DAVID PRENTICE: Goodison dark needs to lift soon for Everton

21 December 2009 01:00
TODAY is the shortest, darkest day of 2009. Unless your passion is of the Royal Blue hue. If so, yesterday was a decent contender for the gloomiest so far.[LNB]Because Everton sparkled for 22 minutes against Birmingham; they didn't play badly after the visitors' shock equaliser either.[LNB]But they still couldn't end a depressing home run which is now beginning to nag away at Evertonian consciousness like a festering sore.[LNB]It's 91 days since a Goodison victory. That makes for the worst home run since 1972.[LNB]And even the always eagerly anticipated visit of Birmingham City couldn't alter that bleak statistic.[LNB]The second city Blues have won just three of their last 47 clashes against Everton - and for 20 minutes it looked like another comprehensive home win was likely. Which made the ultimately dispiriting draw all the more disappointing.[LNB]That opening 20 minutes at least underlined that Everton do have the ability to improve their currently worrying position.[LNB]They fired sharp, precise passes to mobile runners, all making imaginative angles to create a succession of shooting opportunities.[LNB]The first was clinically dispatched by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov after only five minutes.[LNB]Coincidentally, the ball rippled the Park End net just as Kevin Sheedy - an Everton legend that the Russian is occasionally and optimistically compared to - was taking his seat at the back of the Directors' Box.[LNB]But then we saw one of those turning points that modern Premier League officials throw up so regularly.[LNB]Cahill's pass played in Louis Saha, and his finish was equally comprehensive.[LNB]However a linesman with a face like a robber's dog, but eyes nowhere near as sharp, ruled that Saha had mistimed his run.

Source: Liverpool_Echo