Brooks at 90+3

Hull City U23 1 v Sheffield United U23 2

U23 Professional Development League, North

Played at North Ferriby United

Monday 12 February 2018

SUFC 2017/18 Game 58

That was the 204th different ground I have watched a Sheffield United XI play on. All teams, ages, competitions & surfaces.

Beer Roundup

Day out in Hull. Lovely. That’s what we’re here for. I sort of got my pub planning the wrong way around. I was in the best place first. And, it all felt a little bit downhill from there. Although I have to say, I thoroughly enjoyed ALL the beers.

So, Bar Of The Day award can go to Furley & Co. I've got it as ten pukka craft keg. And, a great varied, pick the bones out of that lot, selection it was. Five ditto Cask. Really, really great place.

Roosters & Magic Rock Collab, Northern Powerhouse on keg at 4.5%. Billed as US Session IPA.
I loved that one from the get go. Pulls up nice & bitter from the off. Fairly neutral smell. There is a bit of lemon citrus swirling in. Superb.

Gene Pool Brewing, Paleo on cask at 3.9%. (Vintage Bar). Great beer. Full of flavour. At first, I thought it was a bit tart. But, just my buds playing tricks on me. Balanced & packs a punch for 3.9%.

Timothy Taylor, Ram Tam on cask at 4.3%. (George Hotel). Dark, Winter style. Fairly gentle. A little bit of everything. Some spice. Some sugar. Goes towards bitter. Thick & chunky. Incidentally, there was a cabal of locals stood front & centre at the bar. As I stared through, round, over them to see the clips, I became the butt of some joke or other. Bar lady sort of joined in with them. I gave ‘em the old “I don’t know why I’m looking anyway, I’ve been told it all comes out of the same barrel”. To shut them up. Which it did. But, it’s not good to take the piss out of a random guy walking in. Marked down for that.

Half Moon, Old Forge Bitter on cask at 3.8%. (The Whalebone). Malty. With a nice leap into some peach action. And, some bitter. Nice beer. All nicely balanced. Keeps you interested. Proper, decent cask beer.

U23 League Roundup

That win puts us back into contention. Up to Third. 31 points from 20 games. Ten games to go now. SWFC are three points above us, also from 20 games. Bolton are top - 34 points, but from only 19 games. It’s top two for a Play Off spot. (No promotion - the top two in the North play off with the top two in the South to decide an overall winner). We’ve played both SWFC & Bolton twice already - so, no six pointers we can take advantage of.

Today’s Game

I’m going to say. Overall. I think Hull were marginally the better side. Counts for nothing though. We’ve won it at the death - 90+3 on my watch - last kick of the game. In the first half, Hull started very lively. They were quick, accurate & strong. At times, I felt we were disjointed & we really struggled to get anything going. But, we deffo had our moments & we stayed in it. We had just about the best chance of the first half - worked it well on our left. Norrington-Davies got on it - but blazed his shot a little too high. Certainly not overrun - just that Hull shaded it for me. David Brooks, comeback trail from injury, came on for the second half. Made the first goal. Scored that injury time winner. Looked the most composed player on the park. He’s made the difference really - instrumental in Utd winning it.

I’ve been critical of Sam Graham recently. But, I thought he had a better game today. Maybe having Heneghan in the centre of three helped anchor it all a bit. Graham was on the right. (Jordan Doherty filling in again on the left). Callum Semple was an unused sub. Injuries, suspensions, poor form aside - Graham, Heneghan & Semple should be the best three Blade Centre Backs at this level. They’ve not had a chance to start together yet. If/when - maybe we’ll get a bit of consistency back. NONE of those will play in the middle of a three on Day One if they ever break into the first team. So, ALL of them need some experience on the left/right. Actually, accommodating everyone at U23 will become a bit of a problem.

Stephen Mallon set up as Right Wing Back. And, basically, he’s all Left Foot. Glides around with the ball wherever he is. I’m a fan. But, he surely can’t make it long term on the right. It’ll be him (Mallon) & Rhys Norrington-Davies for the Left Wing Back slot. Or, Mallon will have to “dislodge” Slater, Gilmour or Hallam (no. 10) in midfield. Nice problem to have. And, there’ll be injuries, dips, rotation, etc.

I thought Regan Slater was a bit off tonight. His standards have slipped a little recently. He was anonymous in parts. And, was a touch petulant. Berating his colleagues at times. Needs to get back in his groove. And. I’m going to say that Hugo Warhurst looked confident & comfortable tonight. Dealt well with crosses. The Hull equaliser looked a mess though. A corner dropped right into the six yard mixer wasn’t dealt with. Warhurst actually makes a very good save low to his left. But, the rebound is scrambled home.

Kieron Freeman came on at 60 minutes for the start of his comeback trail. He replaced Jordan Hallam - and slotted into Right Wing Back. Allowing Stephen Mallon to move into midfield (see above….) Freeman was assured & comfortable. He wasn’t actually “cruising”. But, he was sort of “nursing” his way in. Just getting used to the grass. In the main, no bombing runs, not much overlapping. But, confident & on the money. No dramas.

OK. The Brooks Show. You get the chance to be very close to the action at grounds such as North Ferriby. Maybe it’s that. Maybe it’s an optical illusion. Maybe it’s happening. But, he looks bigger to me. Still wiry. But, a touch taller. More upright. We had a bit more of killer cross field ball Brooks than mazy nutmegging lunatic Brooks tonight. A bit of a free role. They do that deliberately so that Binnion can get at it on the touchline - “Brooksy - Brooksy - Brooksy”. But mainly attacking central midfield - with Ty Smith & Jake Wright looking up the channels in front of him. What can I say. He just makes shit happen. Three minutes in - he’s popped up on the right - took a few on - good low cross - Hallam foxing in the boxing - gets on it at the near post - never in doubt.

And, a lovely bit of confusion for that 90+3 winner. The Carrier Bag Firm had, by that time, formed a pincer movement phalanx to ward off any ambush by the Hull Firm. Two in the centre of the main stand. Two (inc me) stood on the far right - near the touchline the Young Blades were attacking. Brooks was a-flicking & a-wiggling. Got free of his marker. Tearing down on the keeper. Looked from our position (on the side) like a little dink over the keeper. “Yes - it’s in” ….. Except the ball ends up on the track - not in the back of the net. What’s happened there? - Ref gives it - Brooksy wheels away for a simple celebration. Hole in the net is what. In fact the Lino on our side has had an equipment ‘mare. Hole in his net & his flag has fallen apart in the first half. Amateur Hour.

Then having given it the old - “go on Brooksy - Yes, it’s in … CONFUSION …. Superb Brooksy”. The Hull PA announce Jake Wright Jnr as the goalscorer. The Carrier Bag Firm form up again on point. And, one of the others also thinks it might have been Wright who scored. Weren’t…...

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