Choccy's match reports...2016/17

First topic message reminder :

Here ya go Choccy...sorry a bit late...

Bristol Rovers vs Coventry City


Another trip to Bristol Rovers for our third meeting since the new year as the P.A said, “we have to stop meeting like this”. Near the ground are plenty of small independent cafés a fan can visit before squeezing into the Memorial Ground with its seven stands. The line-up was Marosi in goal, the back five was Dabo, McFadzean, Hyam, Rose and McCallum who has recently been sold to Norwich for a reported 3.5 million but had been loaned back. Midfield had Kelly and Walsh with the two short attacking midfielders of Allen and O’Hare with Godden up front.

It was a lively start on a decent pitch. The first incident saw O’Hare fouled, normally this early on the referee would settle for a warning but it was a bad foul and Edson went in the book. It was a windy day but the packed-out terracing kept it warm. Rovers had started the better as City were finding it hard to get on the ball. Former City forward Clarke-Harris get a shot on target. Marosi got the ball and went to kick the ball out before another former City player, Tom Davies tried to trip him, Marosi reacted and the ref booked Davies to the anger of the home fans. Despite the early booking Rovers were looking the better side, they were closing City down and preventing us to play. Meanwhile Rovers were diving all over the place. Rovers were still knocking on the door as City blocked a couple of shots. Walsh then went into the book delighting the Rovers fans that a Bristol City loan player went into the book. A minute later a loose pass by McFadzean went to Hyam but he was outmuscled by J C-H, the forward was through, out wide with a one-on-one, knowing this player I knew he was firm favorite and it was no surprise when he scored. I couldn’t argue that Rovers deserved the lead and it was looking like a defeat. City responded well to the goal as Allen got a rare touch for Rose to get one on target. Rovers went even closer when a header looped over Marosi but McFadzean got back to flick it off the line. Then from nowhere City started to pass the ball as Walsh played a brilliant ball to Allen, he raced clear before sliding the ball past their keeper to level it up. A minute later Rovers won a freekick a good distance away but I remember the cup game here when they scored soon after we levelled, J C-H took the kick and placed in the bottom right-hand corner of Marosi’s goal but the keeper got to it to push it away for a corner. A standard save as we wanted City to see it out before half time. Then just before half time good work by O’Hare set up Walsh and the midfielder did well to find the back of the net and somehow City were in the lead.

The 2nd half started with City in the two-tone kit attacked the away stands. Godden was struggling to get the ball in the half and kept being caught offside. A standard save by Marosi but City were playing a lot better in the 2nd half. There were still plenty of niggly fouls by Rovers but after the game they accused us of conning the ref. Former City player number three, Abu Agogo went on, then number four as former loan player Josh Barrett also came on. Another booking for Rovers as O’Hare was kicked again. Walsh then set up Dabo for a shot. Then from a corner Kelly had a shot that hit a defender that looked goal bound. Agogo soon went into the book before Biambou replaced Godden and Shipley replaced O’Hare. They still had dangers mainly through their Man-of-the-Match Clarke-Harris who won the ball with a high foot and went into the area but Marosi was already out and blocked at his feet before needing treatment. City were looking confident with only a goal lead keeping the ball and putting pressure on Rovers. Westbrook replaced Allen as the game neared its end. Into injury time as the “Were on our way” song rang out before we saw the game out for an important win.

Man of the Match
1st Liam Walsh: Loves playing Rovers
2nd Callum O’Hare: Kick all around the place
3rd Fankaty Dabo: Did well up and down the wing

Doncaster Rovers vs Coventry City

A trip to this part of Yorkshire is not too bad a journey and arrived there about one. Donnie are midtable but in form, winning their last four game, not conceding in the last four hours and we lost the last three times here without scoring. After the good performance in the cup only O’Hare forced his way into the normal starting line-up, the rest of the team was former Doncaster keeper Marosi in goal, McCallum, Hyam, McFadzean, Rose and Dabo at the back, the others in midfield were Kelly, Walsh and Shipley with Godden up front.

We attacked the away end in the first half as the sun disappeared behind the stand. City won a corner early on as Shipley crossed and McCallum had a shot blocked. A minute later Walsh put a shot over as City started well. Both teams were passing the ball around well but it was City that looked the better side. At our end Rovers best chances came when their players tended to fall over near the box and won free kicks but McFadzean and his central defenders were playing well as we were taunting the home fans with Marko Marosi, he left because you’re sh**”. Shipley had a shot that was saved. City went forward again as Godden headed the ball on to Shipley, he went forward before unleashing as shot from outside the penalty area that surprised their keeper and found its way into the back of the net, it was our first goal their since 2013. City were still playing well as Godden had a shot blocked. Into the last ten minutes of the half and Donnie started to get forward more as they had a shot blocked. They really started to put the pressure on as the first half was coming to the end but City defended well to see the half out. At half time City were provisionally in 2nd place.

City attacked the away end in the 2nd half as Donnie were forced into a change after a 1st half injury. Shipley had a shot blocked but it was mostly Rovers as City had to defend. Marosi then had to save as the home side put the pressure on but City were defending well with the wingbacks looking dangerous. City were sitting back and looking dangerous on the break as the “were on our way”, song was sung again. Kelly had a shot blocked at our end. Rose made a great clearance from under his own post before another standard save from Marko. McCallum then went into the book before Allen replaced Shipley. Within a minute we were very unlucky not to make it two as O’Hare unleashed a great shot that hit the inside of the post. They had two shot go wide before City defended a couple of corners. MR made a double change to see out the game as Westbrook replaced O’Hare and Biambou replaced Godden. Marosi was then booked for time wasting when he didn’t have the ball by a not very good referee. Into injury time and City saw the game out very professionally. So a great win and a good journey home.

Man of the match
1st: Sam McCallum: Defended and attacked well
2nd Fankaty Dabo: Similar to the above
3rd: Michael Rose: Had to pick one central defender so I picked a Rose.

Tranemere Rovers Vs Coventry City

The trip to Birkenhead on New Year’s Day wasn’t too bad after street parking we made our way to Prenton Park a ground we have not won on since 1938! It would be typical of City to have such a good win at Wycombe and come down the earth with a bad performance. The line-up for the first game of the year was the same as last year. Marosi in goal, Dabo, Hyam, McFadzean, Rose and McCallum at the back, midfielders of Kelly, Walsh, Westbrook and Shipley with Godden up front. The pitch looked plain awful with their 1st team, reserves, U18’s and Liverpool Ladies all playing on it. We were in our yellow away kit.

We attacked the far end in the first half and Kelly was first to have a shot. After four minutes, Walsh got the ball on the right and crossed it suddenly Godden was totally unmarked in the box and nodded past the keeper, he was well on side just good movement and another perfect start. Rovers tried to hit back but a shot went straight to Marosi. City were knocking the ball around well on the not very good pitch. Another Tranmere shot was so high it cleared the stand roof which took some doing. The Sky Blues were still looking far moor dangerous when McCallum went close and Shipley had one saved. City kept the ball rolling when Kelly played in Shipley, again he wasn’t picked up by the Rovers’ defenders and the players reported to be a target of Ipswich, had time to make it 2-0. City were now coasting as the home players were given City players plenty of room. The first player went into the book as Rovers’ Morris was yellow carded. Godden then put one wide as we looked for the third. Then from nowhere a ball split the City defense and Jennings got through and finished well to put the home side back in it. We hit straight back with Walsh having a shot. Godden then had a shot that went high. Injury time saw Shipley hit a free kick over the bar. At halftime we were provisionally in 2nd place.

The second half saw Tranmere with the momentum and to be fair they look good going forward. Jennings had a shot saved early on as they put the pressure on and City were struggling to keep the ball. They went close again before more pressure and a couple of good blocks in the area before Marosi pulled off a great save to keep City in the lead. The pressure continued as Ray seemed to have a shove in the back by Dabo, penalty. Ferrier stepped up and thankfully blasted the ball over the bar. This was a big let off and a boost for City. Rovers were still looking dangerous but City were getting the ball more often as McFadzean had a header on target before Godden got in the box but blasted it over. At the other end they went close again. Changes were needed, most managers might of strengthened the defense but not Robins who threw on Bakayoko and O’Hare for Shipley and Westbrook. This looked a masterstroke a minute or so later when Bakayoko got wide and picked out O’Hare who had a chance to shot but he passed to Godden who promptly scored for 3-1. At the other end Marosi saved again but the wind had been taken out of Tranmere’s sails. Walsh and O’Hare both had shots as City looked comfortable again. We saw the game out until injury time when O’Hare ran into the are and was brought down for a penalty, Godden, not surprisingly took the penalty and completed his consecutive hattrick, only the third time in our league history that has happened. So what a start to the year.

Man of the Match
1st Mat Godden: Another hattrick
2nd Marko Marosi: Some important saves
3rd Liam Kelly: Controlled midfield

Wycombe Wanderers Vs Coventry City


By a strange quirk of fate our last game of the year is the same as the first, away to Wycombe. Only Hyam, Shipley and substitute McCallum are the only survivors from that game. The rest of the team was Marosi in goal, going level on the number of games with Ryan Allsopp, who just happens to be the Wanderers’ keeper, other City players were Rose, McFadzean and Dabo, with Kelly, Walsh and Westbrook making up the rest of the defense and Godden up front. Wanderers, meanwhile, had six survivors from that game. We were interested to see why Wanderers were top, have they changed their style? It was unbeaten at home Wanderers Vs no win away in the league, City, whilst we have a remarkable record against them with 8 wins out of nine, our only defeat ended up with us winning on aggregate, in fact we had won the last seven games in a row against them. We were playing in the wo-Tone kit which we lost in the two pervious times we wore it.

We attacked the far end in the first half as Godden had a shot. We were still settling down when McCallum got the ball and made it into the area, he got the ball on his favored foot before curling the ball around Allsopp to give us a dream start. Kelly had a shot before the home side started to get more of the ball. After 14 minutes a header found the giant Akinfenwa looking off-side but the big chap finished well the league leaders were level. “We need to hit back straight away”, someone shouted from behind as Godden had a shot then a weak back pass was seized upon by McCallum and into the area, he was tripped from behind, no doubt about the penalty and the one conceding it, Jombati was lucky not to be sent off. Godden took the penalty and easily beat the keeper with the most clean sheets this season, what a response. The team tails were up and they were passing the ball around well with the fullbacks getting forward at every opportunity. A bad tackle on Godden result in another yellow card as Wanderers were looking poor. I thought Wycombe would be a good team but in fact they were like the Wycombe of old, big hoof up to Akinfenwa and the rest to feed of him. It was predictable but the big guy got his head onto the free kick and put it across the area with no one getting onto it. In fairness City looked in control as McFadzean started to cope with Akinfenwa. At the other end a near thing as Godden was sent through but Allsopp got out quickly and force him wide as the chance was gone. Shipley had a shot before Kelly also had a go as The Chairboys were struggling to hold the midfielders. With a minute to go more joy as Shipley let a long pass through and Godden was free again this time he had more space, rounded Allsopp and slotted home for 3-1. “Top of the league, your having a laugh”, we sang. A couple of minute slater we almost went silent when a ball was driven into our box and Kashket connected with it but Marosi pulled off a good save to keep the advantage at two goals. Half time City coasting.

The second half was only five minutes old when the Sky Blues launched a counterattack, the ball fell to Shipley he played a brilliant backheel giving Godden the room and he smacked the ball past a static Allsopp for an incredible 4-1. “We on our way” song was sung as City were now dominate, Westbrook had a shot. Meanwhile Wanderers were still hitting the “hoof” to Akinfenwa and ever time Allsopp had the ball I shouted “long ball to Akinfenwa”, which he did and the City defenders just sat back and hoovered up any loose balls, “we’re your plan B Ainsworth!” I mockingly shouted. City were so much in control and the home side looked very poor; it is hard to see why they had been so successful. As the game went on Godden was replaced with Bakayoko before O’Hare. City players were still working hard and Shipley got plenty of encouragement in closing down one of their players from the away following. The Bakayoko put in an excellence sliding tackle on their keeper that the former loan keeper didn’t like too much. City eased their way to the final whistle for a thumping win.

Man of the Match
1st Matty Godden: Hat trick
2nd Sam McCallum: A goal and a assist
3rd Kyle McFadzean: Akinfenwa in his back pocket

Shrewsbury Town Vs Coventry City


So not too bad a drive to Shrewsbury. It was a cold day as City set out to see if we could win on this ground for the very first time. The rumor before the game was that a player would be sold in January against his wishes that that player was Sam McCallum. The starting line-up was Marosi in goal, Dabo, McFadzean, Rose and McCallum, in midfield we had Kelly and Walsh in the holding roles, Shipley, O’Hare and Allen in the more advanced roles with Biambou up front.

City were back in the Two-Tone kit as we attacked the far end in the first half. We started off well when Allen found Shipley whose shot hit a defender. The home side then seem to have most of the ball but City were looking solid with McFadzean winning headers whilst the City fans were singing about Dabo and then Marosi in new songs. City finally get forward when Shipley incepted a pass but his cross to Biambou was cut out. City then won a free kick near the penalty area, McFadzean looked likely to take as I kept saying, optimistically, “Brian Kilcline”, the currant defender blasted the kick into the wall. Allen had a blast that wasn’t too high. City started to improve as their keeper was forced to punch away an effort. It started to look like the home side’s tactic was to bully City and it was working as the referee missed a lot off the ball. The referee finally booked a player, Norburn, for a foul on McCallum it wasn’t the first foul of the day. We were getting the upper hand when a deep cross looked like it was going out of play until Allen nipped in on the line and crossed the ball back for Shipley to head back passed the keeper to give us the lead. For some reason younger City fans like to sing anti Sunderland song to the rest of us is annoying and embarrassing. The home side started to get more into the game and had a couple of half efforts near the end the first 45 minutes.

It’s more of the same in the second half as Biambou went down holding his face, the linesman was very close to the incident which probably ruled out an elbow. Soon Max was back on his feet before being kicked down again and his assailant was booked. With a cut still on his face Biambou had to go off and was replaced by Godden. City then almost made it two as Rose header over from a corner. Another corner saw McFadzean had a chance but he badly miss-queued the attempt. This was a more even contest with the Shrews’ sub Whalley playing well. Another attack for City saw the ball played to Shipley he spotted O’Hare in space and passed to him and instead on advancing on goal O’Hare tried to pass back to Shipley but the pass was cut out. The home side won a corner and so far they had been poor but this time there was a scramble before Golbourne scrambled the ball home to level it up. We almost had a perfect when we won a free kick but amazingly no booking for a clear yellow card offence response and Shipley just went too high with a free kick. Another chance as a Kelly cross to the far post, Godden threw himself at the ball but was inches from making contact. Into the last ten minutes and a promising attack with Shipley facing goal outside the area, suddenly the ref blew to stop play as McCallum was down. The away end was none too happy that a promising attack was stopped and the fact the ref missed the incident. Into injury time at our end and McCallum was shoved to the ground but the referee didn’t see it that way we were still booing when a swift counterattack saw sub Whalley volley in from close range to make it 2-1. Bakayoko and Kastaneer came on to save a point. It was too late as we still waited for our first away win.

Man of the Match
1st Jordan Shipley: Looked dangerous
2nd Kyle McFadzean Defended well in a game that suited his style
3rd Jamie Allen Set up a goal and looked lively

Colchester United Vs Coventry City


An early start and cold start for this game as I was on the “Booze cruise” for Colchester. We had a couple of hours in Sudbury before making the ground. This game could be a tricky tie with United going along well in League Two and them having a good run in the league Cup. Team news came out and the news that regular keeper, Marosi had became a father and so was missing being replaced by Wilson the rest of the team was, Dabo, Hyam, Rose, McFadzean and McCallum at the back, a midfield of Shipley, Kelly, Walsh, Westbrook with Bakayoko up front. Colchester had two former City players in their line-up in Franck Nouble and Ben Stevenson.

