Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
FLETCH LIVES
Stoke march on with throwback to Big Joe
THERE is little chance of Stoke’s veteran striker Steven Fletcher growing old gracefully.
The 33-year-old warhorse, put out to grass seemingly by his previous club Sheffield Wednesday in the summer, didn’t give Brentford defenders a moment’s peace.
He chased and harried, even picking up a yellow card for one bit of over-exuberance before manager Michael O’neill hauled him off with nine minutes to go – job done.
His flowing unruly hair sodden by the rain and bristling beard reminded older obser vers of another combative Scot, Joe Jordan.
A trademark header at the far post lit the fuse for this demolition of Championship promotion favourites Brentford, who came to life far too late with their two goals after being
3-0 down.
Delighted Potters boss O’neill said:
“What you get with him is quality. That never diminishes with Steven.
“He loves that back-post area. He scored against Luton the previous week from a similar area.
“His all-round game is excellent. He has brought a lot to the club, not just on the pitch but off it as well. He is in great nick for his age.
“I think that shows how he plays. He has brought a great response from the lads.”
With another thirty-something in James Mcclean (below, right) also on target and causing problems with his direct running and eye for goal, Stoke’s struggles of the past two seasons appear to be behind them.
In fact don’t rule them out having a big say in affairs at the other end of the table this time.
O’neill added: “James was very positive, had some great quality and delivered some great balls into the box.
“I ’m delighted for him because he never likes to be out of the team. It was a really strong performance from him.”
Add a sprinkling of stardust from some of the younger players like Tyrese Campbell and Jacob Brown, and it’s a heady mix right now at the bet365 Stadium.
Brown said: “There is a good balance of experience and young players.” With Mcclean and Campbell making it 3-0 it was left to substitute Marcus Forss to add some respectability to the scoreline for Brentford with his late brace.
For the Bees it ’s about how long the hangover lasts from missing out on the Premier League in heartbreaking circumstances at Wembley.
Manager Thomas Frank insisted: “How we finished the game was more like we were last season but we want that from the start.
“I think we need to see more games and performances before we can really analyse this team.” STOKE CITY: Davies 6, Collins 7, Souttar 7, Chester 7, Smith 7,
Thompson 7, Mikel 7, Mcclean 8,
Brown 7 (Oakley-boothe 87), Fletcher 7 (Vokes 81), Campbell 8 (Tymon 72, 6) BRENTFORD: Raya 6, Goode 5, Pinnock 5, Sorensen 5 (Jensen 46, 6), Dalsgaard 5, Janelt 6 (Forss 63, 6), Dasilva 7, Henry 6, Ghoddos 5
(Mbeumo 46, 6), Canos 7, Toney 5