Newcastle United 2-1 Everton

An Everton side beleaguered by injuries to Sylvain Distin and Tim Cahill and the suspension of pivotal midfielder Marouane Fellaini travelled to Tyneside to face high-flying Newcastle United, who had begun the season with a very impressive 6 wins and 4 draws from 10 league matches.

Tim Howard, who was this week pipped to the U.S. Player of the Year Award by Fulham's Clint Dempsey, started as usual between the sticks. Sylvain Distin's absence meant a back four of Tony Hibbert, Phil Jagielka, John Heitinga and Leighton Baines.

Phil Neville filled a Marouane Fellaini-shaped hole in midfield alongside Jack Rodwell, Leon Osman, Royston Drenthe and Seamus Coleman with Frenchman Louis Saha on his own up top.

A warm-up injury to Apostolos Vellios meant teenager Ross Barkley was promoted to the bench where he sat alongside Jan Mucha, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Denis Stracqualursi, James McFadden, Sylvain Distin and Tim Cahill.

It was a slow and sloppy start to the game from both sides and the game’s first goal was scored in bizarre circumstances. A right-wing cross from Danny Simpson was prodded inadvertently by John Heitinga past Tim Howard, who had come out to claim the cross, into the empty net. S-Heit.

When you score an own goal like that there is a feeling that it just isn’t going to be your day. When you concede a second to a stunning volley from the opposition’s full back (Tony Hibbert take note) that feeling multiplies. Ryan Taylor’s 28th minute goal came ultimately as a result of Everton’s failure to properly clear their lines, but one has to admire the technique of Taylor, who, like John Heitinga, gave Tim Howard no chance, hitting a dipping volley into the top right-hand corner.

The game was by no means one-sided, though, and Everton had opportunities through Osman, Drenthe, Coleman and Saha, who turned one shot against Tim Krul’s left-hand post and spooned another into Row Z of the Gallowgate End. Newcastle’s French midfield string-puller Yohan Cabaye picked up an injury and was replaced by a certain Dan Gosling. Talk about rubbing salt into wounds.

On the stroke of half-time Everton halved the deficit. Our two best players from the first half combined as Royston Drenthe’s corner was powerfully headed home by Jack Rodwell for his second goal in three league games. It was a justified reward for Everton’s first-half efforts and put an intriguing spin on a game that had looked out of Everton’s reach.

Just as much as you wanted Everton to come out all guns blazing after the interval, you knew deep down that you were clutching at straws. Everton aren’t we?

The second half was a largely sloppy affair – and credit must go to Newcastle for that. They broke down the few meaningful opportunities we had and proved why their defence has shipped the fewest goals in the Premier League so far this season. As is becoming all too familiar with Everton, we lacked a cutting edge, a penetration, a spark or piece of trickery in the final third. The guile that, say, Mikel Arteta or Steven Pienaar would have provided, had gone.

One player capable of stepping up to fill that void left by our two most creative players is Leon Osman. At times last season he was at his brilliant best, unlocking defences for fun and with apparent ease. But therein lies the problem with ‘Ossie’: when on form he is fantastic; when he isn’t he is less effective than Steven Gerrard’s elocution tutor.

We were, however, denied a clear penalty when Saha’s goal-bound shot was saved by the fingertips of… err… Dan Gosling. Shown by replays to be a clear handball, the former Everton midfielder got away with the offence and the remainder of the game passed without too much incident.2-1, then, the final score.

A(nother) depressing day in the life of an Evertonian. We’ve been beaten by a team with Danny Guthrie and Dan Gosling in the centre of midfield. Ah, well. Same time next week.

Chelsea 3-1 Everton

Goals from Daniel Sturridge, John Terry and Ramires condemned Everton to defeat at Stamford Bridge this afternoon.

Substitute Apostolos Vellios added a late consolation 18 seconds after being introduced, but the points stay in London after a largely disappointing performance from the away side.

Prior to this afternoon we had not lost at Chelsea on each of our last 6 visits, although our form had hit a recent trough - indeed, the defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool were our first consecutive losses in over 60 games.

Despite the official Everton Facebook page listing our line-up as having 12 players (Moyesie you caniving bastard!) the eleven that took to the field were; Howard, Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines, Osman, Rodwell, Fellaini, Coleman, Cahill, Saha.

That side was unchanged from the derby defeat, which meant that Royston Drenthe and Apostolos Vellios were again restricted to the bench. They were joined by Mucha, Heitinga, Bilyaletdinov, Stracqualursi and Neville. There was, to the dismay of many supporters, no place in the squad for young Ross Barkley.

Everton started the game reasonably brightly. Louis Saha looked lively up front and had our first real opportunity after about 10 minutes when his shot was blocked by Petr Čech in the Chelsea goal. At the other end Sylvain Distin did well to intervene and prevent Ramires from gaining a clear sight of goal.

Shortly afterwards a fantastic last-ditch tackle from John Obi Mikel denied Marouane Fellaini a shooting opportunity inside the six-yard box, but it was Chelsea who started to take control of the game and who looked more likely to deliver the opening blow.

That's exactly what happened. On 31 minutes Juan Mata played a worldy of a pass into the path of Ashley Cole and England's second best left-back teed up Daniel Sturridge, who could hardly miss with his header from 3 yards out.

Chelsea doubled their advantage on the stroke of half time when John Terry headed in Frank Lampard's free-kick amid some unconvincing goalkeeping from Tim Howard. That was effectively game over with the result a formality from thereon in.

Within 15 seconds of the restart Leon Osman had grazed the post with a quick-fire effort, but that was just about it in terms of our attacking intent for the next 25 minutes.

The ineffective Seamus Coleman was replaced by Royston Drenthe shortly before Chelsea added a third goal. Didier Drogba sent in a low cross for Ramires to have the simple task of slotting home from inside the six-yard box. Game well and truly over - if it wasn't already.

So, 3-0 down. Who's going to score us a hat-trick?

Phil Neville, of course.

In an absolutely baffling managerial decision David Moyes removed Tim Cahill and threw on the constant goal threat that is captain Neville. Baffling.

Moyes' third and final substitution, however, did yield a consolation goal. It was Greek striker Apostolos Vellios who came on - belatedly in the opinion of many a supporter - and made an immediate impact. 18 seconds had passed between his crossing of the white line and the ball crashing into the Chelsea net.

He simply HAS to start next week.

Chelsea almost added a fourth in injury time but 3-1 was how it finished. It's not as if we should have expected anything from the game but the nature of the defeat made for a thoroughly disappointing evening.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 4, Hibbert 4, Jagielka 3, Distin 5, Baines 5, Coleman 3, Rodwell 4, Fellaini 4, Cahill 5, Osman 4, Saha 5.

Subs: Drenthe 5, Neville 4, VELLIOS 5.

Everton 0-2 Liverpool

Sendings-off and penalties have always been commonplace in Merseyside derbies.

That shouldn't mean that the people officiating these all-important games have the remit of showing a red card at the first sighting of a slightly over-the-top challenge. Or, in today's case, a goofy Uruguayan rolling around as if he had been shot.

The 216th Merseydside derby hinged on an absolutely shocking decision from referee Martin Atkinson which saw the dismissal of Everton's Jack Rodwell midway through the first half. Rodwell cleanly won a loose ball on the slide and his momentum caused South American Suarez to tumble over.

The challenge was totally clean, good and fair. I have since been told that Graeme Souness on Sky Sports said that it wasn't even a foul, which tells you just how bad a decision it was. The referee was stood no more than three yards away from the incident. Baffling.

Rodwell's case - which needn't have existed - was not helped by Suarez - who flopped to the floor, held aloft his arm in appeal and, bizarrely, clutched his knee in apparent agony. Suarez, unfortunately, is an excellent footballer and there is no disputing that.

He's also a horrible, slimy cheat.

After returning from the match I saw this thread on the GrandOldTeam forum. Whilst the game is not completely dead on me yet, it is heading that way thanks to the antics of cheating little gets like Suarez.

Assuming a man advantage, Liverpool took control of the game. Our defending, as last week, was resolute and we were rarely threatened. And then Suarez decided he would take a tumble. Penalty.

Phil Jagielka had certainly made contact with the Uruguayan in the corner of the box, and I have no complaints over the award of the spot-kick. Suarez again made up the referee's mind by rolling around a bit and Atkinson pointed to the spot.

