I guess it came as near to being a banana-skin as we`d have liked.
Accrington Stanley were a credit to themselves and they should be given every credit for the performance they gave, at times matching us in most departments.
After the game, Roy Hodgson paid tribute to John Coleman`s side, in his post match interview whilst also having a dig at the poor quality of the pitch, whe he remarked,
“Credit to Accrington for a magnificent show, particularly in the first half.”
“We did not adapt well to the conditions at the start and the number of balls they whacked into our final third surprised us.”
“They made it difficult for us to get those balls out and pinned us back for long periods. The pitch was very bumpy and did not suit our style of play.”
“They gave our back four a tough test, that`s for sure, but we sorted it out towards the end of the half and were much better tactically in the second half.”
Perhaps the turning point though came just before half time when the referee, Stuart Atwell, flashed a red card in the direction of Darren Kempson, turning matters in our favour. Speaking about the red card Roy commented,
“Red cards do change games, so you have to make sure you don`t commit fouls that merit yellow cards.”
A fair enough comment and probably typical of Roy being the perfect diplomat he always is.
Finishing though, he returned to the threat of the tie being a potential banana-skin, explaining,
“We were there to be made mugs of as it was their Cup Final. At the end we looked fairly comfortable.”
It was their Cup Final but thankfully we now move on towards our own Cup Final, well a step nearer at least.
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