We attacked the far end in the first half and from the off City was on the front foot. City were already in control as Colchester were finding in hard to get the ball. After some good movement Shipley had a shot on target. City kept on the pressure winning a couple of corners. City kept dominating possession when Westbrook threaded a great ball to Shipley who got behind the defenders and planted it passed the keeper for his 10th senior goal for City and a well-deserved lead. The home side tried to hit back but the defence was on top. Most of the action was still at the other end when Walsh was fouled and City won a free kick, McCallum took it swinging it towards the top right-hand corner of the goal, the ball sailed in and Bakayoko tried for it this must have confused Gerken in United’s goal because he left it and the ball sailed straight in from the free kick. Two-nil to City and the Sky Blues were coasting. Their keeper, Dean Gerken famous played for Colchester against City at the old Layer Road ground in a big relegation battle and made a bad mistake before City coasted to a 5-1 victory, nothing seems to chance. The Sky Blues looked like they could get a hatful as Westbrook had a shot on target. The home side needed a change as it looked like a practice match for City. Colchester finally had a shot on target but no trouble for Wilson. City kept dominating as near the half Bakayoko went close with a header he should have done better with.

As the second half started and I waited for a response and they had one for a minute or so, but City soon were back in control again. Bakayoko fired high before Kelly went close. Another good move saw Westbrook hit the post. City kept passing well with the wingbacks getting forward, the defenders on top with Kelly and Walsh on top. Bakayoko then had a good shot blocked by a brave player. Another good move saw Shipley played through again, he beat Gerken but the goal was ruled out for off-side. “You’re just the sh** on a burger”, the City fans sang to their keeper, who surname is Gerken. MR made the first chance as O’Hare replaced Shipley. It was still all City in a total stroll. Into the last ten minutes and it should have been three as O’Hare was played clean through with only the keeper to beat but he only managed to pass it back to their keeper. The only thing was missing was a third goal, but it was nice to stroll to a victory without any trouble. Josh Eccles came on late replacing Westbrook. The game ended and City in the second round.

Man of the Match
1st Zain Westbrook: Great passing and an assist.
2nd Kyle McFadzean Kept Nouble quiet.
3rd Sam McCallum Scored and looked good

Peterborough United Vs Coventry City

It was a very wet and sometimes perilous journey over to the Fens to face Peterborough. After parking up in our normal spot we read in the pub that MR had stuck to the team that finished so well against Fleetwood, that was Marosi in goal, McCallum and Dabo as wingbacks, Rose, MacFazdean and Hyam in the center, Kelly, Westbrook and O’Hare in midfield with Bakayoko and Biambou up front. The Posh went to the top of the table midweek and have scored far more goals than any other but considering they had Toney, Maddison and Eisa playing for them it is no real surprise. We was wearing the great Two-Tone strip.

City attacked the far end in the first half with O’Hare forcing their keeper into an early save. At our end Maddison played in Toney but League One’s top scorer fired the ball high. City had started off well as the formation seems to suit the players available. Despite the rain the pitch was in good condition as McCallum headed on to Bakayoko whose shot was saved. The away fans were in fine voice on a ground we have a pretty good record on. The Posh still had those three dangerous players as Maddison forced a save from Marosi. City kept the pressure on then on the twelfth minute Biambou seized on a stray pass and played Bakayoko clean through the big forward didn’t hesitate but placed the ball past their keeper to give us a lead. “Were on our way, were on our way, to the Championship, were on the way, when we get there, I don’t know, how we get there I don’t care, what I know were on our way”. This seems to be the new main song for City fans. McCallum was first into the book before Toney missed. O’Hare had another effort before Hyam headed one wide. One of their players than went into book for a foul. If The Posh didn’t have enough good attacking players then they brought on Demebele another great players that gave us problems before. Another attack at the other end as Bakayoko slid in, Marosi started to celebrate and so did we until no goal was given. It was at the far end so we didn’t see what happened but watching the action back the ref ruled it out for a Bakayoko handball but the ball never came close to his hand, again we were robbed. Both side were creating chances, at our end with Toney and at theirs with Biambou. The Posh started to press City back as Dabo was harshly booked but City defended well to see out the half.

I had the feeling the 2nd half could be very long. Peterborough started the better in the second half pushing us back. Marosi pulled of a good save deigning Dembele before saving a shot from Maddison. The pressure finally paid off when MacFazdean brought down Toney, even from the other end it looked like a penalty. Maddison took it and sent the keeper the wrong way to level it up. City didn’t crumble but responded well to the goal. We then had a change as Dabo was withdrawn who on a yellow and was replaced by Watson for his second league appearance. City then came close with a freekick, headed back by Rose and Biambou launched into his trademark overhead kick that the keeper got to for a save. Toney was still a handful at the other end going close. No doubt it was a cracking game and we came close again as the ball went wide for Biambou to blast it across the six-yard-box. Another sub as MR seemed to settle on a point as Bakayoko was replaced by Shipley. Despite having one forward on the pitch when Kelly floated a ball to the corner of the area and Biambou connected with a brilliant half-volley and blasted it past the keeper, quite an incredible goal and his first goal since the Play Off semi finals against Notts County. The Posh then started to pile on the pressure as Marosi was keeping them out. Deep into injury time Dembele was allowed to run into the area and passed to Eisa who picked his spot to rob us of a point.

Man of the match
1st Max Biambou: Ran his socks off and scored a brilliant goal
2nd Marko Marosi: Important saves
3rd Callum O’Hare: Caused problems

Milton Keynes Dons Vs Coventry City

Always an easy place to get to, not too far, good parking and a good ground that we have got a great record at. Team news was Godden was out with an injury replacing him was Bakayoko, with Hiwula and O’Hare in support, Walsh, Westbrook and captain for the day Shipley in midfield with McCallum, Rose, Hyam and Dabo at the back and Marosi in goal. Six thousand City fans made the short journey as City played in the yellow away strip.

The first action was for the referee booking a MK player for a foul in the 1st minute. City had the ball for most of the time early on but MK sat back like an away side and in fact they looked like they stay at home for a point. Then the first effort as Walsh set up Hiwula whose back-heal was blocked. City were controlling the game but struggling to break the opposition down, a theme of this season. Then O’Hare was sent through only for a defender to block his shot to prevent a shot on target. Bakayoko headed wide when he should have done better before a while later the same forward missed again. City kept plugging away as Hiwula had a shot blocked. Half time no goals and even Three Counties Radio admitted their side showed no attacking intent at all.

Second half City were attacking the end where we all were. The second half started with City being awarded a free kick in range of a shot and people mentioning the name of Chris Maguire. Liam Walsh stood over the ball and backheeled it to Shipley, he blasted towards goal forcing a good save from the keeper. Minutes later Shipley again got one on target. Meanwhile MK Dons looked the worst side I have seen this season apart from the youth team Bolton sent out against us. Still all City as Bakayoko missed another chance. Then a real chance as Hiwula seized upon a weak pass and raced in on goal their keeper came out and brought him down, no doubt about the penalty but fans were furious that a red card didn’t follow as Hiwula would have had an empty net if he got past the keeper. “RED CARD”, I shouted, “It’s Harold Schumacher, all over again”, I added. Meanwhile Hiwula took the spot kick and the keeper saved it. This gave MK a life and had their first shot. Marosi then had to be alert to keep out a shot as the penalty save seemed to have affected the players. Soon another MK player went into the book before Biambou replaced Bakayoko. Now it seemed a case for MK if near a Sky Blues player bring him down as two yellow cards quickly followed for MK. Another sub as Kastaneer replaced Hiwula. A few more chances for City and another booking for them. There was always the danger they could snatched a goal on the break and they came close by hitting the crossbar. In the end it was yet another frustrating blank.

Man of the match
1st Liam Walsh: Again pulled the strings in midfield
2nd Fankaty Dabo: Played well
3rd Marko Marosi: Commanded his area well

Rotherham United Vs Coventry City

It’s amazing how things change as there were only two of us, Lisa and myself for the trip up the speed-limit free M1 to Yorkshire, after one hour forty-five minutes after leaving her house I park in a carpark that cost a mere £2. A short walk to United’s great New York Stadium for our second ever visit there. With Jobello the latest out with an ACL we came to see if City could extend the unbeaten record. In goal was Marosi, with Dabo, McFadzean, Hyam and Mason at the back, Walsh, Shipley and O’Hare in midfield, with Hiwula and Kastaneer with Godden up front.

City were in the yellow away kit. The home manager promised to press high. It was the Millers that started the better as their Smith header high. Then after 13 minutes a ball wide to their winger he shrugged off Mason before sending in a good cross, Crooks got to the header but then we saw the ball sneak under Marosi when it shouldn’t have. A bad start but City hit back with a Hiwula shot was blocked. Minutes later however it got worse when McFadzean in the fullback position under hit a back pass to the keeper, Smith got to the ball first and Marosi tried to clear but he caught the forward giving the referee no choice but to point to the spot. Smith took the spot kick and scored despite Marosi going the right way. What a terrible start as I swapped working Saturday for Wednesday after over time was called. It was now all Rotherham as they looked like they could get quite a few. City were trying to get forward with O’Hare looking the best City player. Halftime arrived with another chance blocked and two of their players booked.

Second half City were attacking the away end. The second half started badly with Rotherham having five shots which were blocked or kept out by Marosi. Dabo had a shot before finally some subs, Kelly replaced Walsh and Bakayoko replaced the disappointing Kastaneer. City fans were hopeful again but then the killer moment as Kelly passed back towards the goal, MacFazdean left it and Crooks nipped in, the defender followed him and brought him down, again no choice for the ref but a penalty and a red card for the captain. Smith again converted as Marosi went the right way. Some City fans then embarrassed themselves by throwing flares and plastic bottles. The home stewards must have knew what would be happening as they had sniffer dogs outside the ground and one dog had a good sniff of me to the amusement of Lisa. By the time the game got started again Rose replaced Hiwula. To be fair City didn’t buckle as Bakayoko raced down the side and fired despite Godden finding room and screaming for the ball. If gifting them at least two of the goals a third gift came when a pass to Hyam wasn’t controlled leaving Crooks to steal the ball and beat Marosi to make it 4. City were at least still trying with O’Hare using his skill and Shipley going close. Bakayoko then headed straight at the keeper when he should have done better. Thankfully we got through the 11 minutes of extra time without conceding any more before heading home.

Man of the Match
1st Callum O’Hare: By far the best City player
2nd Jordan Shipley: Worked hard to get forward
3rd Mat Godden: Won many headers against taller players

Burton Albion Vs Coventry City

Burton a ground so close to Coventry I could pick up C.W.R on my car radio at the ground. It was City’s third visit to the ground with a win a defeat the previous result, I turned up to see if we could keep the unbeaten record. Today’s team was Marosi in goal, Dabo, McCallum, Hyam and former Burton player McFadzean in defense, midfield was Walsh, Shipley and Westbrooke with Jobello and Hiwula supporting Godden up front. Only Hyam and Hiwula started the corresponding fixture last season. It was a packed-out terracing on an unusually warm day.

City attacked the far end in the first half as both teams tried to play the passing game. City had the first chance as Hiwula put one wide before Walsh tried his luck from distance but it was an easy save for the keeper. Early on the referee was annoying the away fans as he seemed to give most things their way. It was a fairly even game with the front players of both sides seemed to lack the service or more likely the defenders were on top. The Sky Blues were looking the more likely with Walsh having a shot that went wide before Westbrooke cracked in an effort from outside the box that looked goal-bound all the way until it swerved onto the post at the last second the ball went to Hiwula but he was wrongfooted and couldn’t get the shot in. At the other end Marosi got in a good punch to clear a corner before their forward, Boyce fired wide but he was well contained by McFadzean throughout the game. The Brewers were getting more into the game and a good run from Atkins set up a chance but it went wide. Half time ended all level.

Jobello had the first effort of the second half but it was an easy save for their keeper. Burton then sprung an attack forcing Marosi to push away a low effort for a corner. The home side came even closer when Atkins screwed a shot wide when he should have done better. A good move at our end saw a Hiwula header hacked away from the danger zone. The ref was soon in the action again booking Walsh minutes later O’Toole was lucky to stay on the pitch with a bad tackle. MR decided to make changes as Westbrooke and Jobello went off and was replaced by O’Hare and Kastaneer. The loan midfielder got things moving again having a hand in an attack which ended with Shipley having a shot when a ball to Hiwula might have been better. City were getting better as the game went on as O’Hare set up Hiwula and the forward’s shot was slapped aside by their keeper who just saw it in time. Then news came through that Wycombe was losing “we’re top of the league”, sang the City fans. Then a great move again O’Hare was involved he past to Godden the forward finally found some space but his snapshot went over. With ten minutes to go McFadzean earned a booking with a foul near the box, Burton’s Broadhead took a good free kick that hit the post, we waited for the Burton fans to celebrate a goal but the ball popped out and was cleared. Despite that City looked the more likely to score as Walsh had an effort on target. Then deep into the game another good move saw Kastaneer fire across the face of goal and Hiwula throwing himself at the ball but missing by inches. City kept pressing as O’Hare raced toward the box, he was rugby tackled by a defender earning a yellow card. The game ended all level which seemed the right result, City still unbeaten and top of the league.
Was back in Cov for 6 o’clock

Man of the match
1st Kyle McFadzean: Won everything at the back
2nd Callum O’Hare: Changed the game
3rd Jordy Hiwula: Our best forward on the day

Oxford United Vs Coventry City


A fairy short trip to Oxford for the game. The ground is well signposted and has a massive car park making it a good place to visit. Sat next to Paul right near the home fans. The City line up was in goal Marosi, Dabo, Hyam, Rose and McCallum in defense, Kelly, Shipley and Westbrook in midfield with Jobello, Hiwula up front behind Godden. Before the game started we had an inflatable beachball in the away end it went over to the home fans and one of their fans picked it up and pretended to throw it back but instead punched it out of the stands, this marked him down amongst the away fans around me and since he had a cap on became “The Twat in the Hat”.

The game started slowly with both teams attempting to pass the ball. Hiwula had the first shot that was blocked. City and Oxford fans joined to chant rude things about the league in honor of Bury. Oxford won a couple of corners which was defended well. The game came slowly to life as Henry fired hire and wide but United came a lot closer a minute later when Marosi did well to tip the ball over the bar. At the other end Westbrook fire one wide. On the half hour Shipley upended a player no doubt it was a foul, but the booking was really harsh. Oxford then had a shot on target as they started to look the better side. At the half Kelly was brought down near the penalty area, free kick, Shipley looked favorite to take it, but Westbrook surprised everyone by stepping up and curling the ball into the net. We celebrated and “The Twat in the Hat” responded by moving up to the edge of the netting separating the fans and gesticulating as the gave him even more stick. City now looking comfortable with an Oxford player going into the book for a trip. Into injury time Shipley had a shot on target before half time came with a goal lead.

Second half saw Oxford come out with renewed vigor and started to push us back. Former City youth player Josh Ruffles had the first shot in the half go high. “The Twat in the Hat” was still making rude hand signs to us as we gave him stick. Another shot from Oxford was blocked before defending a couple of corners as Oxford put the pressure on. They kept the pressure on when a Woodburn shot smacked the post, City quickly counter-attacked with the ball down the wing, Westbrook got the ball and passed to Godden he found Dabo, the fullback crossed and Godden made it into the area to head it in for a great counter-attack goal. Now “The Twat in the Hat” went mad and tried to make it over he was joined by other Oxford fans who were for some reason angry at us celebrating, then I felt something hit my leg as I was hit by a one pound coin which I pocketed. The Oxford stewards prevented their fans joining ours. The goal shook Oxford as Hiwula fired one just wide. Soon Oxford regained control again when Mackie got the ball a curled in a great ball past Marosi with a great goal. Then again City had another chance as Jobello found Hiwula, but his shot was wide. Now Oxford were getting on top again in a thrilling game as they looked more than likely to level the game. Westbrook was booked for a crude tackle before Hiwula was taken off despite Jobello looking plain awful. On came O’Hare but City were looking weary as Oxford were out-passing City and the Sky Blues were forgetting their own passing. One of their players was then very lucky to stay on after he might have elbowed a City player but the ref was unsighted. City were hanging on when a cross came in and City’s best player up to then, Dabo with no pressure sliced it into his own net. “The Twat in the Hat” and his friends now goaded us with “Two nil and you *uc* it up” and quite rightly to. Oxford went close again as they looked for all three points then a great chance as Jobello broke and played the ball along the penalty area to O’Hare, he looked certain to score but their keeper smothered the shot. Another change as Sam McCallum went off and was replaced by Tennai Watson a loan player we had just signed from Reading. Into injury time and again City hit on the break, this time Shipley found O’Hare and the Villa loan player blasted the ball off the underside the crossbar to put City back into the lead. Now it was time to hand stick back out to “The Twat in the Hat” and friends, I started a “Two nil and we *uc* it up”, chant. Oxford disputed the throw-in that lead to the goal. The final change saw McFadzean replace Jobello to see the game out then even deeper in injury time Kelly slid in but missed allowing a cross and defender Moore’s shot deflected off Dabo and for the 2nd away league game in a row it was 3-3. It was some game and at the very least City remained unbeaten in the league the longest run since 1996 where in our 5th game we beat Liverpool at Highfield Road, things have changed.