Dirk Kuyt - a thorn in our side throughout recent derbies - stepped up to take the penalty, but was thwarted by an excellent left-handed save from Tim Howard.

With an extra 2 men (the referee), Liverpool were again unlucky not to score before the break as Charlie 'goofy' Adam struck the bar with a long-range effort.

The main topic of conversation at the interval was obvious - the question was: could we hold on for a draw or would the inevitable happen?

Sadly, it was to be the latter. Despite having a lot of the play, Liverpool's £50 million strikeforce combined to condemn Everton to defeat.

The first goal came at around the same time in the match as Mario Balotelli had notched last week at Eastlands. It was scored by an equally annoying player.

Andy Carroll, who, up until then, had barely justified a price tag of 35 pence let alone £35 million, easily stuck home a Jose Enrique cross from 6 yards out. It was harsh on Everton, who had defended so stoutly but also continued to pose an attacking threat.

The second came soon after and to rub salt into Everton wounds it was the cheating Uruguayan who added his name to the scoresheet. It was a simple finish after a mistake in the Everton defence, and one which put the game well and truly to bed.

With the result was no longer in the balance, tensions amongst Everton's incensed supporters boiled over. Plastic bottles rained down on Craig Bellamy from the Gwladys Street and Suarez was kindly thrown a 10p piece. There goes our transfer budget.

On a serious note, it is only our own club who will suffer from that type of fan behaviour and it was totally out of order.

As was the story I heard of an Evertonian singing "96 was not enough" to a Liverpool fan amongst the Evertonians. Needless to say, and regardless of anything that ever occurs on a football pitch, that - if true - is utterly, utterly despicable.

There is no place for anything like that, anywhere.

An all-round bad day at the office, then.

Everton: Howard 7, Hibbert 8, Jagielka 5, DISTIN 8, Baines 6, Coleman 5, Fellaini 7, Rodwell 6, Osman 5, Cahill 6, Saha 5.

Subs: Drenthe 4, Neville 4, Vellios 4.

Manchester City 2-0 Everton

Everton's defensive stand lasted 68 minutes at the Etihad Stadium before Mario Balotelli and James Milner scored to send their side to the summit of the table.

We shouldn't be too downhearted, though, with a loss to a side whose starting XI cost £189 million to assemble. Indeed, we defended stoutly for a large periods and our opposition needed two players from their £130 million bench to change the game.

The line-up and consequent formation made it clear that our tactics would be to frustrate City's superstars, get men behind the ball and, should we be presented with the opportunity, try to nick a point or three. Tim Howard started in goal as usual, with Leighton Baines, Sylvain Distin, Phil Jagielka and Tony Hibbert in front of him.

Hibbert's inclusion meant Phil Neville was shoe-horned into midfield, where he was joined by Seamus Coleman, Marouane Fellaini, Leon Osman and Jack Rodwell. Cahill started as our lone striker but quickly dropped back into a 4-6-0 formation.

Ján Mucha was preferred to new signing Marcus Hahnemann on the bench. John Heitinga, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Royston Drenthe, Denis Stracqualursi, Louis Saha and Apostolos Vellios joined the Slovak custodian.

The plan to frustrate City was executed well throughout the first half. Jack Rodwell did a good job man-marking David Silva, Phil Jagielka and Sylvain Distin limited City to few clear-cut opportunities and Tim Howard stopped anything that managed to breach the defence.

Spaniard David Silva, denied an inch by his shadow Rodwell, resorted to rolling about on the floor to gain his side an advantage. Referee Howard Webb obliged and produced bookings for Rodwell and Neville, before another for Osman after a nudge on Balotelli.

Webb, who refereed the World Cup final and is widely regarded as one of the best referees in the world, did little to enhance his reputation with an awful display of officiating. David Moyes agreed, although he will probably face sanctions for his post match comment of "there were a couple of similarities in a few of the challenges - you'd expect consistency and you'd expect it to be done correctly."

Edin Džeko's skied effort from 10 yards and Sergio Agüero's long-range strike were the closest City went to finding the net in the first period. They were contained well, although Joe Hart could have had a nap in the City goal such was the lack of attacking intent from the visitors.

Nonetheless, Everton would have been satisfied with the half-time score of 0-0.

City looked as if they'd had a larger-than-usual dose of Italian tripe translated by David Platt fed to them during the interval, because they came out for the second period with the bit firmly between their teeth. Richards, Agüero and Silva all went close shortly after the restart but it took a £25 million player to come off the bench and break the deadlock.

Mario 'named after a video game character and can't put a bib on' Balotelli was that man - he curled a 20-yard strike into the bottom right-hand corner via a deflection off Phil Jagielka.

Everton needed to switch to 'plan B'. But before they could do so, with the introductions of Saha, Drenthe and Vellios, City piled on the pressure and could have immediately stretched their lead with a number of chances. Tim Cahill's header flew just over as Everton ventured into the previously undiscovered territory of City's half, although the Aussie's afternoon was ended shortly afterwards by a stamp from Vincent Kompany.

All three substitutes looked sharp. Saha, with a point to prove after last week's twitter outburst, provided an outlet ball. Vellios showed some great touches and hold-up play that will help his cause for inclusion in the starting eleven, whilst Drenthe also looked keen to get on the ball and try to make things happen.

It was Drenthe, though, whose mistake allowed City to put the game beyond doubt. Attempting a simple pass to the left hand side, he gifted the ball to David Silva. The Spaniard still had plenty to do but, capitalising on further sloppy defending by Jagielka and Distin, he held it up and slid through an exquisite pass for James Milner to double City's advantage.

2-0 was how it ended. It's always disappointing to lose but less so when you expect to. Not many sides will win at Middle Eastlands this season, and all we can do now is pick ourselves up, dust ourselves down and stuff our neighbours next week.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 6, Hibbert 5, Jagielka 6, Distin 7, Baines 6, Coleman 5, Neville 4, Osman 4, RODWELL 7, Fellaini 5, Cahill 5.

Subs: Saha 6, Drenthe 5, Vellios 6.

Man City: Webb 10.

Everton 2-1 West Bromwich Albion

A rare goal in extra time from Everton captain Phil Neville secured a place in the next round of the Carling Cup.

Everton midfielder Marouane Fellaini had earlier cancelled out Chris Brunt's penalty for Albion as the first ninety minutes ended 1-1. The extra-time victory stretches our unbeaten run to 5 in all competitions as we await the fourth round draw on Saturday.

* * *

Everton made six changes to the starting line-up from the side that beat Wigan on Saturday. Most notably, deadline-day signings Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi were handed full debuts, whilst Ross Barkley and Phil Neville also returned. Sylvain Distin and Tim Howard were rested, with John Heitinga and Jan Mucha their replacements.

The full side was; Mucha, Baines, Heitinga, Jagielka, Neville, Drenthe, Barkley, Fellaini, Rodwell, Coleman, Stracqualursi, and the subs bench consisted of; Howard, Hibbert, Distin, Bilyaletdinov, Cahill, Gueye and Vellios.

A mysterious bug had deprived Albion of the services of striking duo Shane Long and Roman Bednar and Everton will also have been pleased to see that 'bogey player' Paul Scharner started on the visitors' bench.

The first half was an almost entirely uninspiring period as both sides created few notable opportunities. West Brom offered little but had arguably the best chance of the half when Simon Tchoyi sent an effort just over early on. Royston Drenthe, taking over from regular taker Leighton Baines, sent a free-kick just over, and Marouane Fellaini saw his header trickle wide.

Peter Odemwingie spurned another opportunity for the Baggies before the break as the sides went in level at 0-0.

Everton seemed to have woken up at half-time and started the second half really well. First Seamus Coleman shot at Albion 'keeper Fulop and then Stracqualursi's prodded effort was also well kept out by the Hungarian custodian.

West Brom also threatened and earned their chance to take the lead when Peter Odemwingie was felled by Slovakian goalkeeper Jan Mucha as the Nigerian forward sprinted into the Everton box. Chris Brunt (another WBA player who loves playing against us) slotted home the resulting penalty to further frustrate the 17, 647-strong (weak) crowd.

Everton went on the search for an equaliser, bringing on Tim Cahill, Apostolos Vellios and Magaye Gueye and shifting Marouane Fellaini up front. Vellios and Fellaini both had half-chances to find an equalising goal but time was running out for Everton to avoid being knocked out of the Carling Cup at the 3rd round stage for the second year running.

With some fans heading for the exits, Marouane Fellaini collected the ball from a Vellios flick-on, swivelled and fired home an excellent left-footed half-volley from the edge of the box. Those that were half way towards the exits turned back. Game on.

Jack Rodwell could have snatched an improbable comeback in injury-time but his header from Phil Neville's cross bounced just wide. With this weekend's opponents Manchester City safely through after fielding their reserves against Birmingham City, we would have to play an extra half-hour before Saturday's early kick-off.

Fellaini remained up front after salvaging the game in the 88th minute of normal time, with Tim Cahill in midfield. West Brom looked tired as Everton pressed but the visitors could have taken the lead if Tchoyi had found his bearings when well placed inside the Everton box.

After that let-off, Vellios set up Drenthe whose effort was ever so slightly off target. The Dutchman was, however, to play a massive part in what turned out to be the winner. He jinked and dribbled past two Baggies defenders on the right byline before cutting back to skipper Neville, who exquisitely curled into the top corner with his left foot.

It was a rare goal for Neville - his 5th in almost 250 Everton appearances - but they do tend to be special! He looked a bit too shocked to celebrate properly but Royston Drenthe went absolutely mental. On his own. I love him already.

An unconvincing performance but we are through the next round. I'll take another ugly win on Saturday please. Oh, and one against our red neighbours in a fortnight's time. Cheers.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 4, Baines 6, Heitinga 6, Jagielka 6, Neville 7, Drenthe 5, Barkley 5, Fellaini 6, Rodwell 6, Coleman 5, Stracqualursi 5.

Subs: Vellios 6, Cahill 5, Gueye 6.

Everton 2-2 Aston Villa

A late Gabriel Agbonlahor goal saw Aston Villa take home a barely deserved point from a lively draw at Goodison this afternoon.

It was a thoroughly impressive and much improved Everton performance and Leon Osman deservedly opened the scoring after 18 minutes. The home side then had a clear penalty shout dismissed following a quite blatant trip on Leighton Baines.

A moment of magic from Villa's Stiliyan Petrov levelled the fixture shortly after half-time - his stunning 30-yard strike bringing Villa back into a game they did not deserve to be in at all. Everton responded well to that setback, and were awarded a penalty following Fabian Delph's foul on Phil Jagielka.

Leighton Baines made no mistake from 12 yards, but Gabriel Agbonlahor's late header denied Everton the win they deserved.

* * *

The game was preceded by a protest staged by the Blue Union, voicing their collective dissatisfaction at the running of the club. It proved a success for the group, with over 1,000 fans marching from Spellow Lane to the director's entrance to the stadium.

Whether you agree with the protest or not, you have to commend the Blue Union for taking action - and for doing so in the right manner. The protest was done in the right way - peaceful and as dignified as a protest can be. A video of the protest can be seen here.

The marchers sent a message to chairman Bill Kenwright by chanting "let go, if you love the club..." along their route, although his appearance on the big screens during the match was greeted with cheers after an initial chorus of boos.

Anyway, on to on-the-pitch matters.

The side that had stolen 3 points at Ewood Park was shaken up, to say the least. Some of the changes had been enforced, as Victor Anichebe and John Heitinga had picked up injuries whilst playing for Nigeria and Holland respectively. Ross Barkley was on the bench after featuring for England U21s in midweek, whilst Tony Hibbert was selected at right-back in favour of Phil Neville.

In the wake of Mikel Arteta's departure, Phil Jagielka took on the role of captain. Both new signings - Royston Drenthe and Denis Stracqualursi - were only fit enough for the bench. Seamus Coleman made a very welcome and quicker than expected return from injury and Russian winger Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was also handed a starting berth.

All that meant that the side was; Howard; Hibbert, Jagielka, Distin, Baines; Coleman, Rodwell, Fellaini, Osman, Bilyaletdinov; Cahill. Both new-boys were listed amongst the substitutes, the full list was; Mucha, Neville, Drenthe, Barkley, Stracqualursi, Gueye, Vellios.

Although starting without a recognised striker, Everton assumed the initiative straight from the off. Leon Osman had a penalty shout turned down inside the first minute, Darren Bent headed off his own goalline from a Phil Jagielka header and Shay Given saved well from Osman.

Our dominance paid off when, after 19 minutes, Leon Osman slotted home a pass from Tim Cahill. Everton were well on top and both Jack Rodwell and Marouane Fellaini went close with long-range efforts. Villa offered very little throughout the first 45 minutes, with a Barry Bannan strike the closest they came to a goal.

Indeed, we really should have been given the chance to extend our lead but referee Michael Oliver failed to spot a blatant trip that brought to a halt a marauding run by Leighton Baines.

The decision not to award a penalty meant Everton headed into the dressing room at the break with a deserved but all too slender 1-0 advantage. We had dominated proceedings, and so it was of course inevitable that Villa would equalise.

And that's exactly what they did. In stunning fashion as well. Bulgarian Stiliyan Petrov picked up the ball 30 yards from goal and sent in an unstoppable strike. 1-1. The goal came after Villa's best period of the game, and they might have scored a few minutes earlier had it not been for an outstanding tackle on Gabriel Agbonlahor by Sylvain Distin.

Everton quickly responded and Tim Cahill, who had one of his best games since before the Asian Cup back in January, saw his header instinctively palmed out by Shay Given. In the resulting scramble, Fabian Delph committed a foul on Phil Jagielka and this time a penalty was awarded.

Leighton Baines tucked away the penalty - never in doubt. 2-1.

A few minutes later Royston Drenthe was introduced to the Goodison crowd, coming on to replace Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. Needless to say, the Dutchman received a rapturous welcome from the terraces and seemed to be buoyed by his reception.

He gave us all a glimpse of his frightening pace, robbing Alan Hutton of possession and tearing down the wing. With Drenthe on one wing and Coleman on the other, it was the first time in a lng while that we had genuine pace on both flanks.

It lasted for about 5 minutes, though, as the impressive Coleman, who had terrorised Villa's left-back, was replaced by Ross Barkley.

The visitors drew level once again on 83 minutes. Marc Albrighton's cross caught out the static Sylvain Distin and Gabriel Agbonlahor rose to head home.

Yeah, whatever Gabby. Doesn't make up for the fact that you have a girl's name.

A third Everton change was made as Tim Cahill was replaced by Apostolos Vellios, and the Greek forward almost snatched the points at the death brought a fine save out of Villa goalkeeper Given.

It finished 2-2, a result that was not reflective of a fluid, strong and impressive performance from the home side. Villa are fast turning into a bogey club for us - and, as the fantastic Mickey Blue Eyes on Bluekipper writes: "It's difficult to avoid the notion that everything about the Brummy club is repellent, most of all the notorious crackpot worst of their fans."

So I guess the good news is, we don't have to play them again for a while. Up next, Wigan Athletic. COYB.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 6, Hibbert 8, Jagielka 6, Distin 6, Baines 8, Coleman 8, Rodwell 7, FELLAINI 8, Osman 7, Bilyaletdinov 6, Cahill 7.

Subs: Drenthe 6, Barkley 6, Vellios 6.

Blackburn Rovers 0-1 Everton

It was a case of daylight robbery at Ewood Park this afternoon as a last-minute Mikel Arteta spot-kick stole all three points - this after Blackburn duo Hoilett and Formica had both been unsuccessful with penalties of their own.

Everton have goalkeeper Tim Howard to thank for the undeserved victory - the American custodian saved the first spot-kick, saw the second hit the post and made a number of crucial saves to deny Rovers.

Everton had performed very poorly throughout but referee Lee Mason handed us a golden opportunity to punish Blackburn for their missed chances in the dying moments. Marouane Fellaini was felled in the aftermath of a Phil Neville long throw and Mason pointed to the spot for the third time in the game.

Spaniard Arteta kept a cool head under huge pressure to send the travelling support behind the goal into delirium. A performance as bad as I can remember but a fantastic result.

* * *

David Moyes named a 4-5-1 formation with the line lead by lone striker and midweek goalscorer Victor Anichebe. Tim Howard, rested for Wednesday's win over Sheffield United, took up his usual goalkeeping position behind the regular back four of Leighton Baines, Sylvain Distin, Phil Jagielka and Phil Neville.

A five man midfield consisted of Ross Barkley, Marouane Fellaini, Leon Osman, John Heitinga and Mikel Arteta with Victor Anichebe on his own up front. Louis Saha was not included in the squad - which, I assume, is down to injury - and Jermaine Beckford and Tim Cahill were left on the bench. Jack Rodwell missed out due to illness.

The first half was a totally drab affair notable only for David Dunn's shot, which hit the inside of Howard's right hand post and bounced agonisingly across goal to safety.

Everton's best moment of the opening period was Leon Osman's header from Ross Barkley's right-wing cross, although it failed to trouble Paul Robinson in the Blackburn goal.

David Dunn and Morten Gamst Pedersen both suffered injuries for the hosts, with Mauro Formica and Radosav Petrovic both having to be introduced before half-time.

Half-time: Blackburn Rovers 0-0 Everton

Whilst the first period was a frankly dreadful watch, the second was a bizarre one. Everton started after the interval as if they had just woken up, and conceded a penalty in the first minute after half-time.

Ross Barkley slipped inside the area and Mauro Formica fell over the youngster's trailing leg. Formica certainly made a concerted effort to fall over the outstretched limb but referee Mason didn't hesitate in pointing to the spot.

Tim Howard made a great penalty save low to his left hand side from Junior Hoilett and Everton somehow managed to clear the danger. Undeterred, Blackburn kept on coming and the visitors were struggling to get out of their own half.

The relentless pressure created a few good chances for Blackburn but each time Tim Howard was up to the task. Instinctive saves from Samba and then Formica kept Everton level - although the pressure culminated in another penalty just a few minutes later.

Formica won it after a combination of Jagielka and Distin bundled him over and the same player stepped up to take it. Formica went the opposite way to Hoilett and had Howard beaten... but not the post.

David Moyes withdrew Ross Barkley in favour of the vastly experienced Tim Cahill, a substitution that helped Everton push further forward. Leighton Baines stung the hands of Paul Robinson with a fierce shot from an acute angle.

The same player then turned provider as he teed up Marouane Fellaini, who should really have hit the target with an effort from the edge of the penalty area.

However, Everton were soon on the back foot again and Howard had to be alert to save from Formica. We were hanging on to a point as substitute David Goodwillie then saw his effort clip the top of the crossbar after Formica and Hoilett had carved open our defence with worrying ease.

In stoppage time Everton were awarded a spot-kick of their own when, following a long throw by captain Phil Neville, Chris Samba bundled over Marouane Fellaini just inside the area. It was a dubious penalty but we did not care a jot.

Mikel Arteta, who had looked off the pace in midfield, stepped up, kept composed and rifled the kick into the right hand corner. Unbelievable.

Robbery, theft, luck. But 3 vital points.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 10, Baines 6, Distin 5, Jagielka 4, Neville 4, Arteta 5, Heitinga 5, Fellaini 4, Osman 5, Barkley 5, Anichebe 4.

Subs: Cahill 5, Bilyaletdinov 5, Beckford 3.

Everton 3-1 Sheffield United

It is hard to remember a Carling Cup second round victory greeted with as much relief as the 3-1 triumph over third-tier side Sheffield United last night.

Yet that was the overriding feeling after goals from Richard Cresswell (OG), Victor Anichebe (no, really) and Mikel Arteta saw us come back from a goal down to progress to the next round.

After Saturday's shock defeat to QPR it was vital that we responded with a cup victory and a strong team was named for the clash, which was played out in front of just 17,173 spectators. That total was the lowest for a competitive match at Goodison for over 12 years - and a clear sign of unrest amongst Evertonians following a frustrating Summer.

Jan Mucha was granted his third competitive start in Everton colours whilst John Heitinga and Tony Hibbert replaced Sylvain Distin and Phil Neville in the other changes to the back five from the loss to QPR.

To fans' frustration, the midfield consisted of five players, but it was an attacking and creative one. Marouane Fellaini and Jack Rodwell sat a little deeper with the exciting trio of Mikel Arteta, Leon Osman and Ross Barkley charged with creating opportunities for lone striker Victor Anichebe.

Tim Howard, Phil Neville, Louis Saha and Sylvain Distin started on the bench alongside a trio of youngsters; Apostolos Vellios, James Wallace and Jose Baxter.

Everton enjoyed much the better of the opening exchanges but fell behind on 28 minutes when Richard Cresswell, like Tommy Smith had done for QPR, finished smartly after poor defending by Everton.

Cresswell found himself on the scoresheet once again just minutes later, but unfortunately for him he had registered an own goal. Jack Rodwell's effort from a tight angle was parried by Steve Simonsen onto the despairing Cresswell, who could only watch as the ball crossed the line and allowed Evertonians to breath a sigh of relief.

Everton assumed their early dominance and registered two quick-fire goals that ultimately put the game beyond doubt. Victor Anichebe applied a neat flick to Ross Barkley's cross-cum-shot to give Everton the lead and five minutes later Mikel Arteta classily swept home from the edge of the area after Barkley had been tackled.

The tempo slowed in the second period with the home side happy to sit on the two-goal cushion. Ross Barkley went closest to widening the lead with a long-range strike well saved by Simonsen before he was withdrawn to a standing ovation.

It ended 3-1 and we are comfortably though to Saturday's third round draw. Plenty of positives to take from the night - not least the first ninety minutes played by Marouane Fellaini since February.

Barkley (again) showed us a glimpse of what could be a very bright future, Tony Hibbert put in an impressive performance on his 250th Everton start and Mikel Arteta gave us hope that he can return to his scintillating best.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 6, Hibbert 8, Jagielka 6, Heitinga 6, Baines 6, Rodwell 6, Fellaini 6, Arteta 7, Osman 6, Barkley 7, Anichebe 6.

Subs: Saha 5, Baxter 4, Neville 4.

Everton 0-1 QPR

New season. Same Everton.

That was the overriding feeling of fans exiting Goodison Park yesterday, after a first-half Tommy Smith strike had compounded a miserable Summer on the blue half of Merseyside.

Many expected QPR to be rolled over following their opening-day hammering at home to Bolton, but an accomplished defensive performance from the visitors combined with a toothless one from the hosts handed the Londoners their first points back in the top-flight.

After last season's home results against the 'lesser sides', coupled with our record at the start of the season, perhaps we were a little overconfident. QPR must be praised for their performance though - they were much more defensively sound than last weekend and inflicted our fourth consecutive opening day defeat, a club 'record'.

With injuries to wide players the line-up was always going to be a case of 'square pegs, round holes', but even so it was an uninspiring one.

The back five picked itself (Howard; Neville, Jagielka, Distin, Baines), but the rest of the side caused quite a shock. Jack Rodwell started on the right wing, with John Heitinga and Leon Osman in the centre and debutant Ross Barkley on the left. Tim Cahill supported Jermaine Beckford up top.

Arteta, Fellaini and Saha were all on the bench. It was to do with a lack of fitness I assume, but it came as a shock after being told that all three were ready for the season.

QPR started the game reasonably well and Tommy Smith went close with a snapshot on the half-volley that flew just wide of Tim Howard's post. Everton responded with a series of crosses, from one of which Beckford attempted an overhead kick - but got it all wrong.

Jack Rodwell went down in front of the Gwladys Street in what looked a decent penalty shout. The referee was having none of it, however, and having seen the replays I am inclined to agree with him. Not a penalty for me, although I have most certainly seen them given.

Everton's best chance came from a familiar outlet - a Leighton Baines free-kick. The left-back was handed the opportunity by the excellent Ross Barkley, who jinked past a host of QPR defenders on the edge of the area before being brought down.

Baines smashed the resulting set-piece against the underside of the crossbar before the ball bounced agonisingly over the Everton players following up.

Just as the home side looked to have a hold on the game, we fell behind. Phil Jagielka squandered possession on the edge of the box and Everton failed to clear before Tommy Smith swivelled and finished instinctively into the bottom corner.

Tim Cahill uncharacteristically missed a header from close-range before the break and Everton could have had another penalty for a push on Cahill by Fitz Hall.

Everton emerged early for the second half and straight-away had a good chance to draw level. Jack Rodwell was sent through after Ross Barkley had cleverly left a pass, but the England U21 midfielder wasted the opening with a weak shot.

