The Tanner Report / Fulham 2 Preston 2

One of the most compelling of any sporting dramas is the late score. At Fulham we recall John Mitchell’s last minute off-the -shoulder number to beat Birmingham which achieved us our first appearance in a Cup Final in 1975. Older fans will remember an incredible game against Everton in 1966 who were then the leading team in the land. Fulham scored early and retained the lead till the 90th minute when Everton equalised. Then Bobby Moss, all five foot five of him, hurled himself torpedo-style at a Fred Callaghan cross to bust the net for our winner. However I cannot recall a later goal than yesterday’s equaliser in the 96th minute by Dennis Odoi when the Preston keeper dropped the ball at his feet. Odoi , a fullback, took the chance with all the cold killer incisiveness of Fulham’s greatest striker in terms of goals scored Gordon Davies. Preston had been indulging in unsavoury time-wasting tactics so there was a poetic justice that the goal came one minute after the 5 minutes of extra time.

This does not the disguise the fact that this was yet another unconvincing  performance. To date we only have one home win this season and this was yet another draw against teams we need to take 3 points off not give them one (Norwich, Cardiff, Middlesbrough). The problem is goal scoring. Rui Fonte is a skillful player but not the type to score 15-20 goals as he drops off too deep and the only striker is the raw Aboubakar Kamara who is still to settle. In a season plagued by injuries we missed Ryan Fredericks who played so well against QPR but Tom Cairney was on the bench as was new signing full back Rafa Soares. One wonders why coach Slavisia Jokatovic did not start with them as it’s surely better to rest them after 70 minutes than introduce a sub at half time when we were 2 goals down?  Neeskens Kebano, conversely, seems to do better as an impact sub but as it was he that started and was subbed for Cairney at half time.  SJ felt he could not sub the effervescent, confident Oliver Norwood which was just as well as he performed that rare Fulham feat, taking a successful penalty, to get us back into the game. Man of the match by almost universal consent was Kevin MacDonald. A tidy player that does the dirty work in front of the back four, he surged forward, hit the post with one shot, did not lose possession and played a captain’s game. We are always going to have problems against the Prestons of this world – big, ugly sides that profit from weak refereeing but they could have scored 4 goals. In November we play Wolves and Sheffield United away as these are going to be crucial in our challenge for the play-offs.