Man of the Match
1st: Fankty Dabo: One own goal maybe two but he was our best player
2nd Mat Godden: Won many headers against a taller player and scored
3rd Cullum O’Hare: Got one could have had two

Watford Vs Coventry City


A while ago I booked this day of from work in case, we made the second round, got an away draw and against a team not too far away so Watford fitted the bill. A full carload down to Hertfordshire with speed restrictions all the way and the temperature that hit 32. We made it to Watford in good time for my 12th visit to the ground but first for around seven years. The Hornets put out a team that cost a little over £85 million and that was their reserve team on a night when Bury went to the wall. Our team had a few chances in, in full it was Wilson in goal, Dabo, Hyam, Rose and former Watford player Mason, in midfield we had Eccles, Kelly and making his full debut O’Hare, the wide forwards were Hiwula and Kastaneer with Bakayoko up front.

It was a good crowd boosted by over 3,000 City fans. The game got underway and not long into O’Hare was brought down and his assailant escaped a yellow card. Watford had the first shot from a player with the surname of Success. At the other end a good move saw Kelly find O’Hare and the loan player fired just across the goal and wide. Both sides were keeping the ball and passing it around without much happening. Then former England international Welbeck fired one wide. The Hornets started to look the better side as Success had another shot blocked. Then then came the closest yet as Pereyra dribbled to the edge of the box and fire a shot in that Wilson did well to turn around the post. The pattern continued then a good ball sprang the 27 million-pound Sarr, free and he beat an advancing Wilson from an angle to give them the lead. Now it was important not to concede again in the remaining 15 minutes of the half. City kept up the play as Kelly fired in a good shot that was not too far wide before Bakayoko headed one wide. Half time only a goal down and City attacking the away end in the 2nd half.

The second half saw Mason taken off because of an injury he picked up near the end of the 1st and replaced by McCallum. The home side continued to look the better side as City worked hard to contain them. Then ten minutes into the half Success found Janmaat and he finished to make it 2-0. City made a change taking of Kastaneer and replacing him with Godden before Shipley replaced Eccles. It got worse as Penaranda got to the edge of the box and fired in a brilliant shot that gave Wilson no chance. Now a real hammering was on the cards and the City faithful sang the song of defiance, “Twist and Shout”, whilst Watford fans were very quiet, nothing changes. Watford had several chances, but City were still prepared to block shots. City then nearly had some joy as O’Hare got into the box but was unable to get a shot off after being crowed out by defenders. Late on Rose headed one wide before the game ended and on the whole the fans were pleased with the effort put in.

Got away pretty quickly and was back home before midnight.

Man of the match
1st Callum O’Hare: Looked the most likely
2nd Dominic Hyam: Looked solid
3rd Frankaty Dabo: Got forward well

Portsmouth Vs Coventry City

On holiday with Kev we discussed that long-haul midweek away trips are getting too much for us so we might stop doing them. Fast forward to the game and Kev decided to stay at home as 320 miles round trip would be too much for him in midweek. I meanwhile went back on my word, with my work owing me six days off and my management encouraging me to use them (are the trying to get rid of me?) I booked Tuesday off that and since Paul’s moving to Worthing and no home games in Coventry I have gone from seeing him once a week to hardly ever and since it is a local game for him gave me another reason for going. It wasn’t a bad drive south with three of us in the car. Arrived in plenty of time to hear the team news, Marosi in goal, Dabo, Rose, McFazdean and Mason in defense, Kelly, Shipley and Westbrook in midfield with Jobello and Hiwula supporting Godden up front. City played in the new yellow away strip.

Portsmouth attacked the away end in the first half and were on the front foot from the start. They won an early corner but City cleared the lines and set off on a fast counter attack with the ball going out wide to Godden, we saw Hiwula unmarked in the area and thankfully so did Godden who squared the ball and Hiwula blasted it past the keeper to give us a dream start. Godden then headed wide as City were looking good going forward. Pompey soon recovered from the early goal and started to come forward mainly down the left as as the home side pumped long balls down there so the winger could use his height and pace against Mason. Now Mark Robins like City to knock the ball around a lot sometimes too much as ten minutes Marosi got the ball but it was a poor clearance the ball went to the dangerous Harness, who crossed and Curtis fired home. Now Pompey were on the up and we held our breaths as Marquis got past Rose in the box and went down but thankfully the ref pointed for a corner and not a penalty, but it was a close thing. Both teams were looking good going forward in an entertaining encounter. The home side then came close but Marosi had to be alert to keep out a shot diving to his right. City’s slick passing was drawing some fouls as Jobello was brought down the referee saw nothing wrong in the challenge. Either side could easily score as Mason found Hiwula, who fired into the side netting. The ref was still trying his best to be the center of attention by booking Dabo, a little harshly for a foul before a Portsmouth play hit the deck off the ball and the ref booked McFadzean as well. City fans were not happy with the official. Just before half time Portsmouth launched an attack and good play on the wing saw the ball crossed low and Marosi missed it for a tap-in to give the home side the lead. Now last season Lee Burge received plenty of stick for errors is this keeper any better, I hope so. Half time City losing but would be attacking the away end in the second half.

City got the second underway with Portsmouth missing a chance to get a shot on target at the far end with the sound of the Portsmouth bell ringing. At our end City were still looking good going forward when the hard-working Godden tested the keeper with a snapshot after a deflection. City came close again as Hiwula was in the box but was robbed by a perfectly timed tackle. With City well in the game there was a big mistake at the back as City were court in possession trying to play out, the guilty party was McFadzean who was dispossess by Evans, the player raced into the area and gave Marosi no chance to give Portsmouth a two goal lead. City hit back with Westbrook firing a shot on target. Minutes later it was confusion as the ref stop play but a Portsmouth player raced through to score, the ref brought the play back for a Portsmouth free kick and promptly sawed Dabo his second yellow card for handball. Now we were down to 10 men and two goals adrift a good few City fans made for the exits. It almost got worse as Marosi fumbled the ball and almost dropped it over his own goal-line. MR made his first change and it was a surprising one taking replacing a midfielder for a defender as McCallum replaced Westbrook not all City fans were happy about that. I just hoped we didn’t concede any more goals because it could have turned into a rout. Another change then as Kastaneer replaced Jobello and the sub had some nice touches before picking up a yellow card. Despite being outnumbered City kept plugging away with Kelly the inspiration as his shot was tipped over the bar. With 15 minutes to go City had a corner and the ball fell to Kelly he was going away from goal when he had his legs taken out by a defender there was no doubt it was a penalty. This one we HAD to score and Godden stepped forward and sent the keeper the wrong way for 3-2 and a lifeline. City now back in the game but that looked all over when Kastaneer threw himself into a tackle it was poorly timed and the ref could have easily shown him a straight red but instead went for his second yellow and we were down to nine. Bakayoko came on to replace Hiwula. City despite the disadvantages kept coming forward as a corner was won the ball fell to McCallum who found Rose, he headed home to spark off mad celebrations only to be cut short by the linesman’s flag. Four goals in two away games ruled out for offside but since the linesman had his flag up early, I couldn’t argue with it. Portsmouth instead of dominating showed signs of nerves as incredibly they brought on a defender to see the game out. With four minutes of normal time left City won a throw in level with the box, McCallum launched one in the area it was flicked on and Rose hit it first time past two players and the keeper to make it 3-3. As you might except there were mad scenes in the away end as we goaded the home fans with, “we only need nine men”. Portsmouth went forward but City kept them from testing the keeper until the ref blew for an incredible point.

The home journey was a happy one and a fairly quick as I got home on an almost empty tank at 1 in the morning.

Man of the Match
1st Liam Kelly: Ran midfield
2nd Michael Rose: Scored the all-important goal
3rd Matt Godden: Worked hard all night

Hi Fonda, lovely of you to pop in, though we chat on the "Footy Chat" page, this page is for Choccy P's match report.    But it's lovely to have you posting just post on the "footy chat"page..

Hey

Sent from Topic'it App

Bolton Wanderers Vs Coventry City

So the game that was on and off was finally on so thankfully I took my phone to work on Friday so I could order a ticket and print it out at home. On to Saturday and I had a wet and windy drive up the still horrible M6 to Horwich were Bolton’s ground is. Bolton’s line-up was made up of teenagers with not a single player had a shirt number of 1-11. City meanwhile kept the same side as the opening game which was Marosi in goal, the defenders were Mason, Rose, McFadzean, midfield consider of Kelly, Shipley and Westbrooke, with Jobello and Hiwula supporting Bakayoko up front.

Got to the ground early, parked in a pub for free just missing some heavy rain. At the ground the club shop was closed. It was a good attendance considering the tickets were only on sale yesterday. City started off well attacking the other end after Jobello had a good run before finding Shipley who’s shot was only just wide. It was clear early on Bolton’s youth team had eleven players behind the ball and had turned up for a point. The home fans were cheering everything as one of their players put a shot wide. The home side had a giant defender at the back called Zouma who was bigger than Bakayoko but had the first touch of a buffalo. City were finding it hard to break down the mass ranks of the Trotters. City had a chance but Jobello’s header was blocked. City kept plugging away when Shipley found Mason who’s shot just went wide. It wasn’t all one-way and after keeping City at arm’s length the home side started to go forward more and had a good chance when King-Harmes had a shot but Marosi pulled off a good saved. City were then getting better as Bolton went forward more as Shipley had a great shot on target, but the Bolton teenage keeper clawed the ball away from the top corner of the goal. Kelly then had a header put wide as it was getting frustrating. Then the breakthrough as the ball came over and Jobello forced the ball over the line then during the celebrations the Bolton fans started to cheer as a very late flag ruled the goal for being offside. City driven on by the decision came close with a header from Kelly before Bakayoko had a shot blocked. The big forward then headered one wide after a cross from Mason. Half time 0-0 the home fans gave the team a standing ovation as they left the pitch.

Second half City were attacking the end we were at. It was the same story as Jobello had a shot go just past the post. It was frustrating as Hiwula then put one high. The chances kept coming when Hiwula had a shot, Bakayoko, on the ground steered the ball home, celebrations in the away stand until a very, very late flag when no one looked offside, robbed. We then had a couple of half-hearted appeals for a penalty, if only we had V.A.R. Bakayoko then had a header on target before changes were made. Off went Bakayoko and Hiwula replaced by Biambou for his first game of the season and Matt Godden for his debut. City continued to keep up the pressure as Biambou had a shot go wide. Both center backs got forward as much as possible as Bolton were holding on, but I could see them grabing a goal on the break. City kept raining shot towards goal, but they were either blocked or went wide. Into the last ten minutes as Godden had two efforts go wide before Jobello had a shot saved. It looked like the football gods were on Bolton’s side as Kelly broke free but fired straight at the keeper. The manager then made his final change by throwing on Will Baraga a sixteen-year-old Coventry born forward. In the last minute of injury time Biambou raced through and scored but the linesman’s flag, for a change was up early and the goal was ruled out. I remember one game where we had two goals ruled out but never three. So the game ended without victory and I overheard one Bolton fans claiming it was better than a win.

Man of the Match
1st Brandon Mason: Defended and attacked well
2nd Liam Kelly: Controlled midfield
3rd Wesley Jobello: Looks dangerous

Doncaster Rovers Vs Coventry City


So the last game of the season and End of Season Apathy had set in as I drove up the motorways to Donnie. It was a silly kick off time of 5.30 and the City fans were out in force determined to enjoy themselves on the last day. Batman, Spiderman and group of nuns and some in fancy dress joined us in the away end. MR put out his strongest side possible but how many would be around next season, if we have a next season? In goal for his 140th league game was Burge, with Mason, Willis, Hyam and Sterling at the back, Thomas, Kelly, Shipley and Hiwula in midfield with Enobakhare behind Bakayoko up front. Rovers needed a win to secure a play off place.

City started quite well attacking the far end in the first half. It was a great atmosphere in the away end. As City nearly opened the scoring when Mason was clear through but was deigned his first goal after a good block tackle. This saw the son of a Coundon shop owner (Andy Blair's son) fire over. One home attack saw a player go over near the box and we witnesses the rare sight of a player being booked for diving outside the box. We then saw their number seven Wilks drag Mason down off the ball without the referee seeing it. The home side were starting to get more into the game when Wilks found room past Mason and swung in a far post cross where Sadlier climbed above Willis to give the home side the lead. City hit back with a good move and Bakayoko steering the ball home but was ruled out apparently for a foul on a Doncaster player but looking back on it no one could spot the foul. Rovers were getting away with a lot themselves not helped by the ref one saw a clear foul on a City player that the ref missed and booked Thomas for protesting. On the stroke of half time Enobakhare had to go off with an injury and was replaced by Chaplin.

The second half saw City attacking the away end and we witnessed our first shot on target as Hiwula tested the keeper. Wilks finally went into the book after another rash challenge before MR brought on Westbrook for Bakayoko. The midfielder helped to City get moving again. One Jordan then replaced another was Ponticelli replaced Shipley. If anyone didn't know it was more like City were heading for the play offs with the cracking atmosphere in the away end. Thomas had a shot blocked as City had most of the ball. Then with five minutes to go a cross went in and Marquis got a header in that forced Burge into a good save but the forward got to the ball first to force it home, Donnie fans invaded the pitch as the goal secured a play off place. “We play you next year”, taunted the City fans. The final whistle saw Doncaster fans invade the pitch some City fans as well as the stewards separated the fans.

After the news that Plymouth had gone down was good news that I didn't have to go their for a league game next season.

Man of the match
1st Liam Kelly: Fought for everything in midfield.
2nd Dominic Hyam Played well
3rd Dujon Sterling: Solid

Coventry City Vs Shrewsbury Town 
 

So the last game at the Ricoh this season or forever if you are really pessimistic.  A good crowd turned up to see if City could get the ridiculous goal swing meanwhile The Shrews had to lose the next two games heavily to be relegated. The line-up for the game was Burge in goal, Sterling, Hyam, Davies and Mason at the back, Thomas, Shipley, Kelly and Hiwula in midfield with Enobakhare supporting Bakayoko up front. This of cause was Oggy's last game in the employment of City after joining from today's opponents in 1984 and he received a good round of applauses before the game started.

The games got underway with a heavy police presences in the ground. It was a slow start as the visiting fans sang “we never play here again”. First action after eight minutes saw the ball fly off the field straight to the dug out were Oggy caught it perfectly. City were looking the better side when Shipley did well to win the ball and advance forward he played a one-two with Hiwula and entered the box firing in on the keeper who saved but Ships was onto the rebound to knock the ball home for the first goal. City continued to look the more dangerous side without ever threatening another goal until Shipley hit a powerful volley that smacked against the post. Burge then had to push one away before he had to race off his line to intercept a short back pass. The half wasn't that great and it soon ended with City looking the better side and on top.

