Fulham 1 Stoke City 0

Thank heavens we don't have to watch Stoke play more than twice a season. This wasn't pretty. Fulham always looked to be in the driving seat and coped remarkably well with the physical aspects of the game (though we did lose three players to injury) but we failed to kill the game off with a second goal and Stoke remained a danger to the end.

The solitary goal was a moment of beauty and worth the entrance fee on its own. Nevland, on for Zamora after a mere twenty minutes, collected a clearance deep in our own half and set off on a charge up field. He almost lost the ball on the half way line, but fought to retain possession before sending a pass out to AJ on the right wing. Eric continued his run into the box where he was perfectly placed to fire home AJ's excellent cross. Fast, efficient, counter attacking football.

Johnson didn't play any further part in the game, limping off shortly after the restart to be replaced by Diomansey Kamara. Kind of strange that we've been so lucky this season to avoid any major injuries to our starting eleven and then lose both starting strikers in the same half. Despite this we almost put the game to bed before the turn as Murphy and Konchesky combined with a neat training ground free kick and Dickson Etuhu somehow scooped the ball over the bar from six inches.

I'm struggling to remember anything of significance from the second half other than a few moments of comedy from John Paintsil. At one point he executed a neat turn to shrug off the attentions of a Stoke midfielder, looked up to see few options and sent the ball straight into the enclosure. Konchesky limped off late on to add to our injury concerns. Gera deserves a mention providing a very adequate replacement for Simon Davies. Whilst he didn't quite find a way through the Stoke defence he tried as hard as anyone. Referee Lee Mason also made an impression as the most pedantic ref I've seen this season and did his best to interupt the flow of an already slow paced game.

Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky (Baird 82), Dempsey, Murphy, Etuhu, Gera, Zamora (Nevland 20), Johnson (Kamara 34).
Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Dacourt, Gray, Stoor.
Booked: Nevland.
Goals: Nevland 29.

Stoke: Sorensen, Kelly (Sonko 83), Shawcross, Abdoulaye Faye, Pugh (Dickinson 87), Lawrence, Whelan, Delap, Etherington, Fuller, Cresswell (Camara 83).
Subs Not Used: Simonsen, Olofinjana, Cort, Tonge.
Booked: Lawrence, Shawcross.

Att: 25,069

Ref: Lee Mason (Lancashire)

Poetry

Thanks to TiFF I just discovered the genius of Fulham poet Ron Dixon. He has three works available at FootballPoets.org including the following rather wonderful ode to that special word I used as part of the address for this site.

"Fulhamish"

My fondest wish would be to see,
Included in the OED,
A certain word (they're hard to find)
That well describes a state of mind.
Etymologically rich...
Its an attitude; a way in which
to view the world: maybe express
(with a former telegram address)
That some things happen we can't explain
Yet we know they'll come around again
When things happen out of their context
and you wonder what will happen next
When things will fall, instead of rise...
Are upside-down... not quite clockwise...
When you're out of step with all the rest,
And know it'll turn out for the best,
You'll know the word for which I wish,
Without a doubt, its......Fulhamish.

© Ron Dixon 2009

Middlesbrough 0 Fulham 0

Another beautiful 0-0 draw away from home to add to our collection of "perfect matches" this season. After six goals in the last two games I'd almost forgotten our normal routine but that's our seventh 0-0 on the road so far.

Middlesbrough are in a similar position to ourselves last year and fought tooth and nail for what would have been a massive three points. Schwarzer was equal to everything his former team could throw at him showing why he won player of the month for March and is Opta's current number one 'keeper in the league. At the other end we had good chances to claim a third away win on the trot. Zamora had the ball nicked of his toes by Brad Jones. Andy Johnson saw his deflected shot ricochet of the post and bounce along the line. Late on Kamara set up Dempsey whose shot rebounded back to Zamora who had his shot charged down. Great effort all round.

Middlesbrough: Jones, McMahon, Wheater, Huth, Taylor, Aliadiere, Sanli, Bates, Downing, King, Alves (Adam Johnson 83).
Subs Not Used: Turnbull, Hoyte, Riggott, Digard, Emnes, Shawky.
Booked: McMahon, Sanli, King.

Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Davies (Gera 70), Murphy, Etuhu, Dempsey, Johnson (Kamara 87), Zamora.
Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Dacourt, Stoor, Baird.
Booked: Konchesky.

Att: 30,389

Ref: Peter Walton (Northamptonshire)

Manchester City 1 Fulham 3

A deuce from the Deuce and a rocket from Etuhu senior seals our second away win of the season and pushes up to 8th in the League. We seem to like playing at Eastlands, only losing once in six visits and winning three of the last four. There's a bit of fortune in the timing, City almost certainly drained from the football lesson Hamburg gave them last Thursday and with one eye on the second leg next week, but then that's been the story of our season. Lucky Fulham pulling off unlikely wins against better teams who just happen to be having an off day. I'm happy for that myth to continue if we keep getting results like this.

A deflected Stephen Ireland shot had given City the lead, largely against the run of play. Zamora had our best chance of the first half, finding himself with only Shay Given to beat after an error from Richard Dunne but firing his shot against the keeper's shins. An early goal in the second half got us back on level footing. Zamora lost the ball as he ran towards goal but Dempsey arrived from deep to smash home the loose ball. We took the lead after another piece of half hearted defending allowed Dickson Etuhu to collect the ball in a similar position to Dempsey's effort. He sidestepped a challenge and sent a gorgeous dinking shot into the top left hand corner.

The points were wrapped up following a lovely bit of football from Zamora. Collecting the ball on the halfway line, he turned sharply, left the unfortunate Dunne hopelessly out of position, surged forward and played a perfectly weighted pass into Clint Dempsey's path. The American slotted home between Given's legs to confirm the points and complete another man of the match performance.

Man City: Given, Richards, Onuoha, Dunne, Garrido, Etuhu (Sturridge 64), Zabaleta, Ireland, De Jong, Petrov (Robinho 63), Bojinov (Evans 55). Subs Not Used: Hart, Elano, Fernandes, McGivern.
Goals: Ireland 28.

Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hangeland, Hughes, Konchesky, Davies, Etuhu, Murphy (Dacourt 89), Dempsey (Gera 86), Johnson, Zamora (Kamara 86). Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Nevland, Stoor, Baird.
Booked: Konchesky.
Goals: Dempsey 50, Etuhu 59, Dempsey 83.

Att: 39,841

Ref: Mark Halsey (Lancashire)

Fulham 0 Liverpool 1

So close to another great result against one of the top four. This wasn't a classic match by any stretch of the imagination. Neither side played to they're full potential and as the final minutes ticked down it looked like we'd done enough. We rode our luck too often, Liverpool hit the crossbar three times and the post once in the first half alone. We had too many moments of questionable decision making and it was exactly that, Clint Dempsey opting to run the ball out of defence and getting caught, that led to Benayoun's injury time goal.

I blame the international break. Both sides looked jaded and the game never really flowed for either. Murphy's replacement was probably a defensive move but it robbed us of what little creative spark we had managed. Too many Whites were having an off day at the same time and against a side like Liverpool it was only going to end one way. On the plus side we showed how difficult to beat we've become and the players never gave up. They were upset at the end and received a deserved ovation at the end. We can chalk this one down to experience and move on to the next game.

Fulham: Schwarzer, Pantsil, Hughes, Hangeland, Konchesky, Dempsey, Murphy (Dacourt 76), Etuhu, Davies (Gera 79), Zamora, Johnson (Nevland 87).
Subs Not Used: Zuberbuhler, Kamara, Kallio, Baird.
Booked: Pantsil, Gera.

Liverpool: Reina, Arbeloa, Carragher, Skrtel, Insua, Alonso, Lucas, Kuyt (Benayoun 76), Gerrard (Agger 90), Dossena (Babel 65), Torres.
Subs Not Used: Cavalieri, Riera, Mascherano, Ngog.
Booked: Babel, Skrtel.
Goals: Benayoun 90.

Att: 25,661

Ref: Steve Bennett (Kent)