 |
|
 |
| Barnsley FC 1-1 Coventry City by Kev Monks Well, yet another midweek game for the Sky Blues as the fixtures come thick and fast. (well until after the Gillingham game, as the Palace game on October 6 has been postponed - the new date is November 28 or if either side are on League Cup that date Wednesday December 5). The latest was a trip oop north tut Barnsley and like our trip to Sheffield United, the traffic was reasonable and ensured that we arrived at the Metrodome Leisure Centre by the ground with plenty of time for a few beers. For this sortee, Nilsson played himself instead of the injured Mo Konjic in a first half that was dull and uninspiring to say the least. City had created chances but Lee Hughes again left his shooting boots in West Brom as he fluffed two relatively easy shots on goal that you would have normally expected him to bury Youseff Chippo was also quilty of a bad miss in an opening period that was easily controlled by City and shows how poor this division actually is. The action took place in the second period. City started the half with Jairo Martinez on for the injured Jay Bothroyd and within eight minutes, the Honduran had given City the lead. Youssef Safri won the ball in midfield and found David Thompson to his right who in turn found Lee Hughes on the right wing. Hughes sent over an excellent cross which was firmly headed into the net by Martinez in a goal reminiscent of he greatest goal scored in FA Cup Final. Like the 1000+ City fans in the North Stand, the Honduran went berserk and decided to celebrate the goal by vaulting over the advertising hoarding and ran up into the North Stand into the arms of some City followers whom we assume were friends/relations of his. Thankfully referee Steve Baines,who like his assistants hails from down the road in Derbyshire did not book him for this act of jubilation. City went to the knock-out with Hughes (twice) and Safri creating good chances and it looked like it was three points in the bag. But as all experienced City watchers know it is never over until the final whistle. Things started to go downhill when David Thompson limped off with an injury to his right leg and was replaced by Laurent Delorge and in the 79th minute, the home side drew level. City lost the ball in midfield and substitute Fallen hit a 30 yard ball that caught out Roland Nilsson and found Dean Gorre, who raced to the by-line and sent over a low cross which beat Hedman and allowed Bruce Dyer to slide in and tap the ball over the line despite the best efforts of the impressive Marc Edworthy. That was that. In a Division where you need to win all your home games and pick up points away, City had thrown away two points which could be costly come April. For some reason, there was not the fight shown in the games against Sheff United,Man City and Portsmouth and Nilsson must look at getting that level of commitment and effort at every game we play. I suppose the only other plus point for Nilsson who wants to be the permanent City boss was that we didn't lose and his unbeaten streak continues TEAM 13 Hedman,2 Edworthy, 5 Shaw,6 Breen,24 Nilsson,7 Thompson (28 Delorge 71),8 Carsley,9 27 Safri,11 Chippo (16 O'Neill 77), 21 Bothroyd (25 Martinez 46), 9 Hughes SNU 30 Goram,26 Davenport RATINGS 13 Hedman 7/10 Not a lot to do and one flap 2 EDWORTHY 8/10 Looked good going forward and defended well 5 Shaw 5/10 Did not look comfortable alongside Breen 6 Breen 7/10 Had a reasonable game 24 Nillson 5/10 Clearly lacked pace and made some rash tackles 7 Thompson 8/10 Thommo again did well before limping off 8 Carsley 7/10 Battled well 11 Chippo 7/10 Again tried hard 27 Safri 7/10 Battled well 21 Bothroyd 6/10 Struggled after picking up the knock and should have been replaced earlier 9 Hughes 7/10 Was not helped by the lack of service and his finishing again let him down 25 Martinez 8/10 Ran well and his goal proved that he is ready for a run in the first team 28 Delorge 5/10 Offered little to the Sky Blues attack or defence 16 O'Neill 6/10 Easy to see why he is on the bench |