Ah well, never mind. FA Cup over for another year. It was a nice day out.
I’ve read (and heard) some strange comments on this match. Yes Everton deserved their win but it was nothing as one-sided as the score-line would suggest. I think there is a lot of hindsight analysis going on. Let me briefly (because I don’t have much time) tell you how I saw it (“yes, please” I can hear you cry).
We started fairly brightly, moving the ball around and having marginally better territory. There didn’t seem to be much to worry about. Unfortunately, as was to happen a lot in the first half, Deano, who was out right was not offering as much defensive cover as one might like and Wright was not having a great time. This was giving Kilbane and McFadden too much space. And so after ten minutes a ball was whipped in from the left and the Everton striker managed to get in front of our central defender and stab it into the net.
Notwithstanding the disappointment of that we continued to hold our own reasonably well. Thornton was in midfield (alongside Robinson) and was doing a canny job of looking for openings. Stewart was continuing his good recent form looking to link up and the centre backs were looking unworried. Unfortunately, after half an hour Beattie got the ball. That is usually a very safe situation for a defending side and so it looked like it was going to be as he passed it back to Myrhe who stooped down to pick it up. Inexplicably at the last moment the otherwise faultless Danny Collins stabbed at the ball right in front of Myrhe and into the net. The goal may have been credited to Beatttie, but in reality he had little to do with it.
Over the first half we actually had had the two best chances – one that Whitehead fluffed from just a few yards out (the ball was bouncing at speed but still) and one that Robinson (I thought but someone else said Deano again) got a nice curling, glancing shot to that just went past the post. Nevertheless Everton from one attempt on goal were two up. Don’t get me wrong Everton looked the mature, experienced side they are but this was no walkover and 2-0 was a bit harsh.
Second half we tried to make a game of it. We had a couple of decent chances. Elliott in particular looked like he would score when he broke through but his shot went agonisingly past the post. We went 3-4-3 after half an hour as Brown was brought on for Wright. We struggled to break them down but it is hard to get too despondent about that. Everton paid us the compliment of sitting behind the ball. Away from home the chances of a young championship team breaking down an experienced top 4 premiership team are slim. Credit to the lads for sticking to it.
Near the end a ball was floated over from the right and Cahill snuck in to beat any marking and get a clear header. Personally I thought Myrhe should have got it but into the net it went.
This was a good run out for the lads. 3-0 is harsh – personally I thought a one goal margin would have been enough. Pundits and Everton fans are now able to relax and tell us how easy it all was. Tellingly the Everton supporters at the game were nervous enough to stay silent until after the third goal went in. As I said, hindsight is a wonderful thing. A good day out for a 6,000 strong red and white army who supported the lads throughout and gave them a good ovation at the end. This game will have helped our promotion push because the young ‘uns will have benefited from having pitted themselves against a much better side than they will face otherwise. As we made ourselves comfortable in the Arkles on Stanley Park at 11 AM and contemplated Friday night at Wolves and then a trip down to Brighton it reminded us how much better being in the premiership is. We want it back.
