Andy Munro watches Friday night’s Blues v Albion 1-1 draw.
Blues came up against a talented Baggies side, but yet again dominated proceedings with their brand of high intensity football. The star man was hero and villain Jota, who was generally irrepressible and notched a well-taken opener to earn a short-lived hero status. Short-lived, because he had the chance to virtually wrap up the match from the spot but failed to take the opportunity, although credit to Johnstone in the Baggies goal for making the save.
Then Matt Phillips showed his quality and determination by dispossessing Pederson and slotting the ball past Lee Camp, who should probably have done better at the near post. In truth, Phillips gave our full back a torrid time, which resulted in a performance akin to Jonathan Grounds on a bad day.
Luckily the rest of the defence were excellent, undoubtedly assisted by the non-stop midfield duo of Gardner and Kleftenbeld, shielding them whilst dominating their opponent’s far more talented (on paper at least) midfield.
Maghoma continues to be a handful while, up front, Jutkiewicz was a packet of trouble for Albion’s rather uncertain central defenders. If only his foil, Che Adams, could have put in a shift. The latter looks short on confidence and seems to be easily bullied. On that basis, Gary Monk probably needs to start Bogle and then bring on Adams hopefully as an impact player.
Still, it was another entertaining match with Blues playing a major part in that and before the match, most of us would have probably taken a point. But we desperately need that win as soon as possible.