The away side improved a little in the second half as the game increasingly had a feel of an end of the season encounter. City started to look flat allowing the away side back into the game. First sub was soon up as Bakayoko was replaced by Chaplin. Former City favourite Romain Vincelot then came on for Town. It was still pretty turgid stuff before Willis came on for Mason and the formation changed to 5-3-2. The game meandered on with not much happening until a Shrewsbury free kick took a deflection in the box straight to Onkenabirie who fired between Burge's legs to give then a deserved leveller and the chance of the point they needed for mathematical safety. The new formation wasn't working for City as Shrewsbury looked more likely to score, late on Wakefield came on and City had a bit of a second wind but not enough as the ref blew the end to the home campaign.

We waited to cheer goodbye to Oggy.

Man of the match
1st : Jordan Shipley: Improving all the time in midfield
2nd : Liam Kelly: Won the ball well
3rd : Dominic Hyam Played well

Coventry City Vs Bradford City


After another brilliant away performance we returned to The Ricoh to see if we can beat nearly doomed Bradford City. It was a lovely hot day as we kicked off early. This could be our penultimate game in the ground if Sisu decided act like a big spoiled brat and not go and negotiate with Wasps on playing here next season as, yet again they were defeated in court. The line up was Burge, Sterling, Davies, Hyam, McCallum, Thomas, Kelly, Hiwula, Enobakhare and Bakayoko.

The game got underway with a long punt from City that went out for a goal kick. In the first minute Bakayoko won the ball and almost broke through but was stopped by a defender. The big forward then had a shot blocked. The away side didn’t sit back but instead came forward and looked dangerous as Burge couldn’t catch and the ball was cleared for a corner. Then the keeper had to save from the wonderfully named Jacob Butterfield. Already early on their winger, Scannell was giving the inexperienced McCallum a tough time with so good wing play. After five minutes he brushed past his marker again and fired a low shot that looked goal-bound until Burge pulled off a good save tipping the ball around the bottom right-hand post. City hit back with some good play in an open game. The after nine minutes, Kelly played Hiwula into the box the former Bradford loan player raced in and held onto the ball before slipping past the keeper to move him to 11 league goals this season. To be fair Bradford’s heads didn’t go down and again Scannell got past McCallum to force Burge into a save. We started to have more of the ball and were then very unlucky when Enobakhare got into the box and hit a fierce shot that cannon off the post. The ref was then called into action by booking Kelly for holding back a player in the centre circle and I couldn’t have any complaints about the booking. We were slowly getting the upper hand but Bradford were still looking dangerous when Stirling picked up a yellow card for a badly timed tackle. Then a great chance as Shipley was about to enter the area but was hacked down, the ref played advantage but when that didn’t happen he awarded City a free kick and booked Knight-Pervical. The free kick was rolled to Thomas who hit the wall. Coming to the end of the first half Hiwula got into the box but his shot was easily saved by the keeper. Then incredibly a moment that would drive you mad if it happened to one of your players, Knight-Percival on a yellow card kicked out on Bakayoko, the ref saw it and gave the player his second yellow card, one each for his surnames and he was off. I insisted he go over and apologise to the Bradford travelling fans for that one. We reached half time with only a goal lead.

Bradford made a change to the second half and it was clear from the off they were determined not to get beat by many and try to sneak one despite the fact they needed a result. We were on the front foot as Kelly played a great ball through to Thomas he raced clear but their keeper timed his tackle just in time to nick the ball of him. Bright had a shot blocked. Soon a song rang out around the ground to the tune of Tom Hark, “F**k The Wasps, f**k the Sisu, f**k the Council and the Villa to”, this song persisted for a good twenty minutes as it was attack Vs defence. Hiwula had a shot blocked before some great interplay left the top scorer with a free shot wide of the goal but he failed to hit the target. Now trying to break down a packed out defence the manager took off Shipley and replaced him with Chaplin. We continued to dominate as Bright fired one just too high. Bakayoko then had a shot saved as the City fans were getting frustrated we couldn’t find a second goal. If was still a siege and with Scannell no longer getting forward even McCallum had a shot. City then wasted another great chance from a corner as the ball fell to Davies he had the whole goal to aim at but blasted it over. A rare Bradford attack saw them win a corner it was played in and Burge was beaten but Davies was on the line to head it out. MR shuffled things up by withdrawing Bakayoko and sending on Westbrook. The pattern continued with The Bantams packing out their defence and City failing to break them down as Enobakhare had a shot blocked. The game went into the last phase when Kelly played in a great ball to Bright in the box for once a City player hit it first time and he beat the keeper to bring great relief to the home fans. The Wolves loan player celebrated with some acrobatics. The last action of the game and Bradford should have scored but the shot went wide and we still had an outside chance of the Play Offs and Bradford were relegated maybe before their fans got home.

Man of the Match
1st Liam Kelly: Done well in midfield
2nd Bright Enobakhare: Very difficult to replace next season
3rd Tom Davies: Solid and cleared one off the line.

Sunderland Vs Coventry City


We climbed on the coaches near the Coventry swimming baths at 8 for the long journey north. After an uneventful journey we arrived in Durham two spend a couple of hours in the pubs in the small historic city. Some of the people of the coaches got back late so it was a bit of a race to reach The Stadium of Light in time. We got through the traffic and made our way to the upper tier with 3,000+ other City fans. It was five minutes before kick off and the line-up was in goal Burge, in defence we had Sterling, Davies, Hyam and Mason, in midfield was Shipley and Kelly with Thomas and Hiwula wide and Enobakhare tucked in behind Bakayoko.

It was a great atmosphere in a great ground with a big attendance. Sunderland have yet to lose at home and City had never won at the ground but Robins has a nasty habit of winning at such grounds. The started off lively as we looked horns with the side in 2nd place. First action saw Thomas had a shot blocked was the City attacked the end with the City fans in. It was also a good pitch helping City’s passing ability. After 12 minutes it was Sunderland’s passing that went astray when Bakayoko intercepted a loose pass, he played in Hiwula, the top scorer then passed to Enobakhare who entered the area and curled a ball past the keeper to give us a dream start. Bright scored at The Stadium of Light. This stunned The Black Cats into action as their player Morgan was allowed to run almost the length of the pitch before finding Honeyman whose shot took a deflection and beating Burge to level it up. We hardly caught our breath when Shipley found Thomas he played a great ball to Bakayoko who was clear, the big guy steady himself with only the keeper to beat and he did to send us mad in the stand and back in the lead. The “20 goals a season” song was given a good airing as well as a combined anti, Sisu, Wasps and Council song. It was a mad game with both teams going for it as Sunderland forced Burge into a save. It was City that were looking the most dangerous as they were struggling to keep hold of the attacking players from City. Not only the attacking players but Mason was joining in and in the 25th minute who linked up well with Hiwula he then raced through on the right before blasting past the keeper with a slight deflection. What was going on City scoring three times against a quality teams and looked like we could get more. We started to sing “we saw you cry at Wembley”, referring to their fans reaction to a recent Check-a-trade defeat as City kept going. Heading towards the break we needed to get there without conceding. We started to sit deeper as Oveido crossed Burge came for it but his punch was poor and Wyke put it away. Sunderland now had the impetus and Sterling was booked preventing a player going down the wing before a Sunderland player followed him into the book. Everyone was disappointed but it was disbelieve about the late goal but it got worse deep in injury time as a cross came in and was headed back for Grigg to poach the ball home to make it, incredibly 3-3.

So what a first half but now Sunderland had the upper hand for the second half.

The second half was started as Sunderland claimed a penalty when a player went down too easily in front of Shipley. We didn’t think it could get much better as City went forward again with Kelly winning the ball in a tackle, he found Bakayoko who held the ball up and squared it to Shipley just as we were saying “shoot” for once a player did and it was a great finish sparking off mad celebrations. Shipley celebrated by wiping his shirt in front of the home fans. We were now in heaven and still playing really well as their keeper was forced out a save. Bright was a real handful and he even had a chance to do his party trick by stopping and pretending to do up his laces. The home side were still dangerous and incredibly with 20 minutes to go they got forward and the ball fell to Power his shot took a big deflection to make it 4-4. It was mad and it looked like Sunderland finally had the upper hand but no one told the City players that. MR rang the changes it was no hanging on for a point as Chaplin and Wakefield came on to replace Enobakhare and Thomas. It proved to be a massive masterstroke by the manager as Wakefield’s first touch saw him wide and he crossed low for Chaplin in the box, he shuffled his feet to get into the right position before smashing it past the keeper for a great finish. At the away end strangers hugged strangers and high fives all around. Both sides had chances but a Bakayoko was deigned by a good save. Westbrook replaced Hiwula as the game entered a too long 8 minutes injury time. Late on they won a free kick near the area but that was defender even later a deep cross was sent in and this time Burge got a good punch on the ball before it was blasted over from the goal kick the ref blew for fulltime to signal an incredible day.

We are the first team to win a league game that season, nine goals nine different scorers, the first time they had conceded five on that ground and our first win in Sunderland since 1977 and that was only 1-0.

Back to the coaches and a little bit of trouble as a couple of Sunderland “fans” ran in a threw punches towards City fans they soon ran away before police stormed in and were later seen taking one of them away in handcuffs. We had to face the long trip home but in a good mood got back at 10.15.

Man of the Match
1st: Bright Enobakhare: Transformed our season
2nd Jordan Shipley: His best game since the Play Off Final
3rd Amadou Bakayoko: Led the line well

Barnsley Vs Coventry City


A trip to Barnsley is never unpleasant with the Metrodome, a sports centre at the top of the hill a good place for a pre-match drink. The pre-game rumour was Burton’s ground would be our home venue for next season. The Tykes are in 2nd place so a tough game was on the cards. The line-up was Burge in goal, Sterling, Hyam, Willis and Mason at the back, Hiwula, Kelly, Bayliss and Thomas in midfield with Enobakhare supporting Bakayoko up front.

City attacked the far end in the first half but it was Barnsley that soon got forward with an attack and a chance to clear from Sterling but the fullback didn’t clear long but up, their player seized the ball and knocked in a low cross to see Mowatt sweep home the ball to give them the lead. The home side were looking good and shooting on sight. City slowly got back in the game as Hiwula was sent through but was ruled off side. It was an entertaining tie with both sides playing good football. With ten minutes to go City’s best player so far, Mason went down the wing and knocked in a deep cross, Hiwula trapped it on his chest before rifling it home for his 9th of the season and to spark off mad scenes in the away end, so much so one Barnsley fan went on Facebook and stated on the lines of “Dirty lot from East Midlands celebrating an equaliser like they had just won the cup”. It was the first goal Barnsley had conceded for 11 hours! The home side were still looking dangerous but so were City and Hiwula raced into the box but the defender stood up and prevented a shot on target. Half time City level and playing well.

Second half City attacked the away stand end but it was the home side and some great football the home side swept forward with several passes resulting in Woodrow to score. The home side didn’t take control as Thomas forced a save. It could still go anyway but when Thomas got the ball on the left he raced into the box, found room before smashing it past their keeper to level up the game again. Thomas was booked for excessive celebrations. Not much late Burge saved then Bakayoko broke into box with only the keeper to beat but the ball was just too far for the forward and the keeper closed him out. At the other end Burge had to deflect a fierce shot. With the game entering the later phase, both teams playing well and even the ref, Steve Martin was proving not to be a dirty rotten scoundrel by having a good game. Mason then had to go off with a knock and was replaced by Brown. Another sub then came on as a player that had an advert up for “Wakefield Audi” but maybe they were referring to a car dealership in a nearby town and not our winger. Six minutes were added on and there were no time wasting or taking the ball to the corner, City were looking for a winner. In this time their keeper closed out Wakefield before pushing a Bakayoko header over the bar before the ref blew for full time.

With traffic problems on the M1, the traffic being diverted through Barnsley town-centre and we being parked at the back of the Metrodome car park it took us well over an hour to reach the motorway.

Man of the match
1st Brandon Mason: Set up a goal and played well
2nd Jordon Willis: Again played well
3rd Liam Kelly: Helped to control midfield

Coventry City Vs Oxford United


So a shot at sneaking into the Play Off places but before us was a banana skin of Oxford United. The team was unchanged from the last game with Burge in goal, Sterling, Hyam, Willis and Mason at the back, Bayliss and Kelly in the centre, Hiwula and Thomas out wide and Enobakhare supporting Bakayoko up front.

City, confident from last week’s great win started off well with Thomas getting a shot on target early on a minute later the winger got another on target as Oxford looked shaky. The U’s survived the early pressure and won a corner according the linesman and the referee was again very poor. The relegation threatened side were now matching City but were getting away with a lot of off the ball incidents missed by the ref. City were finding it hard to get forward now with Bakayoko having his shirt pulled at ever opportunity but the big forward did go close with a header. Bakayoko then got a shot on target as both sides struggled to create chances. After a series of fouls by Oxford that they got away with the ref booked Hiwula after a tackle that saw the opposing player throw himself into the air. There was a real good atmosphere in the ground helped by a pretty full away end. Near the end of the half Mason won a great fifty/fifty ball and advanced until Graham hacked him down from behind resulting in a yellow card they also picked one up a few minutes before. Half time no goals.

We then saw the parade of “legends” as many former City players entered the pitch and the host, Billy Bell drew applauses and cheers by saying “The Ricoh is City’s home”, after all this could be our last ever Saturday game in the Arena.

The second half got underway but not long in Oxford won a corner, the ball was placed outside the corner arch but a bigger crime was City not defending the set piece as a header came in Burge pushed it onto the post and it was scrambled in by Nelson. Oxford now had scored the same number of league goals as City which explains why we are not higher. The away side now had something to defend as three points would be a big boost to their survival plans. Burge kept them out with a save as City were struggling to get going, with Hiwula, Enobakhare and Thomas off form and Bakayoko being contained by some clever defending. A change soon came as Thomas was replaced by Shipley. We then saw former City youth player Josh Ruffles then launched a scissor kick on Kelly but no booking form the hapless official. Then with no breakthrough looking likely Jordan Ponticelli came on for his first game of an injury hit season replacing Bayliss. Oxford saw out the game without any trouble leaving us with a great opportunity missed.

Man of the Match
1st Liam Kelly: Tried his best from midfield
2nd Brandon Mason Played well
3rd Dujon Sterling Dangerous down the flanks

Peterborough United Vs Coventry City

A very windy drive to Cambridgeshire to a familiar ground traditionally called London Road. The Posh sat a point above us in the table and with Doncaster drawing on Friday a win would see us a point from the Play Offs. Four changes to the last win including Kelly returning after missing the last game because of traffic problems, Enobakhare back from suspension and Hyam recovering from a car crash! The rest of the team was Burge in goal, Sterling and Mason playing fullbacks with Willis returning to the centre of defence. In midfield we had Bayliss, with Hiwula and Thomas wide and Bakayoko up front. We do have a good record on this ground and plenty of memories but the Posh are looking to move away. We were in the end stand that we were last in when it was a terrace. City were in the white kit defending the end we were at in the first half.

It was a very windy day and The Posh had the wind at their backs in the first half as they started of the better. An early attack saw their Madison throwing himself to the ground with maybe the slightest touch and the ref fell for it and the official put in a pretty dreadful performance. The free kick came over and cleared but not too far as the shot came back in and Burge tipped it over the bar. City were struggling to get going in the wind despite Bakayoko planting a header wide. City slowly got more into the game and almost fluked a goal when a Mason cross caught the wind and hit the crossbar. Minutes later Hiwula had the ball in the net but the linesman long had his flag up for off side. Both keepers were struggling with the wind (in terms of goal kicks). Then United came forward again with a great shot that Burge did well diving to his right to tip away the ball for a corner. Not long after a long-range shot took a nasty bounce in front of Burge and he did well to push it away. Despite the saves City were looking the better side as Kelly had a shot. Into the last five minutes and City went forward, Thomas had the ball and played in Bakayoko who seemed clear, the big forward had time and placed the ball past the keeper to give City a good lead. City saw out the half to lead at half time.

Half time City fans had a new song, “got no home, who gives a f**k, were Coventry City and were going up”.

