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| BY KEV MONKS PETERBOROUGH UNITED 2-2 COVENTRY CITY CITY WIN 4-2 ON PENS On a day when football and all the problems that currently beguile the Sky Blues paled into insignificance following the terrorist attacks in America. City travelled to Peterborough for a tricky Worthington Cup tie which will go down as Caretaker's Roland Nilsson and Richard Money's first game in charge after the departure of Gordon Strachan.. Again, the 1000 or so strong City support in a crowd of 5,729 made their feelings known as Richardson/Robinson Out banners were displayed just before kick-off and choruses of "Sack The Board and "We want Richardson Out" rang around the London Road ground. Roland Nilsson decided to play in a City side that saw Youssef Safri given a start alongside Barry Quinn and Lee Hughes was back after his one game suspension. From the start, it was evident that City's problems on the pitch are to be found in the final third. City dominated the opening period but their shooting left a lot to be desired. David Thompson who was booked was highly wasteful of the chances that came his way as was Lee Hughes who currently appears to have left his scoring boots at West Brom. The best chance of the half fell to skipper Gary Breen whose 42nd minute header hit the bar. However, the second half was far better. City pushed forward and in the 57th minute, a thrown-in from Marcus Hall found Lee Hughes. The Brummie born striker headed the ball straight into the path of David Thompson who lashed the ball into the net in front of the City support. The aforementioned Sky Blues fans were still celebrating as Peterborough broke straight down the other end. Magnus Hedman was caught static,leaving Richard Forsyth to fire into an empty net. The lead lasted less than a minute. City assistant Richard Money switched Jay Bothroyd for Barry Quinn as the Sky Blues moved to a 4-3-3 formation in the 71st minute but the former Arsenal youth team player fared no better with his efforts than Hughes and Thompson. Extra-time was looming when the game took a bizarre twist in the 85th minute. Posh were awarded a corner. It swung in towards Hedman who decided to try and punch it clear. The hapless Swede only succeeded into punching the ball into the back of Marcus Hall and into his own net. That appeared to be that,but in the last seconds. City mounted an attack. The ball fell to Jay Bothroyd who created space and cross the ball into the penalty area. Lee Carsley was first to the ball . Realising his path to goal was blocked, he turned, beat a defender and fired low past Tyler into the net. The City fans who were heading to the exit went berserk as City had managed to take the game into extra -time. Extra-time was a non-eventful affair apart from Lee Carsley being the fourth City player to be cautioned by referee Paul Alcock. The former Blackburn midfielder was very lucky to be on the pitch after a rash challenge. So it went to penalties. I have to apologise for this bit as I could not get a programme and the penalties were taken up the far end. There were plenty of concerns amongst the City support who knew that City had not won a penalty shoot-out in three attempts (Reading,Rangers and Sheff United). David Thompson stepped up first to score with the first Peterborough kick hitting the bar. Jay Bothroyd also scored as the home side. Up-stepped Lee Hughes who also scored whilst a Peterborough player hit his shot at Hedman. City's Swedish keeper stepped up and his lame kick was easily saved by Tyler. Considering how poor Hedman has been in the last two matches (and for Sweden against Turkey) letting him take a penalty proved to be an unwise decision. Peterborough netted. City 5th penalty was down to Lee Carsley and he cooly slotted the ball into the net to book the Sky Blues a place in the Third Round. TEAM 13 Hedman,24 Nilsson (5 Shaw 91),3 Hall,22 Konjic,6 Breen,27 Safri,7 Thompson,8 Carsley,9 Hughes,10 Joachim,14 Quinn (21 Bothroyd 71) SNU 30 Goram,18 Gavin Strachan,28 Delorge RATINGS 13 Hedman 4/10 Get him out please 24 Nilsson 7/10 Steady game 3 Hall 7/10 Tried hard 22 Konjic 9/10 Cool and calm at the back, making some excellent tackles 6 Breen 8/10 Another good game 27 Safri 8/10 Gave 100% and battled well 7 Thompson 6/10 Apart from his goal - It's easy to see why he couldn't vote in the last election - he couldn't put a cross in the box! 8 Carsley 8/10 Had a better game in midfield and scored 9 Hughes 6/10 Did little to justify the money City paid for him 10 Joachim 5/10 Not match fit but looked like a headless chicken 14 Quinn 6/10 Had a go but tired easily. SUBS 5 Shaw 8/10 Steady and reliable 21 Bothroyd 7/10 Battled but let himself down with his shooting |