Where did that second-half performance come from? It was a Good, Good Friday in the sunshine in the Potteries, that saw Bristol City win for the fifth straight time at the bet365 Stadium.
Lots of fans that I had spoken to before the game (and you know who you are!) expected nothing from the game, what with our recent run of results and the form of Stoke but two from Zak Vyner and Anis Mehmeti after half-time saw Nigel Pearson’s side claim an impressive win against the Potters who were still harbouring aspirations of a play-off place after an unbeaten run of five games which had seen them score five at Sunderland, three at home against Blackburn and four at Coventry City.
It’s funny how you get runs of games like this in football. It doesn’t seem to matter what the form table looks like; some teams just seem to have the hoodoo over others. Just look at how long we went before beating Preston North End.
I’ll admit to liking the away trip to Stoke, it’s not too far, is relatively easy to get to (ignoring Bank Holiday traffic) and there is a decent Harvester near the ground to enjoy something to eat and a couple of cheeky pints, chatting to fellow Robins fans before the game.
With an injury-ravaged squad, albeit with Kal Naismith, Tomas Kalas and Alex Scott nearing a return, Nigel Pearson made the one change, recalling Sam Bell to the starting line-up at the expense of Anis Mehmeti. It meant another start for youngster Omar Taylor-Clarke who spoke so well in the club's pre-match press conference a day or two before.
Like him or not, Pearson is always honest in his post-match assessment, and he admitted that we needed to sort ourselves out, having been awful in the first 15 minutes.
We were so slow out of the blocks, and we just couldn’t string two passes together. Players were rushing passes and we gifted Stoke possession. We weathered the storm and started to get a foothold in the game. One of the main reasons for this was the introduction of Andy King just after 20 minutes for Taylor-Clarke who had to leave the game with a tight calf.
King playing alongside Matty James ensured City started to take control of the middle of the pitch and we started to play it simpler. The left-hand side was particularly impressive with Jay Dasilva and Sam Bell causing Stoke all sorts of problems.
Dasilva is out of contract in the summer and if media reports are true, he so nearly left for Coventry City on transfer deadline day in January. I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t have lost much sleep if Jay had left, but when he plays like he did on Friday, I would be offering him a new contract, albeit on reduced wages.
Jay was excellent on the ball but also defended well. A run of games has helped him, but he has to find this level of consistency, and improve his final ball but I reckon like me, a few will have changed their minds on his contract situation and would offer him terms.
We should have taken the lead twice but wasted two really good opportunities. First of all, through Nahki Wells and then through Andi Weimann. Wells beat the offside trap after a through ball by George Tanner which Weimann failed to get a touch on, meaning Wells was onside from Tanner's ball.
He was clean through and from my view in the away end at the opposite end of the pitch, I thought his touch was heavy and with the keeper closing him down, he steered his left-footed shot wide. Having watched the game back, Wells did everything right aside from the finish.
Not long after, James spotted a run from Weimann and clipped a brilliant ball in, Jack Bonham in the Stoke goal came for the ball and Andi just needed to head the ball over the onrushing keeper. Unfortunately, Andi connected with his head onto his shoulder and the keeper was able to make the save. Had he got a full head to the ball, he would have surely scored.
We were to rue those chances when Stoke scored the opener before half-time. As they had done all of the first half Alex Neil’s side switched the play and Tyrese Campbell (who is the son of former Arsenal and Everton striker, Kevin) delivered a superb pass into the middle for Nick Powell to slot home. Campbell’s early ball, caught City out and Powell had been allowed to run unchallenged into the box to score.
Tommy Conway, still being managed back, was withdrawn at half-time. It was always the plan to only give Conway 45 minutes, but he had also suffered an ankle knock after a poor challenge and was replaced by Harry Cornick.
Like the King substitution, Cornick made an immediate difference. His physical presence and willingness to run gave the Stoke back line something different to think about. Ten minutes later we had the ball in the net through Weimann after a great delivery from Tanner but the captain was ruled to have made his run too early and it was chalked off for offside.
We were right in the game now and were playing some really good football and a deserved equaliser came and it was from an unlikely source. Vyner was in the box following a James free-kick and after Cornick challenged for the ball, Bell controlled the ball and whipped in a lovely cross for Vyner who had got across his man, to send a looping header over Bonham into the goal. The 1,100 fans made their feelings known and “sha la la la la la la, oh Zak Vyner” was reverberating around the away end.
Could we go on and make it five in a row? You bet365 we could. Mehmeti on for the impressive Bell, finished coolly from a perfectly-weighted Wells pass, following some great play and a nut-meg by Weimann to release the Bermudian. The away end was delirious. No one would have seen this coming after those opening 15 minutes. Zak’s first of the season and Anis’ first for the club sealing a brilliant come from behind win.
Zak agreed with his manager when interviewed after the game, “We didn’t start the game well at all. We had good chances in the first half, but we weren’t good enough and second half we showed what we can do.
“We locked it up and played it a bit more simple at the back, we got a couple of goals and from our second-half display. I think we deserved the three points.
“At half-time we had some stern words, and we came out and gave a good account of ourselves, we showed what we can do and that’s the level we need to be at from the off week-in, week-out.”
I read an interesting post on social media highlighting that 40 of Bristol City’s 58 goals this season have been scored or assisted by an academy graduate, that’s an incredible 69 per cent (thanks @FevsFootball). Massive kudos to Brian Tinnion and the academy coaching team and staff.
Our 3 Peaps In A Podcast Bonus show ratings were: Max O’Leary 6, George Tanner 7, Zak Vyner 8, Cameron Pring 6, Jay Dasilva 8 *MotM, Matty James 7, Omar Taylor-Clarke 5, Andreas Weimann 6, Sam Bell 8, Tommy Conway 5, Nahki Wells 6, Andy King 8, Harry Cornick 6 (subs have to have come onto the field before the 60th minute).
A game average of 6.62, and a season average of 6.30. For Nigel it was a 7, a great turnaround after looking all at sea in the first 20 minutes. Got the substitutions right and went for the win.
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