City now had the wind at our backs and a team that likes to play the ball on the ground could also go route one as Burge launched a wind assisted kick that Peterborough struggled to deal with but not Enobakhare who raced in and just about beat the keeper and turned the ball into the back of the net, now two goals up and looking very good. The Posh now had to go far it leaving spaces and a good ball from Bayliss saw Thomas go clear on the wing, their keeper, O’Malley raced out and totally missed timed his tackle and took out Thomas, the ref decided only on a yellow when some would have given a red. The free kick came in and O’Malley flipped it over the bar. City were soon forced into a change when Mason had to go off with an injury and was replaced by Brown. A long back pass to O’Malley and the Alley Cat (as I was the only one calling him) allowed the ball bounce over his head for a corner. Then the referee bottled it again when Bakayoko had a chance to run in on goal but was taken out with a knee high challenge how Naismith escaped with only a yellow card was beyond everyone. Kelly took the free kick and it hit the crossbar, Bakayoko got to the ball and headed it home but I spotted a slight push in the back and the goal didn’t count and maybe the ref got that one right. It always looked like City would extend their lead and had a chance when Thomas was in the area when a high boot from Tomlin caught him in the face, the officials some how missed a blatant dangerous play and the game went on, Thomas was on the floor franticly signalling he was in trouble as the City fans were still fuming that there wasn’t a penalty. The game stopped as the stretcher came on, quite what the referee was thinking at the time was anyone’s guess maybe “can I have VAR please”. After a lengthy delay Shipley came on. At the other end Burge had some easy saves to make as City was tonally in control. The P.A gave their keeper, The Alley Cat man of the match which says a lot about the rest of their team. Another song was sung “Ole, Ole-ole to the Championship we will play”. City still dominating when Bayliss whipped in a great cross, Hiwula threw himself at it but missed the ball went out to Enobakhare who controlled the ball, lifted his boot and pretended to do his laces up before beating the defender, very George Best. Another chance as Shipley went clear but their keeper just about beat him to the ball to prevent a goal. Very deep into injury time a deflected shot by Reed found the back of the net but, thankfully Peterborough couldn’t find a very undeserved leveller and we left breathing down the necks of Doncaster.

On the way back we listened to Radio Cambridgeshire, they thought City should have had a penalty and that Thomas was kicked around the eye area and thankfully it wasn’t that serious.

Man of the match
1st Lee Burge: Vital saves before we scored and another assist
2nd Jordan Willis: Excellent at the back
3rd Bright Enobakhare: A goal and another good performace.

Coventry City Vs Fleetwood Town

So with the results going for us on Saturday, we still had a shout at the Play-offs. We were playing Fleetwood and so was the PA system as “Go your own way”, was playing when I took my seat I seemed the only one to see the irony of playing a Fleetwood Mac song before we played Fleetwood. The game itself saw MR forced into changes with Hyam still out after his car crash and Willis injured the manager was forced to give a league debut to Morgan Williams a young defender we got from Mickleover Sports, meanwhile Liam Kelly was stuck on the Motorway and couldn’t make it so Meyler stepped into the side, the rest of the team was in goal Burge, with Sterling, Davies and Mason making up the rest of the defence, the other midfielders were Bayliss and Shipley with Hiwula and Thomas wide and Bakayoko up front. It was also good to see Ponticelli returning and was on the bench. As normal there was a sparse number of Fleetwood fans in the ground some counted 53. City had never beaten Fleetwood at home in three previous attempts.

The away side started off the better and pushed City back but Burge handling was good catching a cross and holding on to it as his confidence had seemed to have returned. After six minutes of defending City launched an attack with a long punt from Burge towards the corner, there seemed no danger as Stirling gave chase but the Town defender seemed in charge then instead of letting it run out for a goal kick he decided to knock it back to his keeper but he didn’t see Bakayoko closing the keeper down, their custodian attempted to whack the ball clear but the forward got a block in, the ball cannoned off his feet and bobbled past the keeper, the post and nestled into the back of the goal. Quite amazing and what a start! The away side hit back with Evans going close before Davies went even closer almost scoring an own goal. Another attack was tracked by Bayliss and in the middle of our half he clipped his opponent, accidentally, not too many complaints about the free kick but City fans were amazed that Bayliss was booked from then on any infringement by a Fleetwood player was met with demands of a yellow card from City fans. The away side kept up the pressure but the defence was holding out with Williams looking secure. Most of their attacks however were coming down our left and they were looking good. Burge was called into action on the half hour mark with a save. The pressure stayed on and after a couple of corners they had a shot deflected onto the crossbar but Evans was there to head them level. City now seemed to be wobbling but then a player that spent last season with Fleetwood scoring eight league goals, Hiwula, decided to change things with a run deep inside his own half, he skipped past a player and entered the box, stepping out onto his right foot before blasting it past the keeper a real goal of season contender. This put the forward on eight league goals for us and by pre-season bet on him being top scorer looked good. City gained confidence for the goal and Thomas had a shot blocked before 1st half finished.

City started positively in the second half with Hiwula firing over. Then a great chance as Bayliss played Bakayoko through but his first and second touches were awful and he failed to sprint away from the defenders. Then it was a real hearts in the mouth time when Shipley under hit a back pass, their player Madden, intercepted but Burge was out quick forcing the player to knock the ball wide and he could get to it to side-foot it home and a great chance was gone. A couple of minutes later Burge saved from Evans. Fleetwood were on top again but Davies and the defenders were winning their battles whilst Meyler was using his experience to clam things down in midfield. There was a surprise substitution when Brown came on for his first game of the year replacing Mason who seemed to be playing well, the left back didn’t seem that happy to go off. Brown came on and played well. Despite the pressure City looked dangerous when they got forward as Bakayoko put a header just wide. More pressure from the away side as City were holding on. With 15 minutes to go Wakefield replaced Thomas. Into the last ten minutes as Burge pushed away a shot. It was still back-to-the-walls stuff for City and minutes later Williams had to go off with cramp he was replaced by Grimmer who slotted seamlessly into a centre back role. They kept the pressure up but City were defending well finally the ref blew for full time and a hard earned victory.

Man of the Match
1st Tom Davies: Outstanding at the back
2nd Lee Burge: Back with some confidences
3rd Dujon Sterling: Assured at the back

Coventry City Vs Burton Albion

So after a long day at work I finished at 6, made it home had something to eat before getting to the ground in plenty of time for the kick off. A win and City would move to within touching distance of the Play-Off places but it was of the field matters that are concerni8ng most these days as some fans took part in a protest march before the game. Inside the ground their were just two team changes out went Hyam later to be confirmed as being in a car crash he was replaced by Davies whilst Thomas came in for Shipley.

City started off well but the pitch was cutting up and players were finding it hard to stay on their feet. Thomas had the first effort after six minutes with a blocked shot. Soon the old “Sisu out”, chants started and “Stand up if you hate Sisu”, which most did even in my section of the stand. The away side got the first effort on target but straight to Burge. At the other end City were looking the better side as Bayliss and Enobakhare had efforts blocked. Then just before the 20th minute mark Albion went forward and Harness got the ball looking well off-side, he crossed and Akins stroked the ball home to give his side the lead. This gave the away side a lift and they started to look the better side, for a while. They had two chances but didn’t take them before City started to get back into the game. Then in the 30th minute we had a chance but Hiwula’s effort was pushed over the bar by their keeper. The delivery from the corner was bad resulting in a counter attack and Burton winning a corner. Burge then did well to keep out a shot. Then the keeper seemed to get worse as Burton scored again but thankfully the ref ruled it out for handball. The referee, who is in his first year as a ref at this level, was having a poor game something that continued throughout the game. Bright then went into the book for a trip not too many arguments about that but Burton seemed to get away with similar. Then the visitors had a penalty appeal but it looked like a dive. Near the end of the half Burton missed two chances and had a player booked after the ref waved play on, something he got right as the half time came.

During half time some fans managed to get a “Homeless” banner put up in front of the directors’ box.

City attacked in the 2nd half and early on Hiwula had the ball in the box it looked like he was brought down but with fans still claiming a penalty Bayliss beat the keeper to level it up. Now with the fans back enjoying the game, Bayliss played a great ball to Thomas but his shot hit the post and avoided any City player in the box. City now looking good when Enobakhare seemed to bring down a player, the ref was surrounded by Burton players trying to get Bright sent off and the ref caved in and gave the midfielder his second yellow card and City’s first red of the season. Bright left the field very slowly and the yellow card was very harsh. City kept up the momentum as Thomas put in a good cross. The ref seemed to be giving everything the away side’s way and I wouldn’t call Burton a dirty, intimidating side either. Then on the hour mark Kelly played the ball back to Burge but his kick went straight to Allen, who found the back of the net, it was a great finish but the fault lay with the keeper. Minutes later Burger tried to gather the ball but slipped out of his hands and somehow Burton failed to score. The keeper almost had two assists. The first change saw Bakayoko go off replaced by Shipley with Hiwula going down the middle. Sterling then picked up a card for throwing the ball away in frustration at the hapless officials. City were still trying to get back into the game and a short ball back to their keeper was almost reached by Hiwula but the keeper himself to the ground as Burton tried to get another player sent off. Burton then wasted a chance to wrap the game up. City kept trying but the ref was missing loads of stuff off the ball as Burton released they could do what they wanted. Mason had a shot on target before a break and a great chance but Hiwula decided to go for goal instead of playing in an unmarked Thomas. Grimmer came on for Mason who had been awarded the man of the match to the surprise of some. City switched to three at the back and the sub put in a great cross that Hiwula couldn’t get enough on. The final whistle may have also ended City season we will see if we can play Burton again next season at the Ricoh.

Man of the Match
1st Tom Bayliss: A class act
2nd Brandon Mason: Played better than the people around me thought.
3rd Luke Thomas: Unlucky not to score

Accrington Stanley Vs Coventry City


So the drive up the horrible M6 with the threat of rain on the way up. Found a good parking space and after a visit to a local pub then I entered the Wham Stadium. Only two City players that started here last season started this they were Burge and Willis whilst Stanley have five players that started last season. The rest of the team was in defence Sterling, Hyam and Mason; in midfield we had Shipley, Kelly, Bayliss and Hiwula with Enobakhare supporting Bakayoko up front. We were on open terracing and it looked like rain. We lost here last season and didn’t play too well.

The game got underway and after eleven seconds Stanley had a shot at target but straight at Burge. A minute later Bayliss had a shot at the other end as the game started of well. Then the game settled down as two well organised sides found it hard to break each other down. It still looked like rain but it was holding off. After six minutes some City fans with the permission of the stewards marched a banner in front of the away terrace stating “ASFC 1962, CCFC 20119?” Meaning that Stanley were thrown out of the league in 1962 would City follow? The game itself was pretty boring but at least the rain was keeping off. Almost half an hour went when Stanley had a shot but wide. The main City attacking players were not seeing much of the ball but Shipley did get a shot blocked. The game plodded on with not much happening some rain came but then stopped. Accrington them came close with a free kick that just had too much whip on it as it curved passed Burge’s post. City’s set pieces were looking quite good as Bright was swinging the corners in one of them was fumbled by Stanley’s keeper who was making his full debut. Stanley started to put on a bit of pressure near the end of half and deep in injury time Accrington were going forward I shouted, “half time ref!”, immediately the ref blew a guy looked round at me like I had super powers.

Radio Lancashire report that Enobakhare looked a threat but apart from late on in the first half he wasn’t that good. I had a feeling the first scorers will win.

The second half City attacked the visitors’ end. City started off better in the half but the first action saw Thomas replacing Shipley. Within a minute City went forward as Mason had the ball before passing to Enobakhare, he raced past players and into the area before placing the ball past their keeper. Now City started to get on top with Kelly ruling midfield and Enobakhare causing problems and the rain was still holding off. Meanwhile Hiwula had a couple of good runs into the box but each time a defender got a tackle in. The ref then had to get his book out as Mason was sent flying with a bad tackle. City were firm at the back and Burge had nothing to do. It was more likely City to score as Thomas forced the keeper to push a shot over for a corner. The set piece was played short and a cross came in Hiwula headed the ball home but the linesman had his flag up claiming the ball went out but a recording on Youtube showed the ball didn’t go out and City were robbed. City fans sung the name of Hiwula and it just stared to rain. The home side tried to put on the pressure but City were still standing firm. Into injury time and a great chance on the break Thomas was played in with only the keeper to beat but their 2nd choice prevented a second goal. Finally the ref blew up for full time and it was raining.

Got back just after eight after a good win and a sniff of the play offs.

Man of the Match
1st Liam Kelly: Ran midfield
2nd Bright Enobakhare: Another good display
3rd Brandon Mason: Worked well down the flanks

Luton Town Vs Coventry City

So in a week when the Football League threatened us with expulsion we travelled to face Luton the runaway leaders of League One with six wins in a row and unbeaten in 21 games. I drove and we parked near Highfield Road, no I am not mad but there is a road by that name ten minute walk from Kenilworth Road. We got there in plenty of time and after a coffee entered one of the worst grounds in the league. Waiting for us on the seats were “6 and out” signs to hold up later. Only one change to the side with Burge back in goal, the rest of the team was Sterling, Willis, Hyam and Mason at the back, Kelly playing the holding role with Bayliss going forward, Enobakhare playing as a deep forward, Hiwula and Thomas out wide with Bakayoko up front.

City in the black and green kit defended the goal we were in. The Sisu Out chants started early in the game as Cov kid James Collins had the first chance of the game but it put his shot wide. Soon we launched another Sisu Out chants holding up the paper with the message on. The Hatters looked the better side early on and put in another shot across the area. The home side kept the pressure on and won a corner. The set piece was delivered and Pearson got a free header in but it slipped past Burge to give them a lead. Early on it seemed the ref was poor and it proved to be true throughout the game. City were trying to get back into the game. Then at the other end Bakayoko went down in the penalty after their keeper challenged him in the area the referee seem to point to the spot but instead awarded a goal kick when there was a fair call for a spot kick. City were getting better and Thomas had a shot blocked. Finally the ref gave something to City booking one of their players for a shirt tug. City were forced into a change as Bakayoko had to go off with an injury and was replaced by Shipley. Hiwula switched up front. City kept going as Hiwula got the ball out wide and slid the ball to Shipley, the midfielder got to the ball and placed it past their keeper to level the game up. Shipley must like the ground because he scored here last season as well. This lifted City and we were now pressing forward. Bayliss was then booked as the game went on. Near the end of the half Willis headed wide. The Radio Bedfordshire reporter said “Coventry deserved to be level” and it we were hard done by with the penalty appeal.

The second half saw Luton on the front foot and they had plenty of possession but the City defenders were standing firm. It was all Luton and City were struggling to get out of the half. On a rare attack Thomas nudged a player in the back he fell to earth and incredibly Thomas was booked for pushing over a far bigger player. The atmosphere was still good in the away end with plenty of anti-Sisu songs. The Hatters kept up the pressure. The ref again was the centre of attention when Kelly was flattened with an elbow the ref was close but didn’t think it was a foul. Luton went close enough as City were holding on. A sub came as Meyler replaced Thomas. City were keeping Luton at arm’s length as we were looking for a point. Wakefield then replaced Enobakhare. The sub had a change then to break clear but was hacked down in the centre circle with a booking following. The game went into injury time when a long ball over the top caught City out and the ball fell to Collins with a free shot on target but Burge was out quickly to block the shot. Minutes later then won a free kick it was deflected with McCormack looked like he had an open goal but his shot was straight at Burge. The ref played a minute over time before we saw out another free kick and the game reached the end with a great point. It was the first time Luton scored first and failed to win.

Mark Robins brought the whole squad over to thank the fans for the support. After the game most City supports stayed behind to continue the peaceful protests after the game. Coming out of the ground a Luton fan was at the exit with comments like “keep your chins up”, “bumps along the road” and “let’s hope you can get rid of your terrible owners”, a nice touch.

Man of the Match
1st: Dominic Hyam: Helped to keep the free scoring Hylton and Collins quiet
2nd Jordan Willis: Was Sky Sports’ man of the match and couldn’t argue with that
3rd Jordan Shipley: Got the goal

Coventry City Vs Walsall


So our third meeting with the Saddlers this season, at their place in the Cup we came from two down but lost to a late goal, all of their three goals were down to mistakes and in the League they scored two injury time goals to win it so revenge was in the air. Something else in the air was a protest march before the game and a sit-in after. Back to the game and the manager named an unchanged line-up with Stockdale in goal, Sterling, Willis, Hyam and Mason at the back, in midfield was Hiwula, Kelly, Bayliss and Thomas with Enobakhare behind Bakayoko up front. Walsall are on a dreadful run at the moment but they are the type of sides that normally take points off us.

