ricardo 7,395 Posted August 16, 2014 I won''t bore you with number of times I''ve strolled up to CRfor the first game of the season with more hope than expectation but it''scertainly more than I care to recall. It was a nice afternoon for football andafter last weeks disappointment I wasn''t at all surprised to see Alex Tetty andLafferty among the starters.It was a strange sort of opening to the game as City immediately conceded aneedless free kick in a dangerous position. Thankfully Ruddy held a low shotand set City on the attack down the right only for Redmondto collapse in a heap, seemingly felled by a punch. We all cheered wildly asMr. Tierney flashed as early a red card as you are ever likely to see and itwas advantage City. It was no surprise that City went on to dominate possessionand with Tetty and Johno we had a solid base for everything to flow through toWes and the forwards.Watford defended stoutly as City found it hard toconvert their dominance into chances. Turner headed over and Redmondblazed wildly when handily placed but it was all a little untidy in the finalthird. Lafferty looked a real handful and has quick feet for a big man. Heshowed up nicely in one run on the left where he tricked his way past threetackles only to be felled on the edge of the box. The resulting freekickdrifted into the side netting in another example of Redmondsfrustrating wastefulness.Johno almost broke the deadlock when his strong shot from 20 yards was onlyjust deflected a foot wide with the keeper scrambling. The opening goal was a longtime coming but when it did it was a thing of beauty.Laffers and Wes combinedwell in the box before the ball was laid back to Johno who swept the ball highover the keeper and into the far top corner. Relief all round because thefrustration was certainly beginning to show. Now City began to cut Watfordapart at will, Johno could have had another with a powerful rising drive andLaffers, Wes and Grabban all had chances to increase the lead. Fortunately forthe Hornets the halftime whistle went just as they were starting to look reallygroggy.From the off we saw Watford trying to get their passinggame going and Ruddy was called into action with a good block. City quicklyregained the initiative and in a sweeping move involving Johno, Wes and Whits,Lafferty was only inches away from converting a low cross into the six yardbox. There was some good stuff on show now and although playing against ten menmakes it difficult to judge, City were definitely looking a class above Watford.On the hour the game was made safe as first Grabben lobbed a beauty over thekeeper after prolonged City pressure. Then Wes robbed a Watforddefender and swift movement left Tetty with a clear opening from just outsidethe area. His powerful grass cutter arrowed inside the post giving Gomes nochance. It was game over and we then saw a flurry of substitutions from bothside which upset the flow of the game for while. Wes, Laffers and Tettydeparted to great applause and O''Neil, Bennettand Fer came on.When things settled normal service was resumed as City made chance afterchance. The Watford defence somehow survived thispressure but in truth there was far too much wasteful play for my liking. Ferslotted back in like he''d never been away as City strode through the Hornets defenceat will.We could easily have had six or seven goals today had we been a bitsharper up front. Redmond twice, Whits, Fer and Grabben all missed acceptableopenings although Johno, was a shade unlucky when his diving header in injurytime was deflected for a corner.It could and should have been more but I suppose it''s churlish to grumble at athree goal victory. MOM for me was Johno closely followed by Alex Tetty and Wesand with a special mention to Kyle Lafferty who I predict will become a bigfavourite at CR. He has a great physical presence and it''s something we havelacked since Holty''s departure.All things considered, Ricardo is massively encouraged by today''s performance. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Monty13 2,234 Posted August 16, 2014 Thanks Ricardo, good report as always. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
calriv 0 Posted August 16, 2014 Cheers Ricardo, good stuff.Watford fans online were saying it was a red card as well, even joking that Redmond was lucky to stay on the pitch after running into Ekstrand''s elbow. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,395 Posted August 16, 2014 Sorry about the blurb top and bottom. I''ve been having problems posting. Either the site or my browser playing up. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Katie Borkins 1 Posted August 16, 2014 Couldn''t go today as my tomatoes needed harvesting, so thanks for this report. Glad it was a positive opening home game, pleased to see Grabban score and always pleasantly surprised to hear Johnson played well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
gabba 0 Posted August 16, 2014 Sums it up really, a dull pedestrian performance but a good day out. At least it''s a nice evening to be in the pub chatting to real fans after all the plastics have gone home. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Paul101 93 Posted August 16, 2014 Couldn''t go today as my tomatoes needed harvesting, so thanks for this report. Glad it was a positive opening home game, pleased to see Grabban score and always pleasantly surprised to hear Johnson played wellbumper crop this year as well Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ricardo 7,395 Posted August 16, 2014 [quote user="Bor Bor Bor"]Couldn''t go today as my tomatoes needed harvesting, so thanks for this report. Glad it was a positive opening home game, pleased to see Grabban score and always pleasantly surprised to hear Johnson played well.[/quote]Cheaper to buy tomatoes than grow them. I''m surprised you haven''t found a more profitable crop Bor.[;)] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Dubai Mark 0 Posted August 17, 2014 Thanks Ricardo, and I am not surprised to hear how good BJ''s performance was, just what we need in this league and he will be crucial for us this season. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Cosmic Twin 189 Posted August 17, 2014 Thanks Ricardo! [:)] Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Number 9 0 Posted August 17, 2014 We have had bumper crops of most vegetables this year but tomatoes been pants.Oh dear Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
......and Smith must score. 1,343 Posted August 17, 2014 [quote user="ricardo"]Sorry about the blurb top and bottom. I''ve been having problems posting. Either the site or my browser playing up.[/quote] That''s good. I was wondering what the '' Normal 0 - Microsoft/Internet/Explorer 4 '' scoreline was doing up there.......[;)] Good report as usual by the way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Horse Renoir 1 Posted August 17, 2014 Have a look at the BBC match report. There is no way in hell we only had 62% possession! Watford barely touched the ball the whole game! It must have been closer to 80%On a side note from that, yes it''s a league below and yes we had an extra man, but I haven''t seen us keep the ball that well or pass that incisively for ages!It appears for about the 14th season in a row our opening day performance was a cursed mess that you can''t read anything into regarding our chances this season.We look so much more confident, motivated, fitter and more technically sound than the last two years.Can''t wait for Tuesday now, although, I''d take a 8-0 humping if it meant we won on Saturday instead :P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites