Robins squander chance

In my last blog entry I talked excitedly of where Bristol City might finish at the end of the season. I should, however, know better than to get ahead of myself as I have been supporting City long enough, 15 years in fact, to realise that things don’t always go as planned. Which was certainly the case on Saturday when we hosted Colchester United, a team second from bottom. And with the Robins flying at the top of the league, I could be forgiven for thinking this result was in the bag.

We started brightly and I was out of my seat prematurely on five minutes when I thought a looping header from Marvin Elliot was heading into the net. Unfortunately, his header was saved and within 60 seconds we found ourselves behind to a Kevin Lisbie goal. Our two centre backs, Liam Fontaine and Tamas Vasko looked all at sea when Lisbie was awarded too much space in the box, and sent a low curling effort past Adriano Basso and into the net.

The crowd responded in their usual fashion of urging the team on to bounce back, but I could sense we might be in trouble. Going forward we looked dangerous in the opening minutes, but at the back we were unsettled, our man marking not tight enough. Sure enough, Lisbie again found himself free in the box a few minutes later, but his effort was well saved by Basso. It was clear injured captain Louis Carey was being missed, but it was far too early for manager Gary Johnson to make a substitution.

From then on though, we improved. A tactical switch with wingers Michael McIndoe and Ivan Sproule swapping sides paid dividends on 32 minutes when Sproule ghosted past two defenders in the box and smash an equaliser into the net. Two minutes later we scored again when McIndoe’s free kick was well saved by Dean Gerken only to fall to Vasko, who bundled the ball over the line for City’s second. Celebrations were short lived as the referee’s assistant put his flag up for offside.

From where I was sitting it was hard to tell and I haven’t seen a TV replay yet so I can’t comment. But the players’ reaction clearly said it was a goal. Minutes later, McIndoe saw an effort hit the crossbar and the team headed to the dressing rooms at 1-1.

In the second half there were chances squandered at either end and penalty appeals turned down from both sides. I got the feeling this wasn’t going to be our day and that proved to be the case, with the game ending 1-1. Walking away from the game, to say I was disappointed was an understatement. This was a game that should have been won if we are seriously going to mount a challenge for promotion and instead we dropped two points. The funny thing though, was that the result sent us to the top of the Championship after Watford’s defeat to Preston, even if it was only for a few hours.

Reading the papers this morning I discovered that Gary Johnson locked his players in the dressing room for half an hour to tell them where they had gone wrong. It is clear we need to be more creative at times and certain players need to just take a chance if one comes along. With the January transfer window open I am hoping a striker might be on Gary’s shopping list.

Next up is Crystal Palace, who have gone 14 games unbeaten, so there is no chance the team will be complacent here. Neil Warnock has done a fantastic job but surely this unbeaten run has to come to end sometime. Looking on the bright side, after 27 games we have 48 points and sit proudly in one of the automatic promotion spots so things are not looking too bad!

ANDY DAVIES