City started the brighter early but it took until the 7th minute for the first shot a blocked effort from Thomas. The corner came over and was headed wide by Bakayoko much to the delight of the Walsall fans who were glad to see the back of him when he left them. City were passing well but were finding it hard to break down the Saddlers’ defence. At the other end the away side couldn’t get going as Willis had their big target man, Cook in his back pocket for the entire game. Finally, almost a breakthrough when Kelly had a shot that was deflected that their keeper, Roberts got down to turn away for a corner. City kept the upper-hand and near the half hour mark Sterling got the ball on the right and swung in a great cross, Bakayoko rose to flick it past the keeper to give us our first goal in the first half since New Year’s Day. The big forward went in front of the away fans with his finger over his lips truly shutting them up. At last an early goal now could City turn it into a hammering? At the other end Stockdale had catching practice. Minutes later Enobakhare and Devlin stood face-to-face with Devlin shoving the loan player, all the ref had to do was just have a word but he let Devlin off and incredibly booked Bright. Their free kick was played into our half but was won by City, Hiwula got the ball and raced past a defender who seemed to slip, the wide player got into the box, steadied himself before firing low past the keeper to a 2-0 lead. Jordy Hiwula also played for Walsall and City were threatening to run riot. Sisu out chants rolled around the ground as City were finally turning possession into goals. Thomas got a shot blocked before Sterling cut and tried to curl the ball around the keeper but Roberts did well to keep it out. Half time City two up and looking likely to get more.

City kept up the pressure in the second half and six minutes in Bayliss, having a good game, blasted one towards the top corner of the goal but somehow Roberts got to it to pull off a great save. From the corner a shot was deflected and Enobakhare had an open goal but blazed the ball well over the crossbar. City kept up the pressure as Walsall, despite changes couldn’t get any change out of Willis and Hyam at the back. Next player to go close was Hiwula who tried his luck with a low shot but yet again Roberts pulled off another good save to keep his side in the game. It was now City Vs Roberts but he then watched a Mason volley go just wide before saving from Thomas. Another flowing City move saw Enobakhare in the box he was going around a defender to shot but was clearly brought down for what could only be a penalty. Bright took the ball off Bakayoko for the spot kick and placed it to the keeper’s right, Roberts guessed right but he couldn’t spot the ball this time and City were three up. The goal scorer then was replaced by Chaplin. Minutes later Walsall fans were then on their feet celebrating after a shot on target. A couple of minutes later it was nearly four as a powerful Chaplin shot at the keeper was kept out. Bayliss was then replaced by Meyler to see the game out. Not long after the sub headed a break and tried to play in Chaplin but a defender cut the ball out preventing the forward with a chance. Wakefield was a late replacement for Thomas before the game ended with a good win

Man of the match
1st Jordan Willis: Giving Stockdale an easy day
2nd Tom Bayliss: Dangerous all day
3rd Amdou Bakayoko: Staring to look like a good player

Rochdale Vs Coventry City


I do hate the M6 and all its 50 mph zones it makes the trip seem really slow. I still got there in good time and one good thing about Spotland it the amble street parking near the ground. Rochdale is of cause a place we had never won at in nine previous visits so I was confident it would end today as Mark Robins has a reputation for winning at bogy grounds. Inside the ground and after a chat about the ground and the weather with a steward I took my seat and heard the team news, in was emergency keeper David Stockdale coming in from Birmingham whilst the squad had been hit by a flu virus the rest of the side was in defence, Sterling, Willis, Hyam and Mason, in midfield was Thomas, Bayliss, Kelly and Hiwula with Enobakhare playing the withdrawn role with Bakayoko up front.

It was a pleasant February day as the game got underway with City in the all white kit looking good. City won two early corners and were pressing forward playing good football but failing to open Dale up. Best song of the day was from the away fans, “You’re just a bus stop near Oldham”. My early impressions of Stockdale were good as he liked to kick the ball and his distribution was excellent throughout the game. The home side were not looking very good along with the ref who was poor during the game. A couple of more corners came before Bayliss had a shot blocked. It was the same old story for City being on top but failing to score. Then another good move as Thomas had the ball wide he put in a great cross only for Bakayoko to miss-time his header and nod it wide. Bayliss had a volley but despite being blocked by a higher boot the ref gave the three kick Rochdale’s way. In midfield Kelly was running things and just in front of him Enobakhare was showing some great skill. Dale were full of petty fouls and dives finally got a player into the book before Hiwula fired one at the keeper. Just before the end of the half Kelly had a blast just wide. Another good attack saw Thomas pass the ball into the area to oncoming forwards but it was cut out by a Rochdale player. Half time came and yet another scoreless first forty-five minutes.

The second half got underway and pretty soon Bayliss went down with an injury that he had in the first half and had to go off, he was replaced by Shipley. City again kept up the pressure with Kelly blasting one wide. Hiwula then went close. City were still dominating in midfield. Then the best chance of the game but it fell to Rochdale’s Calvin Andrew who was left alone in the box but thankfully curled it high. Shipley then had a shot go wide. There were a lot of songs in praise of keeper Stockdale as he booted a great ball to Thomas to launch a counter-attack. Kelly had another shot wide but then with 22 to go Hyam hooked the ball forward, Bakayoko flicked the ball on and Hiwula got beyond the defender and advanced on the keeper, Jordy without much room then dinked the ball over him and it rolled into the ball of the net for a much deserved goal. A Rochdale player went into the book for another shirt tug. From that free kick Kelly blasted it just over. The home then fired wide as the defence were keeping them out. Stockdale then was called into his first real save diving to save a Henderson header. There was always a danger of a Dale goal but Stockdale was helping with some good handling. It was more likely that City would score than Dale and very nearly did as Thomas cut in and fired a low shot that forced their keeper into a very good save. A minute later Hiwula was pulled down just before entering the area the ref decided not to book the defender. Kelly was still everywhere in midfield winning everything. Injury time is always a nervous time but MR replaced the excellent Enobakhare with Davies to see the game out. Six minutes later the bad ref blew a minute late to single our first every victory at Rochdale.

Just to get everyone home down the M6 for a good day out.

Man of the Match
1st Liam Kelly: Immense (according to Robins)
2nd Bright Enobakhare: Another good game
3rd David Stockdale: A good debut

Coventry City Vs Gillingham


It was Community Day at the Ricoh with cheap tickets on offer a crowd of 26,000+ turned up. The main topic of conversation was transfer dealing dealings with Clarke-Harris and especially Doyle leaving and no forward joining. The line-up on the cold day was in goal Burge, with Sterling, Willis, Hyam and McCallum at the back, Thomas, Westbrook, Shipley and making his debut and a new captain, David Meyler, Enobakhare played just behind Hiwula up front.

The game got underway on the poor pitch with Shipley having the first shot. City started off well and were looking dangerous in winning corners. Meyler was looking good early on and almost played Thomas through on goal with a great pass. Willis then put one wide as the familiar pattern of dominating the ball but not scoring was beginning again. Thomas then had a shot blocked but it wasn’t like Blackpool as The Gills offered something up the other end with Eaves the main danger. City won three corners in a row as we kept the pressure on. At the other end Gillingham got forward and a cross came in, Eaves got to it with his head but Burge sprung to his right to pull off a good save and then other players blocked shots before it was cleared. At the other end Hiwula had a shot saved as City were still working their way through the away defence with Enobakhare finding spaces everywhere. Meyler then forced the keeper into a save. Meyler then was brought down just outside the box and Thomas only just fired over from the free kick. City came even closer when Sterling broke in the box but their keeper kept him out with a smart save. Half time came and no goals yet again.

The second half started in the same vein as City looked the more likely with Sterling having another go. The Thomas went close but a defender threw himself in front of the shot for a great block. First change came for City when Meyler, no doubt because of lack of game-time, went off to be replaced by Bakayoko. City were still looking for the goal when Enobakhare had a shot blocked. Another sub as Bayliss came off the bench for the first time in a league game to replace Westbrook. After defending an attack City broke through Enobakhare who raced the length of the pitch before feeding Bakayoko he should have scored but the keeper save, thankfully the ball fell to Enobakhare who scored on the follow up a well deserved goal for the player. With Gillingham now pushing forward looking for an equaliser City were looking a better side on the counter and inside the last ten minutes Bakayoko was played in with only the keeper to beat he lifted the shot over the keeper but also wide. City then had a good chance to break but Enobakhare looked tired from his hard work and didn’t get to the ball to send Thomas on a free run in on goal. Shipley had a blast from outside the area straight at the keeper. Into injury time the excellent Willis decided to head the ball back to Burge, Gillingham’s Hanlon nipped in and was brought down by Burge, no doubt about the penalty and the referee who was excellent decided on only a yellow card. Burge needed treatment before Eaves sent him the wrong way. Charlie Wakefield then came on for his debut before the ref blew for full time and two dropped points.

Man of the Match
1st Bright Enobakhare: Shame it is only a loan
2nd David Meyler: Encouraging
3rd: Jordan Willis: Brilliant throughout only one costly mistake

Coventry City Vs Blackpool


It was the clash of the last two League Two play off winners at the Ricoh. After some fans protested at the ground overnight by sleeping under the Jimmy Hill statute as the dispute over the ground is still running. City’s line up for the game was in goal Burge, with Sterling, Hyam, Davies and Mason at the back, Thomas, Westbrook, Kelly and Hiwula in midfield with Enobakhare behind Chaplin up front. The crowd dipped below five figures for the first time in a while as City seemed destined to mid table.

The game got underway on a dreadful pitch but it was City that did the early running winning a corner. After twenty minutes the first chance as Thomas fired in a shot that their keeper turned away before a minute later Hiwula fired over. It was now mostly City and the Sky Blues were playing good football on the surface. Then a great move as Westbrook swung a pass out to Enobakhare on the right, he chipped a great ball in front of Sterling, the fullback took off and reached the by-line, he swung in a perfect cross to Chaplin who had an empty net from yards out but somehow put it wide, yet another easy chance squandered by the forward. City kept going and Westbrook was having a good game as his shot was blocked. City kept up the pressure as Enobakhare had a shot blocked. Another good move saw Westbrook played into the area he hit the ball it bounced once before the keeper tipped it away. Half time came with City on top and should have been in the lead.

During half time I had this nasty feeling that Blackpool would score with their first effort on target.

Second half the Tangerines attacked towards where their own fans were housed. They won an early free kick it was delivered into the box and headed sideways were former City loan Delfouneso had a simple chance and he scored and my prediction was correct (then again it happens ever game!) So for the second game in a row a former player scored against us. A minute later Thomas won a free kick near the touch-line but did the defender make contact with his hand into the winger’s face, the ref (who was very poor) consulted the linesman who couldn’t be any closer and a free kick only resulted. Then a route one ball down the middle was controlled by their forward Gnanduillet, he was far too strong for Hyam, with his back to goal he was allowed to turn and fired past Burge for 2-0. City were rocked by the totally undeserved goals but got back into the game when Hiwula had a chance and forced the keeper into a save. Finally after what seemed like a massive 13 minutes after their scored the second MR made a change but it wasn’t the “weakest link” Chaplin that went off but Enobakhare. On came Bakayoko for his first game of the year. Hiwula broke free to the right of the area but his shot was smothered by the keeper. City then had a shout for a penalty when Hiwula went down after a good pass from Bakayoko. City made the second change but Chaplin still remained on the pitch as Clarke-Harris replaced Hiwula; finally City had some strength up front. It was the sub then who should have score latching onto a good cross he planted his header wide. City kept looking for a way in and it was Clarke-Harris again firing wide. In injury time a rarity Blackpool got a shot on target but didn’t score. Finally the ref blew leaving City fans hoping the alleged new forward arriving this week can score goals.

Man of the Match
1st: Zane Westbrook: A Tom Bayliss tribute act
2nd Bright Enobakhare: Another impressive performance
3rd Dujon Sterling: Put in a series of great crosses

Plymouth Argyle Vs Coventry City


Set off in Jimbo’s minibus for my 7th trip to far away Plymouth and Home Park. Got there with over an hour to spare and entered the ground. After encountering freezing weather in Cov and on and off rain on the way down we were greeted with warm sunshine in the ground coming over the demolished stand. Willis was either injured in the warm-up or failed a fitness test because he didn’t start instead in came Davies for his first game of the year, the rest of the side playing a 4-3-1-1 formation was Burge in goal, Grimmer, Hyam and Mason made up the rest of the back four, Thomas, Bayliss, Kelly in the middle with Enobakhare just behind Chaplin up front. Rob was in the ground and stood next to him. Devon radio described City as “Formidable opponents”, quite an accolade for a mid-table side.

City attacked the far end in the first half and started off on the front foot. After five minutes Enobakhare forced the keeper into a save a minute later the same player had a shot blocked. It was mostly City but Burge did have to catch one on target before a counter-attack leaving Enobakhare to volley a fierce shot on target almost taking the head off a defender on the way. City were now well on top with Kelly ruling midfield and Bayliss passing well. Kelly then played in Thomas whose shot was blocked. Both sides won corners but it was still City on top but needed a goal (said that a few times this season). Kelly was next was next to have a shot and was kept out by their keeper. At the back Mason had to be alert to cut out a counter attack by Plymouth. A great ball by Kelly sent Chaplin clear of the defenders but their keeper was quickly out and did enough. Chaplin then forced the keeper into another save before a real good save kept out Hiwula. Play was stopped after that for treatment for Davies thankfully he recovered as we couldn’t afford another central defender getting injured. After that Plymouth got more into the game and started to look dangerous but the half ended all square.

The second half City attacked toward us in the stand. Enobakhare was fouled again testament to his performance. Burge saved at the other end but it was still mostly City. Yet again Enobakhare was fouled resulting in another yellow card and a free kick for City, Chaplin stood to take it and placed in the top right hand corner of the goal, their keeper got a hand to it but it was just too good of a free kick and we took the lead. Chaplin celebrated his 7th goal for us that may win goal of the season. Plymouth started to get forward more and push City back. First sub then came on as Clarke-Harris replaced Hiwula meaning Enobakhare had to switch to the wing and City lost something to the game. At the other end the Pilgrims kept the pressure on and former City player Lameiras was allowed to turn and fired past Burge to level the game up. Minutes later Lameiras skipped past Mason and fired in a shot that may have taken a deflection and Plymouth were in the lead. This was hard on City. City kept going and Hiwula swung in a cross and Chaplin headed it but their keeper was right in front of the forward and caught the cross. City made another change as off went a fading Bayliss and Westbrook came on for his first game of the year. A fan behind us was ejected trouble was he was one of our minibus party! Chaplin then found room but fired across the face of goal. McCallum replaced Mason which seems pointless then the last action saw Chaplin went one-on-one with the keeper again, the keeper just about got to the ball but was injured. After a re-start the ref blew for full time and an undeserved defeat. The Plymouth defenders went straight to their keeper to congratulate him after keeping City out.

After getting our fellow traveller from the police van the local Cov copper walked back with us to the minibus before we started the long journey home.

Man of the match
1st Bright Enobakhare: Played well and looks suited to the deep forward role
2nd Liam Kelly: Ran midfield
3rd Brandon Mason: The pick of the defenders

Coventry City vs. AFC Wimbledon

City had two new debutants today with Sam McCallum making his first start after coming off the bench a few times and a player called Bright Enobakhare a winger signed on loan from Wolves. The rest of the team was Burge in goal with Sterling, Willis, Hyam making up the rest of the defence, in midfield we also had, Thomas, Kelly and Bayliss with Hiwula and Chaplin up front. Wimbledon are bottom of the table as another five figure crowd turned up on a mild Saturday.

First action saw the visitors win a corner, in came in Burge got a hand on it but then the defenders failed to clear and Jervis knocked the ball home to give them the lead. “It was like Yeovil all over again”, I heard myself say. City soon got back into the game and started to dominate and soon carved out the first chance when a good effort from Hiwula was blocked. Meanwhile Bayliss was spraying the ball around well in midfield and he nearly scored but another good blocked prevented a possible goal. As City went forward Wimbledon were happy to counter attack and just before the quarter of an hour mark they were unlucky when they hit the crossbar. Minutes later Kelly forced his way into the area and forced their keeper to tip the ball over the bar. Another good move involving Bayliss set up Thomas but he blasted well over the bar. With City in control of midfield thanks to Kelly, City kept pressing and this time it was Hiwula who had a shot that was saved. The pressure was kept on but Wimbledon were defending in numbers and getting good blocks in as another shot hit the leg of a Dons’ player. Always the big danger was the counter and another raid forced Burge to push a shot away. It was still almost totally City as Kelly blasted one high but just before half time another great move and Sterling found himself in the box but the fullback blast4ed high.

The same pattern continued in the second half with Wimbledon defending for dear life as yet again they got a block on an on-target shot this time from Bayliss. City were still pressing with Thomas a danger down the wing ably supported by Sterling. Then just after the hour mark the two combined leaving Thomas to shot a Wimbledon player got a block on the shot but no enough as it spun past the keeper to level the game up. Changes was then made off went Bright on a dull debut, Hiwula switched wide and Clarke-Harris went up front. Minutes later Chaplin went down in the box looking like he was pulled to ground but the ref gave it the other way. Connor Chaplin without a shadow of the doubt is the weak link in the side as he struggles to hold onto the ball but he did improve with J C-H on the field. To give them credit Wimbledon now started to go forward more and not trying to hold out for a point. Thomas then had a shot with time counting down. At the other end Burge was forced into a save. Late in the game it was City that counter attacked and a ball saw Bayliss go clean through with only the keeper to beat he drew him out and slid in Hiwula but the player incredibly with almost an empty net to fire in stumbled over the ball, he managed to untangling him self and played in Bayliss whose shot was blocked and went back to Hiwula who put his shot wide, this has to be the worse miss I have ever saw watching football. Jack Grimmer came on as sub for the first time since being at City for his first game of the year. Five minutes into injury time and Kelly had a crack from outside the area and smacked the crossbar before the game ended in a disappointing draw.

Man of the Match
1st Tom Bayliss: Some great passing
2nd Liam Kelly: Controlled midfield
3rd Luke Thomas: Constant danger

Scunthorpe United Vs Coventry City

So today was a real end of an era after 18 and a half years of taking myself, Kev and Rach and later Lisa, up and down the motorways following City this was the last time we would climb into Paul’s car for the trip. It was a quick trip up the motorway and after a meal we entered Scunthorpe who play in the oldest, newest ground in Britain. As normal at this time of year the transfer deadline made up a few rumours, with Leeds rumoured to be in for Burge and worries about Willis and Davies. Meanwhile in the real world City had signed Declan Drysdale a defender for the U23 squad and signed Chaplin on a three and a half year deal. The line up for the game was Burge in goal with Stirling, Willis, Hyam and Mason at the back, Thomas, Doyle, Bayliss and Shipley in midfield with Hiwula and Chaplin up front. United had Wembley scorer George Thomas in their side.

Scunthorpe on the back of two wins were they have gone more direct didn’t disappoint and played it long from the off and just put a header wide. Shipley then hit the deck with a possible elbow but the ref missed that like he would miss most things. Then Luke Thomas went down and didn’t look good until he quickly recovered. City won a couple of early corners. It was The Irons that were looking the better side with George Thomas looking dangerous and receiving plenty of abuse from the City fans. United kept up the pressure when George Thomas played in debutant McMahon but he shot at Burge. At the other end Hiwula fired wide. City were struggling to get forward and the front two looked isolated. There were a few attempts from both sides without the keepers being called into action before Burge saved from George Thomas. United were winning the physical battle at their back and we needed a more physical presents up front. Half time came and we were pleased it was still 0-0.

Too a little surprise the manager was on the same wavelength and replaced Hiwula with Clarke-Harris. City now attacking the end were the away fans were started to play better with J.C-H a focal point. Luke Thomas then went on a run before shooting narrowly wide. City won several corners and from one they just about scrambled it away. City continued to put pressure on their goal as Shipley had a shot. Sometimes your luck is not in and this was proven when United went on the attack and Perch had a shot that took a big deflection past Burge to give them the lead. City continued to press and from a corner the ball fell to Clarke-Harris outside the area but his shot had the keeper panicking as it nearly sneaked under the bar. Chaplin then missed a good chance when he fired wide. City still trying to build then lost possession and the home side took advantage with Sutton firing in to make it two. MR made a double swap with McCallum replacing Mason and Allassani coming on for the first time this year replacing Doyle. City soon won a corner as Bayliss fired from outside the area their keeper couldn’t hold it and two defenders failed to clear leaving Chaplin to nip in and nod himself top of the league scoring charts for City. J C-H was then dragged down outside the area as a defender had both hands on his shoulders, nothing given before Bayliss went into the book. City kept up the pressure but Scunthorpe held out for the win.

A quick journey back to round off the end of the era and to say goodbye to Paul (I will see him next week as he is still going to home games)

Man of the match
1st Dominic Hyam: Another good display
2nd Jonson Clarke-Harris Turned the game
3rd Brandon Mason Played well.

Wycombe Wanderers Vs Coventry City

So I set off as driver down to Wycombe for the 4th ever league clash between the sides and so far we had won the previous three. We had memories of the last game here last season when the temperature reached minus ten at the end of the game. In the ground despite one kiosk running out of pies there was a good atmosphere. The team news for the first game of the season was in goal Burge, with Stirling, Willis, Hyam and Mason in defence, in midfield we had Thomas, Kelly, Shipley and Bayliss up front was Hiwula and Chaplin.

Wycombe attacked our end first and started the better pushing us back. It was their forward Nathan Tyson who had their first chance but he put the ball well wide. Burge then had his first save as City struggled to get forward. City finally started to get going with some prompting by Shipley. City won a corner but Shipley fired over. City now seemed to find their feet as Shipley and Kelly started to get the ball allowing Thomas and Bayliss to use their skills. Burge had another easy catch at the other end Thomas was brought down and from the free kick there was a mad scramble but somehow the ball ended up in the hands of former City keeper Allsop. City were defending well with Hyam winning everything. Chaplin was then brought down resulting in a yellow card for the defender. City now were on top before Thomas fired just wide. Just after the half hour mark Thomas played in Stirling in the area, Tyson panicked diving in like a forward and brought down the defender, penalty! Chaplin took the kick sending the wrong way and gave us the lead. In the post conference the forward said he took advice from his 7-year-old brother on how to score penalties. City now coasting with a goal lead as both Shipley and Stirling having shots blocked and Wycombe didn’t seem to know how to break us down. Half time City on top things looking good inside the scenic Adam’s Park.

City now attacking the massed ranks of away fans had the first chance as Hiwula finally had a chance running at a defender he skinned him, got behind him and squared the ball to Chaplin, he made good contact but with Allsop beating Wanderers’ defender Coelho-Jombati got a foot to it and deflected it for a corner. Big Akinfenwa was warming up but it was Mark Robins who acted first. He took off Hiwula and brought on Clarke-Harris. Now I thought he did this to be ready for Akinfenwa coming on because JCH marks him from set pieces. Clarke-Harris is a forward and he showed why when he latched onto a great Bayliss through-ball, the sub advanced on the keeper and coolly beat him to make it 2-0. It was his 10th goal for the club and the first as a sub. The giant Akinfenwa then came on and moved straight into the back pocket of Willis, as normal. Thomas was a handful as normal and forced a save. For the last 15 minutes Doyle replaced Chaplin to see the game out. City in total control but it was worrying to see Kelly go down; he had to go off and was replaced by McCallum. As the game headed towards the end Burge saved from Akinfenwa. In the 88th minute Clarke-Harris got past Stewart and was pushed down, looked a clear penalty but the referee decided not to give it. We had seven minutes of injury time which we saw it out without any difficulties for another win.

Man of the match
1st Tom Bayliss: Classy
2nd Dominic Hyam: Won everything
3rd Jordan Shipley: Best game of the season

Coventry City Vs Southend United

So the last game of the year as we welcomed Southend to the Ricoh and a surprise in the City line up as Zane Westbrooke made his league debut. City sneaked at win at Roots Hall with a deflected Jones goal earlier in the season so we were looking at another double. United and City are only separated by goal difference so a close game was on the cards. The rest of the City line up Burge entering the top 15 in appearances for City keepers since we were formed, Sterling, Willis, Hyam and Mason at the back the other three midfielders were Kelly, Bayliss and Shipley with Chaplin up front with Hiwula.

The Shrimpers look more direct than Charlton as the game got underway. The away were pushing City back as we couldn’t get started. Meanwhile the ref was annoying many by not giving decisions to City but to Southend. Despite this the game was pretty dull. Southend won the first corner which they headed wide. City finally started to get forward as a Chaplin shot was blocked. After hour an hour the ref finally gave us something a free kick, Westbrooke took it and took it well picking out Chaplin totally unmarked in the box but typically he volley it wide. There was still not much happening in the game until late on in the half when Chaplin cut into the box and curved one past the post. Half time no goals

The second half could only get better and Bayliss had the honour of the first shot on target but straight at their keeper. After two yellow cards for Southend things finally got interesting as Bayliss played a great ball to Hiwula in the area, the forward had sneaked in behind the defenders but was on side and coolly placed the ball past the keeper for his second goal in two games since he had been played down the middle. This also put him as top scorer in the league. Shipley then had to go off with an injury and was replaced by Clarke-Harris. City looked secure with a goal lead as the game went on. Willis got a shot on target. Then a chance for Southend as Cox found room but blazed his shot wide. MR decided on the changes off went Westbrooke after an encouraging debut and on came Doyle for his first sub appearance since 2010, and then Mason went off and was replaced by Sam McCallum another player making his league debut. As the game headed towards the end and injury time Southend won a series of corners and in added time in added time officially the 100th minute managed to get on target, seconds later the ref blew for a win.

Man of the match
1st Dujon Sterling: Improving all the time
2nd Zane Westbrooke an encouraging debut
3rd Dominic Hyam Defended well

Coventry City Vs Charlton Athletic


Finally with Peak Period over at work I can get back to watching football as I have missed five games and we lost them all, avoid defeat today and I would be very smug. Athletic are going well in the league in 4th place and we somehow beat them at their place. The boss put out a team that finally saw Hiwula playing down the middle but on his own as Chaplin was deployed wide along with Thomas, Kelly, Shipley and Bayliss in the middle with the back four of Sterling, Hyam, Willis and Mason, Burge was playing his 120th league game for City.

It was a mild Boxing Day as a bigger than normal crowd turned up to see the festive game. The Jimmy Hill banner in the empty stand had to be taken away because of damage before the game got underway. I was interested to see if City were as poor as everyone was saying in the last five or so games? It didn’t look it early on as City got forward and won a couple of corners. Chaplin then fired wide as City were looking lively. The Addicks main danger was forward Lyle Taylor but the defenders were looking to keep an eye on him. Both City fullbacks were playing well and getting forward when necessary. Sterling managed to win a corner that Willis headed over as City were looking the better side. At the other end a rare attack saw Charlton head a corner over as well. As normal it was Thomas that was looking City’s best hope and one run had him shooting into the side netting. At the other end forward Ajose had a great chance in the box but Sterling got a cross and put in a great block tackle to prevent a shot. So far I had notice that Hiwula had hardly a touch as no City player seem to what to pass to him. Then out of the blue a badly timed passed felll to the forward he raced towards goal and round a defender before being brought down in the “D”, the ref got it right with the award of a free kick and a booking. Chaplin stepped up to take it and opted for power and blasted on target that must of hurt the Charlton keeper’s hands as he pushed it over the bar. The City players were working hard all over the pitch. City were still probing but Athletic were resolute. Then a chance for the away side as a cross came in Taylor got his head to it but Burge dove to his left to push the ball away and it was cleared. City went forward again with Mason exchanging passes with Kelly the fullback got forward he found Shipley who play Chaplin in the box, the little forward turned on the edge of the six-yard-box and chipped up a cross and Hiwula flicked a header past the keeper and into the net to give City the lead. City got to half time with a deserved lead.

The second half started as Charlton got forward more and Taylor escaped down the wing but Mason didn’t let him get passed and picked up a yellow card no one could argue about from a referee who ran the game well. Minutes later Burge was forced to save with his foot as The Addicks tried to turn up the pressure. Charlton picked up another yellow card for a foul on Chaplin. Their boss, Lee Bowyer made a change bringing on the former City winger, Mark Marshall to run at the already booked Mason. City kept playing well with Thomas running with the ball and Sterling getting up and down to great effect. But minutes after coming on Marshall floated a free kick into the area, City failed to clear and Pratley headed home. City made a change then with Clarke-Harris replacing Shipley, Hiwula moved wide. The game could now go either way as Thomas shot wide after being set up by Bayliss before Clarke-Harris had a shot blocked. City then had an attack and Clarke-Harris was getting by Pearce but the defender rugby tackled him to the ground he was lucky there was another away defender behind him otherwise the yellow card would have been a red. Marshall at the other end had a shot blocked before Mason limped off and was replaced by Brown. Thomas again wriggled free in the area but the keeper had no trouble in saving his shot. With time running out a frustrated Taylor was lucky to stay on the pitch after he hacked down Thomas. Both sides kept plugging away and with a minute to go Thomas ran at the defenders again and played in Bayliss, the midfilder got to the ball and steered it beyond the keeper to give City the lead back. Now City had five minutes to hang on, a two minutes into that Thomas flung himself into a fare tackle but bother players came off badly, the Charlton player had his head banged and had to go off reducing them to ten men whilst Thomas went off on a stretcher with a badly gashed head, Tom Davies replaced him as City saw out the time to end the run of nine games without a win and for me to wonder what was all the fuss about City’s bad form they played well today and yes I am in a smug mood.

Man of the match
1st Dujon Sterling: Best game so far
2nd Brandon Mason: First game for a while looked class
3rd Luke Thomas Hoping we can extend his loan.

Coventry City Vs Peterborough United


So it was Good Friday, no need to tell me working at Amazon we shifted enough products to keep other British and European warehouses stocked up. After the shift it was a cycle home, get something to eat and cycle to the Ricoh for the game. It was also announced that City didn’t have an option of playing anywhere else and the Football League said ground share was out of the question. On to the game and MR kept an unchanged side after the Burton game (which I missed because of Black Friday) the line up was Burge in goal, Grimmer, Willis, Hyam and Brown at the back, Hiwula, Doyle, Bayliss and Thomas in midfield an Chaplin and Clarke-Harris up front. Tonight we were facing Nasty Steve Evans’ Peterborough.

As true to form a Steve Evans’ team was physically big but it was City who won the first corner that came to nothing. The Posh were pressing City and sometimes the passing game can come unstuck as City lost the ball and United swept forward for a great chance but Grimmer raced in for a great block tackle to prevent a shot. Thomas, as normal with City looked the main danger as he had a shot blocked. Then Grimmer did well to get behind his fullback and put in a cross that was cleared. At the other end Toney, the man with a bun on his head, his hairstyle looked like that anyway, had their first shot but it went well wide. City’s approach play was good but the shooting was pretty poor as Bayliss fired high. United have only lost on the road in the League once this season and it easy to see wide, defend well and get the ball forward to some good players but thankfully their shooting was almost as poor as City’s as Burge had an easy catch from a shot. At the other end another good move saw Hiwula shoot wide before Bayliss had a shot blocked. JCH was working hard up front winning most of his headers. JCH then had a shot on target as the game was even with City looking the better side but the visitors looking the more dangerous. A Peterborough player, Tafazoli was first into the book for a foul but somehow Toney escaped minutes later with a similar foul on Bayliss. On the half hour mark Burge was forced into a good save blocking at his near post and a minute later Hiwula again drove wide after a good move. The away side were looking increasingly dangerous but their finishing was poor or Burge was there to stop them. Chaplin got into the book for something only the ref saw. The away side came close again as Burge was forced to punch under pressure and in the scramble came out to push the ball away from a visiting player. Our main dangers still came from Thomas and Bayliss but Hiwula and Chaplin were looking poor. Half time no goals.

