Match Report 2002-2003
Saturday 05 October, 2002, Division One
Preston North End At Valley Parade
Long and drawn out
When I first started going to City we used to draw all the time too if my memory is not playing tricks on me we used to draw against Preston too.
That was back in the so called Dark Days Of The Doc, John Docherty that is, long ball no finesse manager who got his City team from Millwall reserves and fell out with the squad he started with.
There are two ways a team that draws all the time can go. It can start scoring an extra goal a game and become a team that wins, think Bolton 1-1 and Sheff United 2-2 at Valley parade in Paul Jewell's promotion year, or it can start letting in an extra goal a game. Think relegation.
Nicky Law's boys are not the Doc's though. They are made of sterner stuff. Law calls them the team that does not know how to lose, I really believe that everyone in a claret and amber shirt is pulling in the direction of getting that extra goal a game and becoming a team of winners, the question is are we capable of it?
City lacked the cutting edge up front. The return of Ashley Ward [groan] was not going to turn the team into free scorers, Ashley Ward is anything but a free scorer, but Ward and Michael Proctor made a good pair. Ward cannot lead the line, Proctor can. If only there was a way of sending Ward back to Sunderland and keeping Proctor.
Proctor started the game for City 20 minutes after some uneventful football after a big surge from Lewis Emanuel picked him out in the middle and Proctor did one of those instinctive finishes that marks him as different to Ward. One touch on the turn and it was in. I'm not saying Proctor does everything better that Ward, I doubt Proctor would be able to give away as many free kicks in a week as Ward can do in 90 minutes for example.
That seemed to be pretty much it for City attacking for a while. Preston rushed the box twenty minutes later and Gus Uhlenbeek, Robert Molenaar and Stephen Warnock seemed to have laid a trip wire, a few mines and a number of rabbit holes for Ricardo Fuller. Certainly the Preston striker was not going to be given the chance to keep his feet as the City three each performed identical rubbish tackles on him. Graham Alexander scored the penalty.
Second half it was all fantastic saves for City and Steve Banks. How he got Richard Cresswell's point blank shot away just after the break is anyone's guess. On the whole Preston seemed happy enough with the draw they had come round and sat back trying to take chances when they popped up but having Steve Banks in the way.
Preston's win came down to a couple of duff moments for City. Andy Gray swung a peach of a cross in and that man Ward to miss by an inch, how unlucky- but how predictable that it was Ward left beating the turf. Gus Uhlenbeek completed his 'mere by scuffing an easy chance and could have been happy with his days work, had not a surprise been waiting for the Dutchman in injury time.
Gus applied a little pressure to Richard Cresswell as the ball ran out, nothing that does not happen 1,000,000 times on every Saturday in a season, but Cresswell went flying into the wall and obviously hurt himself. Perhaps it was the culmination of the pants game Gus had had that meant that he would not take Preston players giving him verbals. Scuffle broke you and Ricardo Fuller was sent down the tunnel.
Former Scotland boss and now Preston manager Craig Brown was obviously spitting feathers but what could Gus do? Let a guy steel the ball from him in injury time in his own box? Gus did nothing wrong but on a day when nothing went right it was no surprise that it ended in tears.
For City though, the way ahead has two routes. AN extra goal in or and extra goal out. We shall see.
Most of the Match
Gus Uhlenbeek
Did more stuff that anyone else, it just didn't work this week