STOCKPORT COUNTY 0-2 COVENTRY CITY

 

BY KEV MONKS

 

This was the most important game of the season, we had to get off to a good start if the Sky Blues are to make a swift return to the top flight.

 

Backed by the signings of Lee Hughes from West Brom for £5m and a pound and Keith O'Neill from Middlesbrough, a steal at £750,000, we set off bright and early for the trip to Edgeley Park in the Twist And Shout mobile. It turned out to be the right decision as the M6 was ladened with traffic and whilst we beat most of the traffic to get there at 11.30, many who left later were caught up in the traffic and severely delayed.

 

After seeing Steve Payne nearly arrested by the ground, for sticking his business card on every vehicle we passed. We got to the Sir Robert Peel pub which saw a good mix of home and away supporters. After listening to the Stockport version of that Ulster Loyalist song "The Sash My Father Wore", we headed in to the ground.

 

Stockport were totally unprepared for the invasion of 3,900 City supporters and many fans missed the kick-off as the turnstiles were unable to cope with the numbers flooding into the covered Vernon stand and the open seated area behind the goal. If ever those City supporters ever needed a reminder of what we had sunk to, all they had to was to look at the referee. It was Paul Danson, yes that twat from Leicestershite, who should not even be allowed to take an under 8's game, is now prowling the grounds of the Nationwide League.

 

Strachan opted to award debuts to O'Neill and Hughes and surprisingly included Roland Nilsson as captain in a 4-4-2 formation. From the kick off, City went straight at the home side and Paul Danson proved that his performances had not improved since he was thrown off the Premiership list. The official booked Carsley in the 13th minute for what looked to be a good,fair tackle and persisted in being unable to tell the difference between a fair and foul tackle. 

 

With O'Neill battling hard, City stamped their class on the Cheshire side and took the lead after 29 minutes. Chippo hammered over a cross which was half cleared, the ball fell to Mo Konjic who hoofed the ball into the path of Lee Hughes. The Black Country lad, who apparently, always scores against Stockport, superbly controlled the ball and shot low past Jones into the net and raced over to celebrate with the City support who were in raptures.

 

The goal set City on their way and from then on there was only one team in it. Stockport only managed one meaningful shot during the entire half and relied on trying to muscle City off the ball. One casualty of this over forcefulness was Mo Konjic who limped off in the 42nd minute. The injury to Mo, sparked off a number of bets of when we would see him in a first team shirt again and ranged from two weeks to January 2004!.

 

The second half was more of the same, with Paul Danson doing his best to detract the attention from the players. His actions did not go down well with the City support who gave him as much stick as they did to John Hartson, especially when he missed two clear penalties. One was a blatant handball and the other was a foul on Bothroyd who had linked up well with Hughes in attack.

 

With Marcus Hall booked for a skirmish with Wilbraham, City managed to create chances. In the 74th minute David Thompson hit a shot from 10 yards which was superbly turned over the bar by Jones. Thompson, banged over another corner which was cleared for another corner. This time, Thompson's inswinging corner was met firmly by the head of Lee Carseley and the ball flew into the net.

 

So that was it, game over, three points in the bag and a job well done. Every player had done their part in the victory and although every team this season will not be as inept as Stockport were, at least there is a glimmer of hope on the Sky Blue horizon that our sortee into the Nationwide League, may only be brief.

 

Team 1 Kirkland,24 Nilsson,3 Hall,4 Williams,22 Konjic (off 42,5 Shaw 45),16 O'Neill,7 Thompson,8 Carsley,11 Chippo,

9 Hughes,21 Bothroyd SNU 13 Hedman,14 Quinn,18 Strachan,25 Martinez.

 

HT 0-1 FT 0-2 ATT 9,329  GOALS Hughes (29), Carsley (75)

 

Monks Man Of The Match  Keith O'Neill

 

PLAYER RATINGS

Kirkland    8/10   Never troubled, did what he had to do very professionally

Nilsson     8/10   Looked a bit dodgy in the first half but got stronger the longer the game went on.

Hall         8/10   Another good game

Williams   8/10   Looked cool, clam and collected in defense

Konjic       8/10    Did well before getting injured

Shaw        8/10    A steady game

Thompson 7/10    Supplied some good balls but many poor ones

Carsley     8/10    Solid, steady game, deserved his goal

O'Neill   9/10   Superb battling performance on his debut

Chippo      7/10    Tried hard, but was pretty anonymous in the second half,

Bothroyd   8/10    Battled well, linked up well with Hughes

Hughes     8/10    A good debut, caused problems throughout the game.   

  

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