David Moyes had the crowd in disbelief as he replaced Jermaine Beckford, meaning that we were chasing the game without a recognised striker.

His replacement, Marouane Fellaini, immediately carved out a chance for Tim Cahill, whose angled shot was saved by Paddy Kenny.

Louis Saha came on for the final 15 minutes, but a Ross Barkley long-range effort was the closest we came to rescuing a point. 0-1 it ended, a fourth consecutive opening day defeat and a thoroughly frustrating afternoon.

But hey, what did we expect? It's the start of the season, after all.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 5, Baines 6, Distin 6, Jagielka 4, Neville 5, Barkley 7, Heitinga 4, Osman 4, Rodwell 4, Cahill 4, Beckford 4.

Subs: Arteta 4, Fellaini 5, Saha 4.

Everton 0-1 Villarreal

The now traditional home friendly is usually a chance for Evertonians to catch their first glimpse of the club's new signings, although, as we all know, this Summer has been a very difficult one at Goodison Park.

Indeed, our efforts in this year's transfer window were typified by one of the matchday stewards, who quipped "I'm surprised I'm being paid to be honest".

Our efforts on the field also proved to be inadequate, as an excellent Guiseppe Rossi strike secured a friendly win for Villarreal. A nasty injury to Seamus Coleman did nothing to lift the spirits of the frustrated Evertonians.

Tim Howard was re-instated in goal behind a back four of Baines, Distin, Jagielka and Neville. A youthful midfield consisted of Fellaini, Barkley, Rodwell, Coleman and Anichebe, with Louis Saha heading the attack.

Back-up 'keeper Jan Mucha was joined on the bench by Hibbert, Heitinga, Cahill, Yakubu, Vellios, Bilyaletdinov, Baxter and Beckford.

The one major positive this Summer is the emergence of 17-year-old Ross Barkley, who, even at such a tender age, has looked the real deal in Everton's friendlies thus far. That trend certainly continued last night.

In the early stages Barkley showed a few great touches in midfield. He was a the centre of a move that ended with him striking a ferocious volley well over the bar. Minutes later he collected the ball on the edge of the area, feigned to shoot and played an exquisite chipped through ball into the path of Leighton Baines.

Baines was offside and contrived to miss anyway, but it was a moment of genuine quality from Barkley. The youngster didn't stop there - and in the following interchanges he played through Seamus Coleman, only for the Irishman to also be ruled offside.

Barkley also went close himself as he met Baines' cross well, although his half-

volleyed effort went just wide. At the other end, ex-Manchester United man Guiseppe Rossi went close with a free-kick after Fellaini had clipped the ankles of Cani on the edge of the area.

Indeed, Rossi (Guiseppe, not Barkley) was a livewire all evening - a less chubby version of Carlos Tevez. He had a couple of decent snapshots before the half was out, but nothing that Tim Howard wasn't equal to.

Louis Saha saw his effort fly wide via the fingertips of the Villarreal 'keeper, before the half ended on a very sour note. Carlos Marchena slid in needlessly on Seamus Coleman and you could tell straightaway it was a bad 'un.

Coleman went down with his hands on his face and was replaced immediately by Tim Cahill. A later scan thankfully revealed that there had been no fracture to the ankle, although the suspected ligament damage is still likely to keep him out of action for a significant period of time.

That was the last action of the first half but Everton created their best opportunity of the match straight after the interval. Leighton Baines beat the whole right side of Villarreal's defence, played a one-two with Louis Saha and was was one-on-one with the keeper, 10 yards out. His shot was straight at the goalkeeper though and the scores remained level.

Villarreal scored what proved to be the winner on 64 minutes - a superb effort from Guiseppe Rossi. A free-kick on the edge of the area was rolled into his path and Rossi slammed a thunderbolt right into the top left hand corner. Tim Howard had absolutely no chance with the powerful shot, which drew applause from both sets of supporters.

Villarreal took control of the game from that point onwards. They were far superior in possession and didn't let us have much of a kick, with substitute Oriol seeing a good effort saved by Howard. The situation was not helped when our most creative player, Ross Barkley, was taken off. It was another impressive performance from the lad and he was given rapturous applause as he departed.

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that i hope to see a lot, lot more of him this season.

The remainder of the match turned into a bit of a snoozefest to be honest. Jermaine Beckford gave Carlos Marchena a taste of his own medicine with a two-footed tackle of his own, whilst Tony Hibbert was told to "SHOOOOTTT" from inside his own half.

It ended 1-0, a result that was just about deserved for the Spanish side. The injury to Coleman added further doom to an already depressing evening. Still, at least the Premier League is back next week.

I'll be at Spurs on August 13th fully expecting to be well beaten. Expect the worst and you'll never be disappointed. As an Evertonian, that's becoming more and more a quote to live by.

StickyToffee Player Ratings; Howard 7, Baines 7, Distin 7, Jagielka 6, Neville 6, Coleman 6, Rodwell 5, BARKLEY 8, Fellaini 6, Anichebe 5, Saha 5.

Subs: Cahill 5, Heitinga 5, Hibbert 5, Yakubu 4, Beckford 5.

Werder Bremen 1-0 Everton

Everton stuttered through a thoroughly disappointing 90 minutes in Bremen on Tuesday night, with Sandro Wagner's first half goal enough to see off a disjointed Everton side.

It is only pre-season though, so nothing to worry about. We came through the game without any injuries, which is the biggest positive you can take from any friendly. And we were treated to another glimpse of the talent that is Ross Barkley. Remember the name.

Jan Mucha and Tim Howard shared the goalkeeping duties, with the Slovakian playing the first half before being replaced by the mad Yank at half-time. The back four had a familiar look of Hibbert - Jagielka - Distin - Baines and, in the absence of Phil Neville, Jagielka was made captain.

Teenage prodigy Ross Barkley was handed a starting berth in midfield alongside Leon Osman, John Heitinga and Tim Cahill, whilst Victor Anichebe once again partnered Jermaine Beckford up top.

Alongside Tim Howard on the bench were; Seamus Coleman, Phil Neville, Apostolos Vellios, Louis Saha, Magaye Gueye and Diniyar Bilyaletdinov.

Yakubu's exclusion from the squad rang a few alarm bells, although I am now led to believe that he stayed at home to be at the birth of his child. One person who Evertonians were extremely pleased to see in the line up was Phil Jagielka, the subject of two recent bids from Arsenal.

The opening period was pretty even, with Ross Barkley providing a good outlet on the right wing. Indeed, most of Everton's good play came through the youngster, who looked comfortable on the ball and equally so when cutting inside and using his left foot. It's clear we have a special, special talent on our books - something noted post-match by both Tony Hibbert and Sylvain Distin.

Baines also looked lively as ever and put it a peach of a cross for Tim Cahill, whose header was unusually mistimed and off target.

Bremen also had chances - not least the absolute sitter missed by Sandro Wagner. A ball was chipped across goal and Mucha was beaten all ends up. It was a free header, four yards out, but Wagner somehow managed to miss. It wasn't quite on the level of Yakubu at the World Cup, but it's up there.

Wagner did make up for the shocking miss just minutes later, although the opening goal had more than a slice of fortune about it. Back-up 'keeper Jan Mucha flapped at a cross, allowing Wagner to prod home at the second time of asking.

Everton made a couple of changes at the break. Tim Howard swapped places with Jan Mucha and Louis Saha did likewise with Victor Anichebe. Unfortunately, Bremen had also made a few substitutions, which included the introduction of exciting midfielder Marko Marin.

They took control of the game and chances fell to Marin and Aaron Hunt. Louis Saha and Jermaine Beckford were not adequately supported by Everton's midfield, a situation that only got worse when our most creative player, Ross Barkley, was taken off shortly into the second period.

Leighton Baines went closest to leveling the scores for Everton. For once the left-back hit a poor free-kick that cannoned straight into the wall, but Baines hit the rebound thunderously against the post.

The game petered out into a 1-0 defeat, a disappointing result and performance. But hey, it's only pre-season!

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 5, Hibbert 5, Jagielka 6, Distin 6, Baines 6, Cahill 6, Barkley 7, Osman 5, Heitinga 5, Anichebe 4, Beckford 4.

Subs: Howard 5, Coleman 5, Neville 5, Bilyaletdinov 4, Vellios 4, Saha 4.

Birmingham City 1-2 Everton

Everton were made to work extremely hard to earn their 2-1 victory at St. Andrew's this afternoon, but second-half goals from Leighton Baines and fit-again Louis Saha secured a third pre-season win in four games.

David Moyes named a strong side for the Midlands fixture; Tim Howard was between the sticks for the first time this pre-season, with a back-four of Baines, Jagielka, Heitinga and Hibbert. The midfield quartet was Bilyaletdinov, Neville, Osman, Coleman and in attack were Beckford and Anichebe.

The new yellow away kit was the only thing making its debut for Everton and the first half certainly suggested that Everton were suffering from a lack of fresh impetus that could have been provided by a new signing or two. We were second best throughout the first period.

Chris Burke, and later 58-year-old Stephen Carr, capitalized on slack defending by Diniyar Bilyaletdinov but both struck their efforts straight at Tim Howard in the Everton goal. The also-returning Tony Hibbert had a tough afternoon dealing with the pace and trickery of Birmingham's Nathan Redmond - who is simply one of those pesky, annoying little pricks.

Everton's best efforts of the first half came via Jermaine Beckford, who did well to wriggle out of the defender's reach and create a shooting opportunity, and then Seamus Coleman, who looked dangerous cutting in from the right hand side.

Chris Hughton would have been much the happier manager at half-time, and our boys were in for a hammering.

Birmingham started the second period in exactly the same fashion as the first and, although they rarely troubled Howard, David Moyes won't have been impressed by our defending in both open play and from set-pieces.

We did take the lead in the 58th minute though, and from a familiar source. Leighton Baines - who further endeared himself to Evertonians in the week by saying that "there's more chance of me winning the next Grand Prix than joining Liverpool" - lined up a free-kick on the edge of the area and, well, we all knew what was going to happen next...

The deadliest left-foot in English football struck again with a well placed free-kick into the bottom-right corner. The goal was Baines' last action of the game as he was then withdrawn and replaced by fit-again-but-probably-not-for-long Louis Saha.

Saha didn't take long to make his mark on the game, reminding us all what a clinical finisher he can be when he is on song and off the treatment table. He found space 20 yards out and hit a low right-footed shot into the corner of the net. It was a goal of great finesse that proved once again what a fantastic player he can be.

More Everton substitutions followed, including the return of the somewhat prodigal Yakubu who, for one reason or another, missed the tour of America. He was welcomed onto the field with a chorus of 'feed the Yak and he will score' and he certainly looked as though he had been well fed.

Birmingham then managed to pull a goal back - which, for their first half efforts, was deserved - through Scottish forward Adam Rooney (no relation). It was a good finish too - Rooney applied a neat little flick onto a wayward shot to divert it in and make it 2-1.

Magaye Gueye - who played at Oxford last night - was introduced and went close with a long-range free-kick, but 2-1 was how it finished. Not a very convincing win but a win nonetheless. There are certainly things to work on before August 13th, but I'd certainly take a scrappy 2-1 win at White Hart Lane on the opening day!

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Howard 7, Hibbert 6, Heitinga 6, Jagielka 6, Baines 8, Coleman 6, Neville 7, Osman 5, Bilyaletdinov 6, Beckford 5, Anichebe 6.

Subs: Distin 6, Cahill 7, Saha 7, Barkley 7, Yakubu 5, Gueye 6.

D.C. United 1-3 Everton

Everton rounded off the pre-season tour of the US tour in style as goals from Victor Anichebe, Dinyar Bilyaletdinov and Magaye Gueye secured a 3-1 victory over D.C. United in the US capital.

For the first time since his involvement at the Gold Cup, custodian Tim Howard joined up with the Everton squad prior to kick-off. The American stopper signed autographs for both sets of fans at the RFK Stadium, although he didn't play any part in the game as he had just returned from extended leave. That meant that Slovakian Jan Mucha was between the sticks for the third game running.

Seamus Coleman again took up the right full-back slot, with captain Phil Jagielka, Sylvain Distin and Leighton Baines making up a full-strength back four. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov started on the left, with Tim Cahill and Jack Rodwell in central midfield. Evertonians were also treated to another glimpse of teenager Ross Barkley who was stationed on the right.

Victor Anichebe partnered Apostolos Vellios in attack, which meant that the substitutes bench comprised of John Heitinga, Phil Neville, Leon Osman, Conor McAleny, Jermaine Beckford, Magaye Gueye and young goalkeeper Adam Davies.

In sweltering conditions across the pond, Everton started the game brightly and were ahead inside four minutes. Leighton Baines played the ball into the left hand channel where Victor Anichebe collected the pass and finished well from an acute angle.

D.C. United had a couple of opportunities, the best of which was a long range effort from skipper Josh Wolff (who possesses quite possibly the most American name ever). Everton, though, doubled the advantage on 16 minutes in exquisite fashion.

Vellios, Rodwell and Barkley combined before the later played a killer pass that left Bilyaletdinov through on goal with only the 'keeper to beat. The Russian did the rest, slotting the ball home with aplomb.

Anichebe, Barkley and Coleman all went close before the half was over whilst at the other end DC threatened with a couple of set-plays. Indeed, the performance of young Ross Barkley was something to savour, a tantalizing glimpse of the player that has been touted as the best player at Everton since a certain Wayne Rooney.

Without wishing to place too much pressure on young shoulders, if last night's performance was anything to go by then we have a real talent on our hands. There was one instance where he jinked past four or five defenders before playing a defence-splitting pass to Coleman. He clearly has exceptional talent, but we must not build him up Michael Branch style.

At the interval Osman and Gueye replaced Barkley and Vellios, and just a minute into the restart DC had halved the deficit. A long ball was played down the centre of the pitch and was poorly defended. Jagielka allowed Chris Pontius to get goalside, and the DC player drilled the ball past Mucha.

Despite the setback, Everton continued to have the better of the chances. You would have put your house on Tim Cahill to score with a free header from six yards out, but his effort went narrowly wide. Bilyaletdinov's shot scraped the crossbar after a short corner routine, and Rodwell sent a shot over the bar when he may have been better advised to slip in substitute Jermaine Beckford.

Seamus Coleman almost scored a brilliant own goal, but fortunately for him his touch diverted the ball onto the woodwork and not into the net. At the other end, Everton made it three on 83 minutes when two substitutes combined.

Magaye Gueye fed Jermaine Beckford on the left-hand side, with Beckford chipping a great cross to the far post where Gueye had the simple task of tapping home. The goal made it 3-1 and that was how it finished.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 7, Coleman 6, Jagielka 5, Distin 6, Baines 7, Bilyaletdinov 7, Barkley 8, Rodwell 6, Cahill 6, Anichebe 7, Vellios 5.

Subs: Osman 5, Gueye 6, McAleny 5, Neville 5, Heitinga 5, Beckford 6.

Philadelphia Union 1-0 Everton

As in the defeat to Manchester United back in April, a late Hernandez goal proved the difference between Everton and their opponents last night. This time it was Philadelphia Union's Christian Hernandez who struck with three minutes to go to hand the Union victory.

In a keenly-contested and largely even match, both sides played some nice football in extremely hot and humid conditions. Everton just about edged the first half with chances coming primarily from set-plays. Magaye Gueye again impressed, with Arteta influential in midfeld.

It was goalless at the break and wholesale changes did nothing to help the pace or rhythm of the game. The heat was clearly affecting the Everton players, whose shirts had turned a darker shade of blue due to the sweat. Philadelphia, who are in mid-season fitness, really started to look threatening in the last half hour as Everton dwindled.

They did manage to get the win courtesy of some calamitous defending three minutes from time. After Jan Mucha had saved well, the ball was not properly cleared and Hernandez capitalised on the mistakes to put the Union ahead. Nonetheless, there were plenty of positives, for example the performances of Apostolos Vellios and the returning Ross Barkley.

* * *

With Tim Howard 'rested' after his Gold Cup exploits, Jan Mucha donned the gloves (and the camouflaged kit) in the Everton goal. The back four was Leighton 'Beatle' Baines, John Heitinga, Phil Jagielka and Seamus Coleman.

In the centre of midfield was Mikel Arteta alongside the slightly less cultured Phil Neville, with Magaye Gueye and Diniyar (or, according to the Philadelphia pitch announcer, Dimitar) Bilyaletdinov operating the flanks. Tim Cahill supported Jermaine Beckford up front.

