a real tear and with a recent Arsenal loss have actually moved up to 2nd place. Despite that they're only 6:4 favorites to win today at Portman Road. We are 13:8 dogs. We're 2-1-3 lifetime against them, getting one of our very few EPL wins last time we were up over Birmingham. Sylvain Berthet, long time MR/DR at Ipswich has been starting with some regularity for Birmingham. He's got a rating of 6.62 in 14 total matches with 1 goal GK: Capitani D: Kirkland/Henrique/Welsh/Jackson M: Hughes/Donnelly/Mills/Gordon F: Khan/Constantino Birmingham are led by Colin Meade with 9 goals and 5 assists in 16 league starts. I seem to remember that name from the Championship, QPR? ...checks history... yep, QPR bought him from Man U for $6.5M a few years ago, and after 2 straight seasons of 33 goals in the championship, they sold him to Birmingham for $14.75M. Birmingham are the first team I think Ive seen run a sweeper... Jackson is back in at DR. I decide to give Hughes another start after a solid performance last outing, and Mills is at MC over Mariga again. Its raining pretty heavily out there today. 7': We get a free kick 25 yards out. Neil Gordon takes it, its a sharp bending effort around the wall and into the right side of the net by the diving keeper! 1-0 11': They build up quickly on offense, a pass in from the right by Berthet, it skips by ST Ba and into the area, Ba chases it down, he's in the area, Capitani rushes out and tries to dive onto the ball... but doesn't get it, Ba puts it in easily. Maybe that pass was intentional but it looked a hell of a lot like the rain and wet field was causing weird things to happen there. 1-1 13': Another free kick for us, this one is a little right of center about 20 yards out. Gordon takes it, its another solid shot bending around the wall... and into the net by the keeper!!! Two free kick goals for Neil Gordon!!! 2-1 16': We attack down the right, Jackson deep near the end line... he crosses to the far side of the 6 yard box, Hughes with the header, our first clear cut chance, but the keeper saves it. 33': They get a free kick 20 yards out.. off the wall and behind for a corner. Corner comes into the 6 yard box, there's a header.. its high, whew. 36': They pass it around on offense looking for an opening, finally they find it with a through ball to a man who has beaten Welsh badly... he strikes from 15 yards out, their second clear cut chance.. but Capitani saves it! Poor shot, he had lots of room there to do better, but good save nonetheless. 44': Jack Hughes is hurt, he has to leave the pitch. 45': Free kick for us, this one is a bit left of center, right at the edge of the area, the most dangerous position yet... Gordon takes it, and just buries it into the left side of the net, its a hat trick all from free kicks!!!! 3-1 HALF: They shoot 11 times to our 5, they only have 3 on target, we've put 4 on target but this is just 100% Neil Gordon today. 3 free kick goals, incredible! He's a set piece master, our focus on Constantino up the middle sees his brilliant crosses and corners often going to waste, but its awesome to see this kind of outburst today. Burton is in for the injured Hughes at the half. 49': defender Bent with a yellow. 70': Cestor Mike in for Kirkland, Guarin in for Donnelly, getting some of our lesser used players in for a bit. 88': Mike with a yellow. We end it easily. Ipswich 3 : 1 Birmingham So yeah, a very workmanlike, confident win against the 2nd best team in the EPL right now. We are pretty damn good right now! Man of the Match: Neil Gordon (9.6) Goals: Gordon 3 Assists: Constantino 3 (7.8) Notables: Jackson (7.2) All other starters earn exactly a 6.9. We didn't see the plays leading up to the free kicks but it looks like they were all Constantino running around drawing fouls! That was our 19th match so we're at the midpoint of the season. Injury Update -- Jack Hughes is out 2-3 weeks.