Reserves vs Fulham : Match Report

[limpid]

Aston Villa 7 (Seven) - Fulham 1.

Seven. That’s right.

I keep telling you to come to the reserves don’t I? Well I’ve got to tell you, this was the best advert for reserves football you’re likely to see in a long time. It’s not often you get to see a Villa side score seven goals!

Team news to start us off, and one of the pleasant surprises to come from the signings of John Carew and Ashley Young is that we can start reserve games with a front two of Juan Pablo Angel and Luke Moore. Berger played in behind them and Osbourne played as a holding midfielder, add Martin Laursen at the back and Stuart Taylor in goal and it’s a very experienced line up.

We even got an experienced referee, with Dermot Gallagher finding his level.

It was a cold night at Villa Park. In fact I’m not sure that does it justice. It was so cold that if you spat you could hear it bounce. Colder than a polar bears toe, colder than my Albion supporting Mrs on the day they went down. In short, it was quite cold.

In my last report I enjoyed myself so much I forgot to include the result and the goals, I can’t really describe this game in any other way. So here they are:

0-1 Fulham score with a free kick. Which I think took a deflection. In retrospect, I think they’ll consider this a mistake.

1-1 Moore with a firm finish over the keeper from the corner of the area after being played in by Osbourne

2-1 Ozzy battles for it, brings it down, takes on two players and finishes from the left side of the area. Lovely.

3-1 Patrick Berger with a fabulous free kick from about five yards outside the box. The keeper never looked like moving.

4-1 Angel brings down a cross and slots it past the by now concerned looking Fulham keeper.

5-1 Moore again; a good ball in to him by Berger, and inside the box he turned a man and poked it past the keeper. Very nicely done.

6-1 McGurk nodding into an empty net from about three feet after Stieber had caused chaos down the left.

7-1 Stieber stabbing home after a fantastic run by McGurk.

But you know; we could have had as many again, chances were created by the bucketload, and by the final whistle Fulham looked like a team that didn’t want to play football again. Unfortunately for them they face us again next Tuesday at Motspur Park (Wherever that is.) I’m sure they’ll look forward to it.

Here are some player ratings:

Taylor (7) – Made one save, caught four of five crosses, didn’t have a chance with their free kick. Probably his most important contribution was his shouting. Which was excellent.

Eric Lund (7) – Looked solid enough and is a good size. Strangely he didn’t really get forward much despite the fact that we scored seven. Gave us a good base down the right though.

Stephen O’Halloran (6) – Likes defending. I can tell he likes defending as he keeps giving the ball to the opposition so that they can attack. Got better as the game went on, and if he can just improve his passing he’s good at just about everything else.

Martin Laursen (10) – He’s fit. If he’s not fit he’s even better than I thought. Those that think Cahill needs a rest just got a very impressive weight added to their argument. Didn’t put a foot wrong all game, passed the ball well, should have scored from a corner early on and could have had a couple. Played the game at his own pace and completely dominated it. Fantastic performance.

Sam Simmonds (8) – Not a player I’ve seen before, looks a little on the small side for a centre half but looked a decent prospect. He seems fairly quick, positionally he’s good and he looks pretty much unflappable. I’d like to see him again in a tougher match, but I like what I’ve seen so far.

Isaiah Osbourne (8) – Runs like a newborn horse. Occasionally looks like he’s not in control of his body, but has the uncanny knack of being able to find a ball at the end of one of his legs. His goal was excellent and he worked extremely hard, his passing was good and he gave Berger a good platform.

Marc Albrighton (10) – With all these first teamers about, one of the young lads had a chance to step up and prove he could play at the same level. Step forward Marc Albrighton. A constant menace down the right, he dominated the Fulham defence producing a series of excellent crosses. Worked his socks off and reminded me a fair bit of James Milner. I’ve seen him three times now and been impressed each time. I think it’s fair to say I like this one and think he could have a future.

Zoltan Steiber (8) – Too young and too small for this level I would say. Tonight though in a very attack minded performance he showed some great skill, setting up at least one of the goals and scoring himself. If his body can grow to reflect his talent, he could be a fantastic player. It’ll be very interesting to watch him in next years reserve team.

Juan Pablo Angel (8) – The good: Some of his passing tonight was as crisp as tomorrows frost. His link up play was as ever excellent, and more than that he displayed a range of passing that was a pleasure to watch. One ball over the top of the right back that sent Moore through one on one was right out of the top drawer.

The bad: His finishing, he could have had a hat-trick before he scored, he should have had two more before he was substituted on the hour.