Everton controlled possession for the opening 20 minutes, although the best chances fell to the noggins of the Union's Danny Mwanga and Carlos Valdes. Mikel Arteta went close with a free kick that hit the side netting, before the Spaniard sumptuously released Jermaine Beckford who controlled the ball well but skewed his effort off target.

It was a slow-paced yet even fixture, which probably had a lot to do with the temperatures that, even late at night, were approaching 90 degrees Fahrenheit. It was so hot that, had he been playing, even Tony Hibbert may have opted for a short-sleeved shirt.

Both sides made changes at the break. You probably don't care about Philadelphia's, so I won't bother telling you. Everton replaced Arteta, Beckford and Gueye with Jack Rodwell, Apostolos Vellios and Sylvain Distin. Phil Neville moved to right back, Seamus Coleman switched to right midfield and Johnny Heitinga also moved into midfield.

Greek striker Vellios had a large impact on the game and used his physical presence well. He struck an ambitious effort from almost 40 yards, as well as winning his fair share of headers and loose balls. John Heitinga tried to replicate his goal v Birmingham but his effort sailed wide, and Seamus Coleman showed exactly why fans call him the Irish Messi as he took on the whole Union defence before seeing his curling shot blocked.

Union did look slightly more dangerous as Everton started to wilt, with Roger Torres running the show in the middle of midfield. Everton introduced Ross Barkley and Conor McAleny in place of Bilyaletdinov and Cahill.

It was especially nice to see Barkley play after the horrendous injury he has suffered. He showed glimpses of his talent, with a nice turn and shot that was well saved, but also his inexperience in giving the ball away a couple of times.

With just three minutes remaining Union took the lead. Mucha saved well but the ball was not properly cleared by Rodwell, and then Distin. The game of pinball ended with Hernandez, who struck low into the net to win the game for the Union.

There was still time for John Heitinga to get himself sent off, but it was a ridiculous decision. Heitinga collided innocuously with a Union midfielder and the card-happy ref reached straight for his back pocket. Johnny 5, quite rightly, stormed angrily off the pitch. Good luck to whoever calmed him down.

The game ended 1-0 to the Union, but as we all know the results in pre-season don't particularly matter. Plenty of positives including the performance of Vellios and the return of Barkley. And, as mentioned hundreds of times in commentary, it was a 'good workout'.

StickyToffee Player Ratings: Mucha 7, Baines 7, Jagielka 6, Heitinga 7, Coleman 6, Bilyaletdinov 6, Arteta 8, Neville 6, Gueye 7, Cahill 5, Beckford 5.

Subs: Rodwell 6, Distin 5, Vellios 7, Barkley 7, McAleny 5.

Toffees Bury The Shakers In Pre-Season Opener

With no new faces at Finch Farm so far this Summer, the only Everton debut made at Gigg Lane was that of the new retro-styled home kit. It was a positive result for the Toffees though, as goals from Yakubu, Magaye Gueye (2) and Leon Osman secured a 4-1 pre-season victory.

At half-time it was 4-0, everything was going swimmingly and Sky Sports were even reporting that we had planned a bid for Charles N'Zogbia. 45 minutes later it was 4-1, Jermaine Beckford was lying on a Gigg Lane treatment table and our bid had been downgraded to 'interest'.

Everton aren't we?

* * *

Jan Mucha kept goal in what may well prove to be his last appearance for Everton, with the Slovakian international said to be interested in a move away from Goodison in search of regular football.

John Heitinga started alongside Sylvain Distin in the heart of defence, with Phil Neville operating at left-back and Seamus Coleman reverting from the right side of midfield to the right full-back position, something that David Moyes has indicated may happen as the Irishman's career progresses.

Fit-again Marouane Fellaini was handed a starting berth alongside Leon Osman in the centre of the midfield, with Mikel Arteta and Magaye Gueye operating the flanks. In attack Jermaine Beckford partnered Yakubu, for whom the game was his first in Everton Blue since his loan spell at Leicester City.

The substitutes bench was warmed by Tim Cahill, Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, Victor Anichebe, Leighton Baines and Phil Jagielka, who - presumably - would have donned the goalkeeping gloves had Jan Mucha picked up an injury (Jags famously once acted as an emergency 'keeper for Sheffield United).

There has been growing discontent amongst Evertonians in recent week due to a Summer bereft of any meaningful transfer activity. God knows what would've happened had we been beaten tonight.

It was a good job then, that the Yak had had a pre-match slap-up meal. He opened the scoring on 17 minutes. Mikel Arteta's corner was headed on by Leon Osman, and then Marouane Fellaini, before the big Nigerian leapt (moved his noggin) inside the six yard box to head Everton in front.

It was the cue for the song book to be dusted down and utilised. The travelling Scousers cleared their throats after a few months without their weekly sing-song, and soon chants of 'Who needs Cantona... when we've got Barry Horne' were heard. Next came 'Sharpy (Graeme Sharp - in the evertonTV commentary box) give us a wave' and one that hasn't been heard for a while - 'Feed the Yak and he will score'.

The mood was heightened when Magaye Gueye made it two shortly afterwards - capitalising on a mistake by a Bury defender and slotting home at the second attempt.

Leon Osman - probably the pick of the Everton bunch - added the third. Build up play from Arteta and Neville on the left saw the diminutive midfielder receive the ball on the edge of the box. Some brilliant footwork saw him escape a defender, he took one further touch and curled the ball home seamlessly.

Maggie Gueye - sporting a quite frankly awful mohawk - added a fourth before the break, driving the ball through Steven Schumacher's legs and into the net. Party time!

David Moyes rang the changes at the break, introducing Bilyaletdinov, Anichebe, Baines and Jagielka in place of Fellaini, Heitinga, Arteta and Distin. Diniyar Bilyaletdinov was especially impressive in a central midfield role, playing a couple of 'worldy' passes.

Jermaine Beckford pulled up with a hamstring problem soon into the second half and Everton, quite sensibly deciding not to risk him, played out the rest of the game without a full compliment of players on the pitch.

Bury managed to pull a goal back through a free-kick from ex-Everton youth player Steven Schumacher. The Bury skipper's free-kick took a slight deflection, although Jan Mucha - in full camouflage - should have done better.

4-1 it ended and it proved a good night for Everton, who will be glad to get back to on-pitch matters rather than off-pitch ones. The injury to Beckford was a sour note but hopefully it doesn't prove too serious, and there was even time for the annual Bury pitch invasion, with Jagielka and Yakubu (unsurprisingly) the slowest off the field and therefore the ones that got mobbed.

I believe that's what they call a good night's work.

Everton Enjoy Austrian Training

Everton have kicked off preparations for the upcoming season by holding a pre-season training camp in the Austrian village of Obertraun. The first team squad, along with the reserve and academy players, flew out on Tuesday evening.

The travelling party included Yakubu, who returned to training with Everton after his loan spell at Leicester City, but Everton's international stars Tim Howard, Seamus Coleman, Leighton Baines, John Heitinga and Phil Jagielka have all been granted extra time off after their Summer exploits.

Wednesday's training consisted of three gruelling sessions to re-build the squad's core fitness after the Summer break. In between the dreaded fitness periods David Moyes led his players into a river for a chance to cool down and Tim Cahill even took a break from tweeting to instigate a water fight with Jose Baxter (above).

On Thursday the squad took a cable car trip to the summit of the Austrian Alps, with plenty of the players taking to Twitter to share their mountainous snaps:

Jose Baxter enjoying scenery a little different to Liverpool

Youngster James Wallace in Austria

Distin tweeted: "First time felli see the snow ha ha"

Aussie Tim Cahill posted this snap of the whole group - spot Fellaini!

Train hard lads, it will be worth it.

Beckford reaches double figures as Everton end on a high

Old Chelsea schoolboy Jermaine Beckford settled the match against his old side with a fine solo effort, later described by Manager David Moyes as being like something out of Roy of the Rovers. It certainly was a fine goal to settle a lively game that ended with Everton deservedly claiming the final points of the season.

The 1-0 triumph over the second best team in the country was succeeded by the customary lap of honour, as Evertonians were left to wonder 'what if?', whilst simultaneously bursting with hope for next season.

It was made even more impressive by the fact that we had to deal with a shocking refereeing performance, the sending off of Seamus Coleman and an opposing starting eleven that had been assembled for £160 million.

