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Birmingham City (h) Premier Reserve League North
| |
Date: Thursday
27th April 2006, 7pm Venue: Kingston
Park |
|
Newcastle United |
0 - 0 | Birmingham City |
| Half time: | 0- 0 | |
 |
||
| Score Sheet: | ||
| Teams | ||
|
Forster |
Adam Legzdins |
|
| Substitutes: | ||
|
Critchlow for
O'Brien (39) Little for Gate (41) Carroll for Atkin (80) |
None | |
|
||
| Sub not used: | ||
| Cook |
Jake Meredith Stefan De Las Ryan Burge |
|
| Bookings: | ||
| None | None | |
| Dismissals: | ||
| None | None | |
|
||
| Referee: tbc | ||
|
||
| Attendance: 486 | ||
Goals |
Half time: Newcastle 0 City 0
Full time: Newcastle 0 City 0
We said |
Tommy Craig commented:
"It was a mediocre game and once again the pitch won. It made things difficult for both teams. It does mean we are unbeaten throughout the season at home and I am delighted.
"There were a lot of hard games this season, particularly again Man United and Aston Villa.
"For the squad as young as it is to go through the season unbeaten is an achievement at any level. It is always difficult to do that, but the lads have worked ever so hard.
"In the last few games they have buckled down and they have got their rewards.
"We ended up with seven Academy players on the pitch and sometimes you think they are a bit too young.
"But they get experience and it brings them on. If you get one through each season you are happy, but if you go back over the last few years we have had Shola Ameobi, Michael Chopra, Peter Ramage, Steven Taylor, Matty Pattison and Martin Brittain playing at first-team level."
Waffle |
Having started the season with the likes of Chopra, N'Zogbia, Elliott, Ramage and Clark in its ranks back in August, our reserve side completed an unbeaten sweep of home games on Thursday night with a rather less experienced line-up.
Injuries and callups have meant the likes of Chopra and Pattison being drafted into the senior side, while this week saw the last two players with first team experience (Brittain and O'Brien) both sidelined.
That meant that Tommy Craig's side for most of this game was composed entirely of youngsters who have played for our U18 Academy side in recent months - with midfielders Callum Little and Dean Critchlow debuting at this level, at the ages of 17 and 16 respectively.
Our opponents Birmingham
were in a similar situation, with Steve Bruce not allowing any of his injured
first-teamers the luxury of a runout before Saturday's do-or-die clash against
us at St.Andrews.
The rigours of the season looked to have taken its toll on both sides, neither
of whom were able to take the initiative in this game.
City struck a post from
close range just after the half hour mark, when James McPike crossed from the
right for Matthew Birley to get a header in.
And it was Birley again in the closing stages of the game who spurned the chance
to ruin our record, blasting over Forster's crossbar when well placed in front
of goal.
That would have been rough justice on United though, for whom substitutes
Critchlow and Carroll looked the most lively, while Carl Finnigan came close to
adding to his 16 goal haul in each half but put his efforts wide.
We ended the season
having won ten and drawn four of the fourteen league games at Kingston Park this
season - despite having to play on the increasingly rutted pitch that also hosts
Newcastle Falcons.
Biffa