Coventry Report

Despite the dropped points on Tuesday, there’s a real sense of momentum gathering as we head into the business end of the season. Unbeaten this year in the league, it was important we got 3 points today to keep us in the hunt. And despite being a scrappy performance it’s a good win.

The day didn’t start so well with news that Evans and Connolly would be missing with injuries, along with Miller who was injured in the Palace game. Possibly our 3 most influential players recently. This gave Stern John a starting place alongside Daryl Murphy up front with Stokes dropping to the bench. I think Keane is easing him in and treating him like he is, an 18 year old. Leadbitter and Varga were the other starters.

It was a fairly slow start from both teams. Coventry, unlike Palace came for a game and played 2 up front. However when Kevin Kyle is one of those strikers I was never overly worried we’d concede. As much as I admired Kyle for his attitude and effort, he’s just not a good footballer. My confidence in our defence however was tested to the limit as within 10 minutes Darren Ward had to make two point-blank saves. The best was just a ball over the defence into the strikers path in the 6 yard box and Ward did well to cover it. The defence looked shaky and Varga particularly seemed the main culprit. He’s slow, gets caught out easily and puts everyone else under pressure. Collins would be a far better bet without Evans but he’s needed at left back.

Despite Coventry always looking fairly dangerous on the break we got into it more, Murphy had a shot saved that was straight at the keeper and then we got a free-kick near the touchline. It was swung in, headed back by Varga and up popped Dwight Yorke to head in for the lead. It seemed that a set-piece was going to be the only way we’d score as the Coventry defence were largely in control at that end of the pitch.

So, we got the early-ish goal that we needed, how would that change the game? Well not a lot, Coventry still kept coming at us, nearly getting through a couple of times but they never left much space at the back for us to get beyond. Wallace was ineffectual on the left and the ball to our front 2, much of it played long, came back too easily. Our cause was helped a little when Thornton went off injured just after the half hour as he was causing problems.

Second half saw much of the same. Ward made another good save, and the times we did get in their box we looked threatening, Yorke blasted over from 6 yards and a couple of corners saw Varga threaten. However it wasn’t until Keane made his changes that the game changed for the better. Stokes and Hysen came on and instantly gave us more of a threat. Danny Simpson came on for Leadbitter which gave Whitehead the chance to move into midfield, where we were getting a little over-run. Whitehead had a good game in defence and has done consistently now for a while but his move into midfield brought about a new dimension. He and Yorke controlled it from then on which lead to several Sunderland attacks, one of which gave us the 2nd goal. Edwards received the ball outside the box on the right, cut in and lashed a shot into the net. Two-nil and the game was over.

As Coventry piled more men forward a couple more goals could have been scored on the break and Edwards was denied a clear penalty (again) when brought down by the keeper.

Overall a good win from a scrappy game but a decent enough performance. The pitch is pretty poor at the minute, but I don’t like that as an excuse. Nosworthy again was excellent and is fast becoming a big player for us. Yorke played very well and is putting some consistent performances in and Wards saves early on kept us in the game. Stern John had a decent enough debut and a late header nearly sneaked in to give him a goal.

So, we plough on onto 50 points, gaining ground on more above us. The next 2 games are crucial, we should be in the top 6 if we win both of those. We then enter the make-or break period of the season with games against Birmingham, Derby and West Brom. We’ll know at the end of these whether we’re good enough for the top 2.

Man of the match – Dean Whitehead

Report by marcopaul

Rockin's rant

After a rather poor game against Palace in mid week I expected Keano to have the lads fired up for the game and pile the misery on to a struggling Coventry team. We were missing all three of our men of the moment; Evans, Liam Miller and David Connolly. Stan Varga came in for Evans and Miller was replaced by Leadbitter. Connolly, who was missing due to being accidentally kicked in the face from Jonny Evans, was replaced by Stern John. Both Stokes and Hysen dropped to the bench and were replaced by Murphy and Wallace respectively. Despite Keane becoming known as a tinker man, he had begun to play a settled team, so it was a surprise to see so many changes.

These changes didn’t have a good effect on the team as for the majority of the first half we were all over the place and didn’t come out of the blocks, which Coventry did. Coventry walked straight threw our defence and should have been ahead within the opening ten minutes, fortunately for us though Darren Ward was on top form and made a fantastic save to keep us in the game. Normal service was resumed from Nosworthy today. After playing well in the last couple of games he was poor again today. He seemed unable to do simple passes and occasionally forgot how simple his role is and tried to be over elaborate rather than do it simple and move it. Thankfully though the next ten minutes were better and we started to get into the game more. During a good move forward we were awarded a free kick midway into the Coventry half, one of the few free kicks given from our inept referee who looked as though he should have been refereeing a pub game. From this free kick, which was down the right wing, Ross Wallace whipped in a fantastic teasing ball towards the back post and it was headed back across the box from Stan Varga. As the ball floated back across the six yard box Dwight Yorke smashed the ball home with a typical poacher’s goal.

However, this turned out to be the highlight of the first half. We were very poor during the half and didn’t deserve our lead.