Moyes plumped for a 4-5-1 formation, dropping Anichebe in favour of Beckford. Phil Neville was ruled out after picking up a mouth infection following a midweek trip to the dentist, and so the midfield was Coleman, Rodwell, Heitinga, Osman, Arteta. The back five was unchanged.

It was an Everton display full of energy, atypical for an end of season affair, and we could have taken the lead early on. Rodwell's surge down the right hand side earned a corner, which resulted in Phil Jagielka's headed effort hitting the crossbar. The chances kept coming as we assumed control on the game. First Coleman, after a neat interchange with Beckford, found himself in a good position but took too much time on the ball and the chance escaped.

We then had a clear penalty claim, but referee Peter Walton, who had a 'mare by all accounts, waved played on after Osman was hacked down from behind by Alex. Osman couldn't believe it, and neither could the Park End crowd.

For all our efforts, Chelsea did, at times, look dangerous at the other end. Only some great defensive work from Distin and Jagielka thwarted Anelka and Lampard in Chelsea's attack. Chelsea had a spell of possession, but failed to carve out any more real chances, and we really should have been ahead before the half was out.

A fabulous pass from Arteta set Beckford free of Alex, but the striker contrived to send the ball out for a throw-in. It took a very slight deflection, but it was a horrendous miss.

That was the last notable action of the first half and just five minutes into the second we were down to ten men. Seamus Coleman lunged at John Obi Mikel and won the ball, but his studs were showing and the reactions of the Chelsea players contributed to the youngster receiving his marching orders courtesy of a second yellow card.

The Goodison crowd rose to applaud Coleman off the field in an acknowledgement of a fantastic debut season which has seen him win Everton's Young Player of the Year award and receive a nomination for the PFA Young Player of the Year award. Not bad for £60,000.

Chelsea, assuming a man advantage, took control of the game in midfield. John Terry went closest with a 20-yard strike that cannoned off the post, but it was far from one-sided. Petr Cech had to sprawl to keep out a Beckford effort, and Arteta's shot from the perimeter of the box went narrowly wide.

Chelsea had the ball in the net after Howard flapped at a free-kick and Ivanovic took advantage, only for the goal to be correctly ruled out as offside.

It was Everton, though, that took the lead with a 74th minute goal. And what a goal it was. It was a goal so good that it made a mockery of Everton's insistence that the end of season awards ceremony is held before the end of the season. It was a goal that had Goodison rocking and roaring with approval. It was the tenth goal of the season from Jermaine Beckford.

He picked up the ball just outside his own penalty area and drove up the pitch. With nobody in front of him but five Chelsea players, most centre-forwards would have been inclined to hold the ball up and wait for support. But Beckford carried on running. His sheer pace took him past two but the task was still monumental. On the half way line he was confronted by another pair of defenders. A lucky ricochet set him through, one-on-one with Cech. The ball had ballooned into the air, but Beckford controlled in perfectly in his stride, taking one further touch before executing a sumptuous chipped finish over the onrushing goalkeeper.

He stood, arms raised, in front of the Gwladys Street. The grand old lady was rocking. It was a goal so good that if it had been scored my Messi it would talked about for years.

Goodison was alive, it was party time. Torres, who had been largely anonymous, was taunted with cries of 'Ladyboy, ladyboy' and 'you're just a sh*t Jermaine Beckford'. The place was rocking.

Beckford's mazy run and finish proved to be a great end to a season of ups and downs that ended with a seventh placed finish, a slight improvement on last year.

This last day victory has inspired confidence amongst Evertonians. Now we just have to hope that our confidence hasn't vanished by the end of August.

My Alternative End of Season Awards

The annual Everton awards were held last night and Leighton Baines left with a deserved three-trophy haul, having won Player's Player of the Season, Player of the Season and Goal of the Season for his last-minute free-kick against Chelsea. Duncan Ferguson was honoured with the title of 'Everton giant', Seamus Coleman bagged Young Player of the Season, Jose Baxter took home the gong for Reserve Player of the Season and Jake Bidwell was crowned Academy Player of the Season. The Howard Kendall Award for Outstanding Achievement went to the league-winning U-18 side, whilst chairman Bill Kenwright honoured David Moyes and Leon Osman with his 'Blue Blood' award. The award for Ladies Player of the Season went to Natasha Dowie, who scored the winner in Everton's FA Cup final win.

Most of the results turned out as expected, so I thought I would have a go at dishing out some of my own, admittedly less prestigious, awards. Without further ado, I present to you my alternative end of season awards:

Game of the Season

It may have been a slightly disappointing season but there have been some real highlights. To name just a few - the Goodison wins over Manchester City and Liverpool, and the late comeback against Manchester United. For me though, in terms of sheer footballing entertainment, this award has to go to Everton 5-3 Blackpool. Both sides contributed to an absolute classic - one of the best games I have ever seen at Goodison.

Highlight of the Season

The season has brought some incredible highs, but none higher than the FA Cup 4th Round victory at Stamford Bridge. Six-thousand Evertonians, Heitinga's shove on Ashley Cole and, of course, Phil Neville's emphatic winning penalty. What a day.

Lowlight of the Season

Where to start? The 4-1 defeat to West Brom? Failing to beat Wolves and Wigan at home? The utterly abject performance at Bolton? There are, sadly, too many to mention. If pushed though, I would select the loss to Brentford in the Carling Cup. The way we exited both the cups was utterly disappointing, especially after holding so much belief we could reach Wembley again.

The Per Kroldrup Award for Flop of the Season

This was the year that Jack Rodwell was meant to cement his position in the side, and take steps towards fulfilling his potential. I still believe he can make it to the top, as does admirer Sir Alex Ferguson, but injuries and poor form have made him my flop of the season. In my opinion, he needs to start controlling games and move away from the Ray Wilkins-style 'crab' performances that we have seen from him this year. Also nominated for this award was Mikel Arteta.

The Classiest Moment of the Season

We may not have the resources of many other clubs, but one thing that Everton will always have in abundance is class. For me, the way that the majority of our fans stayed behind to clap Reading off the pitch after our FA Cup loss was a tribute to our club. It epitomised what Everton are all about and, although it didn't make up for our dismal showing that night, it gave us all a hint of pride.

The 'Love Him or Hate Him Award', sponsored by Marmite

This award can only go to one player - Diniyar Bilyaletdinov. I want to love Billy, and the talent is clearly there, but his performances are too inconsistent. He is an enigma: at times magical but at others lethargic and totally anonymous.

The Emmanuel Eboue Award for Winning over the Fans

I'm going to give this one to Sylvain Distin. Many were not sure about the French centre-half before the season, with most suggesting that Moyes' favoured pairing would be Jagielka and Heitinga. Aside from a few mistakes, Distin has been solid and dependable, and is probably only second to Leighton Baines in the running for player of the season. Has scored some vital goals to boot - against Liverpool and old club Manchester City.

The Lady Gaga Award for providing endless Internet Gossip

There is only one man deserving of this title - step forward Mr John Heitinga. Although the latest news is that he wants to stay, he has fuelled rumours of moves to, amongst others, Manchester City and Bayern Munich. He has been quoted as saying that 'I am always looking to move to a bigger club', and it seems that after every international break there is a new story linking him with a Goodison Park exit.

The Splinter-in-the-bum Award

It was to be expected, unless Tim Howard had picked up an injury, that Jan Mucha would spend the majority of the season on the substitutes' bench. That has proved to be the case, and the Slovakian number one looks set to move on in the Summer.

The Sandra Redknapp Award for Miss of the Season

Ok, so I realise it may not have been for Everton, and that the player has been on loan since January, but this award can only go to Yakubu's miss for Nigeria at the 2010 World Cup. It defied belief. It was so bad that it gets worse each time you see it. I mean, it was two yards out. Open goal. As Hawwy 'the dog' Redknapp said: "my missus could've scored!"

The Amr Zaki Award for unjustified early season hope

Not his fault at all - and I must point out he is a legend in my eyes - but I couldn't think of anyone but Tim Cahill for this one. His goals carried us through the first part of the season, but the Asia Cup unfortunately ruined his season. It's great news that he's said he'll be resting up over the Summer - we need him fit and ready for next season.

So there you have them, my end of season awards. Onwards and hopefully upwards as we look forward with hope to next season (although the hope will have inevitably gone by September).