A day to forget for the Lions as they slumped to their worst defeat for many a season. Players failed to turn up literally and metaphorically with individual errors contributing to a truly horrendous team performance that frankly got the spanking it deserved. There may be some mitigation by the fact that we were playing one of the strongest teams in our division after two weeks off. However, we had the opportunity after the first half to regroup and get ourselves back into the game, but once the fourth goal went in we just capitulated. We learned something about ourselves as a team during this game and it wasn't flattering.
So what actually happened? As neither of the two keepers named in the squad turned up, yours truly had to step in yet again (yes, it's another massive scoreline against my name). From the kick off, Albion were sharper and more accurate in their passing, quicker into the challenges and just more up for it. We on the other hand looked liked we'd had two weeks off and were sluggish in every way. We gave the ball away cheaply and struggled to keep up with their movement off it. In previous games, we've gotten away with slow starts like this: today was when it finally caught up with us.
They'd already had a couple of early chances when they just cut through our defence and the keeper made decent saves each time (gotta get some props in for myself, there weren't many) but their first goal came from their striker being found in the box by a through ball with no-one in a Lion shirt near him. His shot curled inside the netting via the keeper's fingertips to take Albion one up. Their second came from another through ball that the Albion player got to before the keeper and he was able to lob the bouncing ball into the goal.
The third summed up the first half for us. Already trying to chase the game, a quick throw out from the keeper to get a counter attack going resulted in an even quicker turnover when we lost possession in midfield. Our defence got caught out moving up and an Albion attacker was able to run through a massive gap onto yet another accurate ball and slip it past the keeper for 3-0.
We had maybe one decent chance in the half from Ben but his snapshot on the half-volley cleared the bar. Apart from that, their keeper mopped up everything around his area and we never looked like getting back into it before the break.
It wasn't a happy half-time.
Like we usually do, we started the second half strongly, using the ball better and looking a bit more threatening in attack. However, it's not for nothing that Albion have conceded a ridiculously low number of league goals (11 in 16 games) and we simply couldn't get past their defence, even in our best spell of the game. And then just as we were starting to build up some decent pressure, they hit us on the break with a long ball over the top, which their player tried to head in. That was parried away but on the follow-up he squared the ball for his mate to tap in and we pretty much fell apart after that.
They were finding space in our defence at will down the channels and through the centre but the fifth was a poor one for the keeper to concede. A short cross came in from the left but the flight of the ball was completely misjudged and all the attacker had to do was make enough of a contact to guide it into an empty net.
The sixth was another tap in as the ball was pinged across the goalmouth right to left then back again to be met by another Albion player.
The seventh was indicative of not just our performance but general attitude during the second half. The ball went out of play on our left for an Albion throw just beyond the penalty area and nobody in Lion blue reacted. A simple throw in to an unmarked player in the box, a square pass to another unmarked player with no Lion player to be seen. He took his time, did a little shimmy, had a cuppa then picked his spot to round off the scoring. It was a bit sickening to see the lack of effort by the team and it turned out to be sickening for the goalscorer as he started puking his guts up on the pitch and didn't stop even when he had nothing more to bring up. Absolute toilet all round.
With goal difference now very much a factor, we managed to make it through to the end without conceding further (and I will mention a double save by the keeper as it was the sole highlight of a miserable 90 minutes for him). The closest we came to a goal in the whole match was a curling shot by Nick H that pinged off the outside of the post.
The only positive we can take from this game is that we are still 3 points clear of our two rivals and our destiny is still in our hands. From this point on, it's all about how we react and learn from this. We may have a cup final in a couple of weeks but every game from here to the finish line is just as important because no-one is going to give us an easy game. So yes, we were cack, we got punished, sh*t happens, move on.