The second half wasn’t much better than the first and Coventry seemed to want it more than us which was worrying for a team supposed to be aiming for promotion. Coventry should however have drawn level; Ward was again on top form and made a fantastic save to deny them. Changes needed to be made to liven the team up and they were made. Wallace was replaced by Hysen and Murphy replaced by Stokes, neither player did enough to stay on the pitch. They turned out to be good substitutions as Hysen and Stokes injected some much needed pace into our team and linked up well together. Danny Simpson made his home debut coming on for Leadbitter who had been lacklustre for the whole game and should have been taken off much earlier. Simpson is definitely an attacking full back as within two minutes of coming on he was in the opposing team’s six yard box! He looks a good prospect for the team and will hopefully get a run of games at right back.

After threatening on the attack Toby Hysen won us a corner and took it himself. The ball was headed out of the box and went to Yorke. Yorke played the ball into, his then centre midfield partner, Whitehead, who played a great ball into the on running Edwards. Edwards unleashed a quality shot which rocketed into the back of the net from all of 30 yards. Not to take any credit away from Edwards but the ball did take a wicked deflection from a Coventry player. Three points in the bag.
We could have made it three points and three goals but John’s late header went agonisingly wide of the post.

MOTM – Darren Ward, some terrific saves kept us in the game and he’ll no doubt make more of these in the coming months.

Wiggum's Whinge

The gap continues to close on the leading teams above Sunderland as we managed to earn another hard fought three points against another poor team visiting the SoL. Although the performance itself was not what you would call a classic, the most important thing is that we won the game and also kept a clean sheet. 2007 is beginning to look like a very good year for SAFC as we are still unbeaten since the clock struck twelve at midnight, long may it continue.

As usual, Keane made changes to the squad but most decisions were made solely due to injuries that were picked up in the previous game and in training during the week. Varga replaced Evans in the centre of defence, Stern John made his debut in a red and white shirt in place of Connolly who suffered a freak accident by getting hoofed in the face. Murphy was the surprise choice to partner John instead of Anthony Stokes who was dropped to the bench. Leadbitter replaced Miller and Wallace came in for Hysen, a decision which was changed during the game as Wallace was simply not doing enough to create space or opportunities for the strikers.

So as the lads kicked off and after Kyle was greeted warmly by the home following which increased it's numbers to 33k (even my Dad went after a long absence from the SoL, maybe Quinny's message is finally getting through to the stubbornness of followers!) Sunderland started the game but the best chance instantly to Coventry who produced a fine save from Ward, he would be busy most of the game and is a massive credit to us achieving three points this afternoon. After that early wake up call Sunderland began to push forward and with Leadbitter playing in John for his opening chance, he span the defender but forgot to take the ball with him, unfortunate for the big striker who was met with boos from the 900 Coventry fans.

Daryl Murphy who was back in his unfamiliar role of being upfront found himself clean through only to shoot straight at the keeper with no power behind it at all. If he was trying to keep Stokes out of the team today he must realise he will need to be much better than what he was today. Finally after a great free kick was whipped in by Wallace the ball was looped back over from Varga for Dwight Yorke to nod home his 2nd goal in three games. Sunderland finally converted their pressure into a goal, and Yorkie who received praise from Keano after the game showed why he will be important in our promotion bid with another MOM performance. He controlled the ball and dominated the midfield much better than anyone else and his through ball in the 30th to John almost led to a penalty. It was a blatant foul on John but as ever the referee decided to wave the protests away, what have we got to do to beat this jinx?

Sunderland did not make it easy after scoring they sat back and lost possession a little too easily, the best chance for Coventry came as Mifsud latched onto a through ball to be one on one with Ward who again denied the striker an important equaliser. We managed to hold on until half time and things needed to improve to ensure the points were taken.

The second half started and then stopped for 3 minutes due to Kyle taking a knock on the hand which lead to a standing ovation as people thought he was coming off injured but came back on after the bandaging was complete; he was just milking a good reception for once I suppose! John made another chance by using his height and power to beat the defender only to drag his low shot wide of the post; he impressed me with his touches and movement and will definitely be a bonus in the games to come.

Keano decided to make a double sub in the 61st min by replacing the poor Wallace with the lively Hysen and Stokes replaced Murphy to add a bit more pace up front, and it seemed to work as instantly the ball was directed to him as the ball seemed to bounce around the box, Yorke blasted the ball over the bar from only 6 yards out. The game was getting more frustrating by the minute and with awful refereeing decisions not going our way it made the anxious home crowd come to life and create a better atmosphere.

Ward to the rescue again as Sunderland were caught napping in midfield as they counter attacked and with the ball screwed back to Kyler you could only see one result....he missed after Ward saved again, same old same old!

The game was stretched at times, with Coventry finding plenty of space to run into and create more chances to lead to a nervy finish. Keane decided to take off Leadbitter and move Whitehead further up field once Simpson came on to make a solid debut at right back. It was hard to judge Simpson but he made an immediate impact by winning two tackles to break the play up and create a chance for Sunderland.

All the worries and doubts were put to rest when Edwards picked the ball up on the edge of the box and drilled the ball via a deflection into the home end's net. RELIEF! This cued the Hey Keano chants that echoed around the ground and will be sung all night long as Sunderland managed to beat Coventry and climb back to 7th in the league.

The main problem with today’s showing was the second ball was never won and the final ball again seems to be lacking, the good thing though is that we have a good keeper and with Yorke in the middle we can always expect composure on the ball. Roll on Plymouth!

MOM- Yorke - He gets it just over Ward just for his simplicity at times and hunger to win every tackle, may show a few people what he came here for..... Promotion.

CLANCEY WIGGUM
AKA Gary Johnson