Luke Moore (8) – A slow start, but once he got interested he looked like scoring every tine we went forward. Lead the line well, scored two good goals, missed chances for another three. He won’t believe he hasn’t scored a hat trick. He looks close to full fitness to me.

Patrik Berger – (10) It’s not so long ago that he got into trouble for not wanting to play for the reserves. Tonight he was Captain.

I’ve said before that Berger can sometimes show you glimpses of Zidane at this level. He was superb in this match. His free kick was fantastic, his passing dazzling, and his work rate excellent. For a man who didn’t like reserve team football he doesn’t half look like he’s enjoying himself! It’s strange to think that whilst it might be true that he was bought to keep Milan Baros company, it’s the exit of Baros that seems to have sparked the Berger renaissance.

Subs :

Adam McGurk (8) - Showed some good touches, it’s the first time I’ve seen him, and I like him. Tall, dribbles well, makes good runs and has an eye for goal. I look forward to seeing more of him.

Yago Bellon (6) – Should have scored with his first touch, struggled to get into after that in a brief appearance.

Christopher Herd (6) – Another that struggled to make an impression in a fairly short appearance. Did okay. I suspect like Stieber he’ll make an impact next season.

And that was that, other than to say that this Fulham team had only conceded eight goals in their previous eight games, and are by no means the whipping boy of this league. If you’re in London and you’ve the foggiest idea how to get to Motspur Park I’d strongly recommend you do just that next Tuesday.

I’ve seen a performance of verve and style, justly rewarded with a hat full of goals, I’ve been roundly entertained and I’ve found a new favourite in Marc Albrighton. If you live in Brum and you’ve watched Coronation Street instead, shame on you. Your next chance to put that right is against Charlton on the 20th February at Bescot Stadium: Kick off seven pm.

[LancsVillan]

for those thinking about next Tuesday ( I am but need to check where I'll be first)

Fulham FC Training Ground, Motspur Park, New Malden, Surrey, KT3 6PY

M25 junction 10 then A3 towards Central London. Exit the A3 at junction with A2043 and take right turn over A3 into Malden Road. Turn left in Motspur Park Road turning for ground.


By Rail

Nearest Station is Motspur Park, a 20 minute journey from Waterloo. On exiting Motspur Park Station, turn right and walk over the rail track, our home pitch is 200 metres down Motspur Park Road.[/code]

[Coleshill_Villa24]

Marc Albrighton (10) – With all these first teamers about, one of the young lads had a chance to step up and prove he could play at the same level. Step forward Marc Albrighton. A constant menace down the right, he dominated the Fulham defence producing a series of excellent crosses. Worked his socks off and reminded me a fair bit of James Milner. I’ve seen him three times now and been impressed each time. I think it’s fair to say I like this one and think he could have a future.

Yes, I thought the young lad from Tamworth did really well last night!

[blandy]

Lovely report.

Makes me wish I hadn't been sat in a nice warm pub drinking Ale in the chilly north

[tonyh29]

Motspur park is only 20 mins away from me , might have to take my Fulham fan mates along ... :-)

PS

Didn't Berger sign before Baros ?

[sheriffvilla]

We even got an experienced referee, with Dermot Gallagher finding his level.

Good job on the report mate, enjoyed that.

Aint managed to get to a reserve game yet this season, I have managed at least one the last few years so hopefully will get in there at some point soon,

[OldFart]

The last 2nd team match I went to was on 24/1/70. It was FA Cup 4th round day and Villa had already been knocked out. The previous Monday Ellis had sacked his first manager, Tommy Docherty, and some of us started the first ever Ellis Out chant. Used to watch the 3rd team though at the Dunlop ground, because they usually played at home on the Saturday mornings of home matches.

You're never going to get match reports on reserve matches anything like as good as the kind of thing OutByEaster? has produced. All the detail on the different players I find particularly interesting. Unless you can actually get to go to these games, all these names such as McGurk and Lund remain just that, mere names.

So OutByEaster? (10)

[sheriffvilla]

24/1/70... some of us started the first ever Ellis Out chant.

Jeez, talk about putting a little perspective on things!

Totally agree on the

So OutByEaster? (10)

by the way.

I linked to the OS for a report on this yesterday, but I will damn well be linking to this article too when I finish this post.

[sheriffvilla]

I linked to the OS for a report on this yesterday, but I will damn well be linking to this article too when I finish this post.

Just for you OBE, this has now been done.

[OutByEaster?]

Thank you very much fella's. Very kind.

:oops: