Match Report: Stevenage 0-1 Blues

Blues make it 18 unbeaten with victory at Stevenage thanks to a late Jay Stansfield winner.

Birmingham City qualified for the semi-finals of the Vertu Trophy thanks to a 1-0 win at Stevenage.

Both sides had opportunities on the night but Blues were the better side and their quality eventually told with Jay Stansfield prodding beyond Taye Ashby-Hammond to give his side the win.

Davies made eight changes from the side that beat Rotherham United on Saturday with Christoph Klarer, Alex Cochrane and Kieran Dowell the players to retain their spots. Grant Hanley made his full debut while there were rare starts for Lukas Jutkiewicz and Luke Harris.

Both sides had early openings but it wasn’t until the 17th minute that a goalkeeper was forced into action, Dowell showcasing a deft touch before rifling on target. Harris couldn’t connect cleanly with an Alfie May cross while at the other end, Dan Sweeney headed over a corner then played in Jake Young only for the shot to be deflected over the bar.

Patient play on the right between May, Dowell and Wright led to the latter turning and striking sharply, bringing the best out of Ashby-Hammond. The keeper was less bothered by an effort from Jutkiewicz from distance.

Stevenage thought they had taken the lead when Young played Elliot List in behind to feed Daniel Kemp for a tap-in. Fortunately for Blues, the offside flag was raised. The final effort before half-time came courtesy of more link up between Dowell and Wright, the latter crossing for May whose header dipped just wide of the far post.

Wright and Dowell started the second half the way they ended the first, the former cutting back for the latter to shoot powerfully at goal. A minute later and Dowell had a shot deflected before Harris found the target.

After Kemp fired wide, the hosts had their best chance of the game. Carl Piergianni played a long ball forward that clipped the heel of Krystian Bielik and fell kindly for Elliot List, who beat Klarer only to see Bailey Peacock-Farrell deny him. The winger was then found by Nick Freeman’s cross but blazed over.

That was as good as it got for them as Blues retook control. Klarer played in May who struck over on his left side. A near post corner ended up at the feet of Keshi Anderson but defensive bodies got in the way. And a long ball dropped nicely for Stansfield who couldn’t make the most of it having moved into the area.

He wouldn’t waste his next opportunity. A poor clearance from Peacock-Farrell was then poorly headed by Sweeney to the feet of Marc Leonard. The Scotsman picked his head up and found the run of Stansfield who took two touches before lifting the ball over Ashby-Hammond.

It was almost two shortly after, Stansfield sending Anderson in behind. And Chris Davies’ side had a goal disallowed when the referee adjudged Ethan Laird’s overhead kick prior to Bielik spanking the ball home as a foul.

It’s now 18 unbeaten in all competitions for Blues.

Lineups

Stevenage: Ashby-Hammond; Freeman Sweeney Piergianni Freestone; White (Phillips 75) Thompson; Roberts (Reid 75) Kemp List (Doherty 87); Young (Appere 75). Unused: Mahoney; Bates Brown.

Blues: Peacock-Farrell; Bielik Klarer Hanley (Laird 70) Cochrane; Leonard Dowell; Wright (Stansfield 70) May (Dykes 80) Harris (Anderson 57); Jutkiewicz (Iwata 57). Unused: Allsop; Sampsted.

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Tactics

It was 4-2-3-1 for Blues but a switch-up from the weekend with Bielik (RB) and Harris (LW) tucking inside to allow Cochrane (LB) and Wright (RW) to hold width. Leonard sat at the base of midfield with Harris and Dowell showing for the ball either side of him. That allowed May and Jutkiewicz to stay close together up top and occupy the centre-backs.

Stevenage struggled to deal with Blues’ attempts to play. They lined up in a 4-2-3-1 themselves with Kemp (AM) sitting on Leonard while White and Thompson (CMs) looked for Dowell and Harris. The front three, meanwhile, would take responsibility for Bielik, Klarer and Hanley but they didn’t overcommit to the press, usually two going and one sitting a little deeper to try and cut space for the forward pass.

However, they tended to find themselves caught between pressing and not pressing, watchful of the pass out wide. It meant Blues tended to have a man free to receive and because Stevenage would be reacting, there would either be space to step into or another option available. And with the midfield focused on the men they had been assigned to, Blues would make the most of the space that appeared, particularly Klarer, who would step forward through the middle, and May, who pull off or drop off Sweeney. This would force Piergianni and Freestone to drop more centrally, which then opened space for Wright and Dowell to get involved.

These issues only ramped up later in the game after Blues had made their changes. With Laird and Anderson now on both flanks, the full-backs were more occupied which left the centre-backs more isolated against Blues’ front two. I’ll share the goal later.

As for Stevenage with the ball, they would tend to go long from dead ball situation. The target tended to be List, who wanted to get up early. In general play, once the ball had been retrieved from Blues, they would play short in order to set themselves up to play longer, looking for the direct pass towards the front three, who all wanted to run off the shoulder and cause problems for Blues’ back three.

It helped them that Blues weren’t at their sharpest in the press. The number of changes combined with the personnel meant Blues weren’t quite as aggressive, so the centre-backs had time to get their head up and play the forward pass. The arrival of Iwata did plenty to snuff out danger defensively as far as Stevenage’s hopes of breaking away were concerned.

As eluded to above, Blues made tactical changes.

The first was when Iwata and Anderson replaced Harris and Jutkiewicz. Blues pushed Cochrane into central midfield next to Iwata. Dowell and Leonard were pushed on into attacking midfield positions behind May, who was now the lone striker. Anderson and Wright were out wide.

The next changes saw Stansfield and Laird replace Hanley and Wright. Blues moved back to the system they’ve played more recently. Cochrane and Bielik flanked Klarer in defence with Laird and Anderson holding the width. Leonard tucked in next to Iwata with Dowell and May now playing off Stansfield. Dykes then replaced Dowell a few minutes later.

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Players

A lot of changes on the night.

I thought Peacock-Farrell, who admittedly got away with one late on, was solid and stepped up when needed to deny List. Klarer and Cochrane were their usual selves. Bielik had a brainfart leading to the big chance but was otherwise sound.

Grant Hanley made his full debut. Nothing extraordinary but then, did we really expect it? He was solid. Won a couple of headers and duals. Moved the ball okay. You can see he’s very much a meat and potatoes centre-half.

Moving forward. I thought Leonard and Dowell were the two best players on the pitch. The former was tidy, composed and produced the assist late on. The latter oozes quality and class are gives us the kind of maverick qualities we’ve perhaps lacked at times.

Wright was lively and enjoyed himself down the right with Dowell and May, who was also his busy self. Harris had a couple of opportunities where he floated into the area. I don’t think he warrants the criticism he gets because he never phones it in and I thought his movement was good during his time on the pitch. Similarly, he just doesn’t offer enough and you can go 20 or so minutes forgetting he’s on the pitch. And Jutkiewicz started. One of his clunkier displays.

The substitutes made a positive impact and showcased the depth we have available. Iwata and Stansfield in particular were excellent.

For Stevenage, Ashby-Hammond was strong in goal and produced a couple of excellent stops. I thought Freestone did okay at left-back, particularly on the cover. Young was lively up top but ought to have taken a chance.

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Conclusions

Such is the uniqueness of this campaign for Blues fans, this was our first ever trip to the LAMEX. Fortunately, it was a victorious one.

This wasn’t an easy game. Stevenage are well drilled defensively, don’t concede many, are good in both boxes and capable of catching sides that aren’t on their game off guard. And so a team containing eight changes deserves credit for being pretty comfortable throughout. And we were away from home.

A win. A clean sheet. Unbeaten in 18. Through to the semi-final. Job done.

Last night showed why we have no excuses. The quality of the side we were able to put is a joke given we made eight changes. And we’ve still got Paik, Willumson and Hansson to return.

I’m loathe to go too deep on an EFL Trophy game. Especially one that was comfortable and meant we didn’t learn too much. What I will say is that the squad deserve so much credit for continuing to work hard and win football matches given the games we’ve played recently and the next game on the horizon.

Newcastle United. We admittedly haven’t played them too much in the recent past – our last game was under Gianfranco Zola in a goalless draw against Rafa Benitez's Magpies – but we haven’t beaten them since that win at their place in 2007. We’ve won 2 of 19 matches since our promotion to the Premier League in 2002.

The chances are that we won’t be winning this one either. And watching them obliterate Arsenal and that defence gave me a little bit of fear, I can’t lie. Hopefully Isak or Gordon tweaked their hamstrings and need a rest.

But it’s the FA Cup. It’s a sold out St.Andrews. We’ll be full strength. They’ll likely make a few changes. We’ve got to dream right?

Keep Right On!