In the second half Peterborough won a corner but City counter attacked leaving Thomas running half the length of the pitch but he fired just wide of the keeper’s left hand post. Another player for Peterborough went into the book as Clarke-Harris was brought down. The forward then fired wide before a penalty appeal as it was claimed Thomas was pushed in the box. City now were playing a lot better but lacked the killer ball or overplayed things too much. The ref then stopped the game and to the delight of the home went over and showed Steve Evans a yellow card for being Steve Evans, who spent the game shouting at the officials from the touchline disputing every decision. Their forward Toney then had two efforts go well wide as both teams found it hard to get shots on target. MR then finally made a sub taking off Hiwula, who was poor and bringing on Jones. Then Thomas accidentally collided with a Peterborough play and with both down the ref continued with the game as the ball went to Jones he twisted and went to ground holding his knee. We all feared the worse but Jones walked off and was replaced by Bakayoko. Ivan Toney then missed a sitter before Grimmer found room and fired in a goal-bound effort that was blocked by a defender. With the fans around me saying a point wouldn’t be too bad, Doyle gave the ball away and Toney was played in, this time there was no mistake as he beat Burge to give them the lead and all three points at the death or so we thought, straight from the kick off Brown got the ball and played it long to Bakayoko, Chaplin went for his knock-on forcing a poor clearance, the ball went back to Bakayoko who coolly lobed it back in the centre of the area were Chapin was waiting to drive it home for a goal and parity. City now looked for a winner but Bayliss fired high before we saw out two corners and settled for a point.

Man of the match
1st Luke Thomas: Running away with Player of the Season
2nd Jonson Clarke-Harris Worked hard up front
3rd Tom Bayliss: His best game for a while.

Walsall Vs Coventry City


A short trip for the F.A Cup and 55 minutes after pulling out of my garage I park up near Walsall’s ground. We had a change in formation for this game as the manager went for 4-5-1. In goal Burge, in defence was Thompson, Willis, Hyam and the returning Mason, in midfield we had, Shipley, Doyle, Ogogo, Thomas and former Walsall player Hiwula with Clarke-Harris up front.

The City fans outnumbered the home fans as the game got underway after a minutes silence for Armistice Day. The Sky Blues started well when Shipley played in Clarke-Harris, I was willing him to shot as he ran towards the area but delayed and a defender got the ball off him, minutes later a similar story as Clarke-Harris had a chance but delayed his shot. Shipley then got a shot on target. City were looking on top with JCH looking dangerous and Ogogo and Doyle controlling midfield so it came as a shock when in their first attack they scored when they were given too much room in defence allowing Cook to beat Burge to give them the lead. City almost made the perfect reply as Clarke-Harris forced a save from their keeper. It was still mostly City as Ogogo had a shot. At the other end Walsall went down the wing and Thompson tried to deal with it but the ball bounced so he tried to head it back to Burge but he under hit it and Ginnelly nipped in and beat Burge it was a bad goal to concede and again the Walsall players goaded the City fans behind the goal cupping their ears. We were socked two bad pieces of defending gave them a two goal lead. Minutes later their keeper cleared a ball but JCH stuck his leg out and blocked it outside the area this gave him a free run in on goal and as I was saying “he must score”, he did and City were back in the game. One lad aged about ten was dragged off the pitch by the stewards and taken away! Walsall were all too happy to hit the deck and get away with it. City still looking the better side saw the half out with only a goal behind.

City started the better in the second half with Thomas having a shot blocked and Hiwula going down in the area with appeals for a penalty. Ten minutes into the half JCH did well in the build up as the ball fell to Thomas he hit it first time and that beat the keeper to make it 2-2. City fans invaded the pitch and Thomas ran cupping both his ears mocking the Walsall’s player’s celebrations. Just before kick off the ref incredibly booked Thomas like it was his fault the fans got onto the pitch. The P.A announced the game could be abandoned if any more fans got onto the pitch. Shipley soon joined Thomas in the book but this time it was a worthy yellow card. The Saddlers responded well to the leveller and one header looked harmless until it dipped and hit Burge’s bar. The boss then made a double swap replacing Thomas and Ogogo with Jones and Bayliss. City seemed to have lost the way after the goal but kept level when somehow Burge kept a shot out and a mad scramble City players managed to keep it level. With 13 minutes left it was Hiwula who gave the ball away, Walsall attacked leaving Devlin to finish well to give them the lead back. City struggled to get the ball as Walsall time-wasted at every opportunity including every time they won a throw in one of their players threw the ball into the crowd and got away with it. Chaplin came on to replace Shipley. Finally a Walsall player was booked for time wasting but City could mount any serious attack and the F.A Cup run ended early this season.

Back there in a couple of weeks for a far more important game.

Man of the Match
1st: Jonson Clarke-Harris: Caused trouble all day
2nd: Michael Doyle: Only four players have played more F.A Cup games for City then him
3rd Luke Thomas: Scored a good goal

Coventry City Vs Accrington Stanley

Tuesday, I was off, Thursday we were in work for Saturday but an announcement the next day, Friday we were still in work, 75 minutes before the end of the day coming in Saturday was voluntary, so I said “no thanks”.

It was a very mild day for November as I made my way to the ground. Today we were facing last season’s League Two champs that did the double over us with two narrow victories were they looked by far the better side. One big difference between the two sides is, somehow they kept their top soccer Billy Kee whilst ours McNulty had left the club despite Kee scoring more league goals. With two players out from the winning run MR was forced into changes in came Abu Ogogo in midfield and making his first league start was Jordan Thompson playing at right back. The rest of the team was in goal Burge, with Brown, Davies and Willis making up the rest of the defence, Hiwula, Doyle and Thomas the rest of midfield and Clarke-Harris and Chaplin up front. Another five-figure crowd come to see if City could win six league games in a row in a single season for the first time ever. Stanley were above City on goals scored only so it looked close.

We haven’t got the monopoly on players called Jordan, as their one called Clarke, but not the one that played for us, went close after eleven minutes. Willis was next to have a chance but header over. It was pretty even stuff with City, maybe just shading it. One good attack saw the ball come in from Thomas and Chaplin looped in a header, their keeper had to back-peddle but managed to push the ball over the bar. Michael Doyle was then hacked down but no action taken by the ref in game that on the whole was played fairly by both sides. With both sides looking solid suddenly there was slip up in the City defence and Clarke had a free shot but clipped the crossbar when he should have scored. One of our own Jordans (Thompson) wasn’t looking out of place despite being our 3rd choice right back. Luke Thomas was starting to get more into the game and one of their players was lucky not to be booked when he tried to bust through the centre. Half time came with no goals in a game where the first to score would in all likelihood win the game.

The second half Stanley stepped up a gear and pushed City back; pretty soon it was a siege and reminded me of the Doncaster game without the two goal cushion. They won a series of corners as City struggled to get out of our own half. Burge did well to come off his line on a couple of occasions as the defence was holding firm with Brown winning the ball against a far taller opponent. Burge pulled off a good save from Kee was the pressure mounted. It was almost inevitable that Stanley would score and it came in the 56th minute when Zanzala got the ball in the area and beat Burge, it was very similar to the goal we conceded against Doncaster. As often when teams score they tend to sit back more, this allowed City to go forward and Thomas almost replied immediately forcing the keeper into a save. It was now more City but Stanley were defending well. Watching Accrington play must be like other teams watching City, very similar sides. The crowd were now getting behind City more as we pushed on and Thomas forced the keeper into another save. Finally some subs were sent on, off came Chaplin after a disappointing game and on came Jones, Hiwula switched up front, next was a surprising move with one holding midfielder replacing another as Kelly came on for Ogogo. City were still knocking on the door as Hiwula had a shot deflected over the bar. To be fair Kelly made a difference as he gave City more control of midfield. Doyle wasn’t having the best of games giving the ball away with some sloppy passing. Fans wanted Bakayoko on but the manager rarely uses all three subs. City kept plugging away into the last ten minutes but Accrington looked like they would hold out until three minutes of normal time left when Jones cut in and fired in a shot, their keeper parried it and of all people Doyle was first to the ball to tap home for his 24th league goal for the team. Now the game could go either way as Clarke-Harris had a shot blocked and Burge did well to keep out a shot and we were happy to settle for a point, an improvement on last season’s encounters with them.

Man of the match
1st Luke Thomas: Constant danger
2nd Junior Brown: Played well
3rd Lee Burge: Important saves.

Coventry City Vs Doncaster Rovers


So on a wet day I turned up to see if City could record our fifth straight league win in a row in a single season which would make it a joint best record. Today’s team was in goal Burge with Sterling, Willis, Davies and Brown at the back, Thomas, Doyle, Bayliss and Hiwula in midfield leaving Clarke-Harris and Chaplin up front. Doncaster came to the game just one place above the Sky Blues.

The crowds are slowly increasing at the ground as just over 11,000 turned up to see the game and the first action saw Doyle having a shot pushed over the bar. Doncaster had their first shot on target but a simple catch for Burge. The ref got his book out for the first time and booked Herbie Kane of Rovers for kicking the ball away after a throw in that City should have taken apart from that the game was played in a good spirit from both teams. City have started to gain a reputation from being dangerous from set-plays and we nearly got another one as Doyle aimed in a corner and Davies got his head to it only for their keeper, Marosi to pull off a great save to keep the scores level. After twenty minutes City won a free kick that Doyle sent in but the ball wasn’t cleared too far and Hiwula latched on to it to swept it into the net to give us the lead and put him top goal scorer in all competitions. Amazingly it was our first league goal scored at home in the first half this season. Now Doncaster started to get their foot on the ball and pass it around but City were as normal looking organised and were refusing to let them have too much time on the ball with everybody working hard. City still looked dangerous on the break as Clarke-Harris had a shot on target. Rovers were looking a good side but were struggling to break City down meanwhile City looked more likely to score as Thomas had a shot on target. They went close but City should have made it two when a corner came over and Willis had a chance but missed from close in. It was then Clarke-Harris’ turn to put one wide. City had another corner and it was deflected out to Thomas outside the area the loan player found a place before blasting it past the keeper for a well deserved first goal for the club, he raced straight over to Mark Robins to celebrate. Half time City two up and looking good.

The second half saw almost total dominance by Doncaster as they kept the ball and tried to pick their way through the defence but everyone was working hard with Willis and Davies winning things at the back but Brown seemed the most likely to make a slip up. City were looking comfortable at so Doncaster made a double substitution followed by City going more defensive by taking off Bayliss and replacing him with Kelly. After surviving two corners a ball was played into the City area and Wright first touch was good leaving him room to fire past Burge to get us all nervous again. City them seemed to sit even deeper as Chaplin went off and was replaced by Jones. It was attack vs. defence, could City hold out? City always looked dangerous on the counter attack and in one such attack Jones fired over. Then MR decided to “shut up shop” by replacing Hiwula with Ogogo, giving City little way back if they scored. It nearly all being Rovers it was a good game as City messed up a couple of counter attacks. Willis then forced the keeper into a save before the game entered injury time in the last seconds Burge pulled off a save but the ball was directed back towards an empty net before Brown appeared and hacked the ball off the line to secure the magical 5th league win in a row.

Man of the match
1st Jordan Willis: Won everything at the back
2nd Luke Thomas: Worked hard down the wing and finally scored
3rd Michael Doyle: The very type of player we needed in this game


Sadly this will be my last Saturday game until December as we have to work an extra day at work. Seven weeks ago I got a job at Amazon warehouse in Coventry and they set Saturday as the compulsory overtime for my shift despite me trying to change to Sunday.

Bradford City Vs Coventry City


When it dawned on me a week or so ago I have never seen us win at Bradford I decided to take a day off work to witness this. With only Kev and myself going from the normal crowd it was decided to take what I call the “booze cruise”. A coach that stops off at a town so we can have a drink or two we stopped in the Carding Capitol of the World, Cleckheaton and had unlimited refills for two cups of coffee for £2.50. We arrived at Valley Parade and was housed in a different stand from normal. The end stand that was always uncomfortably too small when going to the loo or queuing for a drink was not open and we were in the better section of the side stand that I accidentally entered once when it was full of Bradford fans!. This game was a real banana skin as Bradford sat one from bottom of League One and had to be the worst Bradford team I have seen us play. The team news was in goal Burge, with Sterling, Hyam, Davies and Brown at the back, Chaplin and Clarke-Harris up front with Thomas, Bayliss and former Bradford player Hiwula in midfield.

City won a corner in the opening minute and Doyle swung it deep into the area, it was headed back and flicked on by Hiwula and straight to Clarke-Harris who nodded home for a first minute goal rather than a late one, a great start and a blow to Bradford. City kept the momentum going and after eight minutes a cross went in and Clarke-Harris again got free of his marker and it looked a certain goal until their keeper, O’Donnell pulled off a brilliant save pushing the ball onto the post resulting in JCH shaking the keeper’s hand for the save. The home side looked extremely poor against a City defence some could argue was missing three first team players. City kept going forward until Hiwula was brought down on the edge of the box, up stepped Chaplin to swerve the ball over the wall and into the net for two-nil. We couldn’t believe what was going on City were steamrollering the opposition. Bradford tried to hit back but City were working hard as the home team claimed for a penalty but Chaplin’s sliding tackle was clearly on the ball but a minute later it was a closer call for a Brown tackle. City were more than happy to sit back and soak up the pressure or the little a poor Bantams side could produce. It took the half an hour to get a shot on target but straight at Burge from distance. At the other end they were struggling to contain Clarke-Harris as he got a header on target. The best move of the night so far was started by Burge and ended when Sterling break through and smacked a shot across the goal. The Bradford defender was booked for another foul this time on Thomas. The home side applied pressure near the end of the 1st half winning a free kick that was cleared over the bar by a City defender before the ref blew for the interval.

City started the second half with a corner from Doyle that had so much curve on it; it almost crept in off the far post. City fans, not surprisingly were in good voice with a long rendition of “CCFC the team for me”. City continued to coast the game as Clarke-Harris again got a header in that the keeper did well to keep out with his foot. Davies then went into the book as he stopped a break-a-way. Just after the hour mark the ball was played into the area and defender O’Connor got a touch to it this was enough to send it over Burge and to put them back in the game. Hiwula had a shot go wide before Bayliss also went into the ref’s notebook. Then with Bradford pushing on City caught them with a sucker-punch with Chaplin playing a great ball to release Hiwula down the left, the player raced into the box and slide the ball past the keeper for 3-1. “He left you because you are s*it” we sang to the Bradford fans, which is a bit harsh because he was only there on loan. That was the player’s last contribution to the game as he was replaced by Jones. Bradford went forward again when Miller clearly dived past Brown; normally refs wave play on or do nothing but this ref rightly booked the player for diving. Then it got better as Thomas passed to Bayliss and the midfielder ran at them and kept going until he picked out the bottom corner of the net for 4-1, very similar to a goal he scored at Notts County. The Bradford started to leave en masse resulting in some fans singing “is there a fire drill”, the only ground were that song is unacceptable the fans realised this and stopped singing it. Our manager, Mark Robins doesn’t seem to like players scoring because Bayliss was the next sub and was replaced by Kelly. With only twelve minutes to go Bradford had a free kick and it was delivered into the area and O’Connor connected with a great shot to knock the ball off the underside of the crossbar to make it 4-2. Jones had one saved before another Bradford player went into the book for a bad foul. With two minutes left a long throw came into the area and was flicked on, Miller threw himself at it to knock the ball in for 4-3 or so we thought, the ref immediately showed him his second yellow card and he was off. Mass protest from the Bradford players, one was booked for descent but the ref was pointing at his arm indicating the player used that to score. City won another free kick late on and Chaplin sent it over the wall again but this time the keeper got to it. The game ended and we could celebrate our first win at Valley Parade since 1959.

Would have been a perfect night if a good section of the M1 wasn’t closed and we got home an hour later than normal.

Man of the match
1st Jonson Clarke-Harris: Led the line well all night, could have had a hat trick
2nd Connor Chaplin: Worked hard a goal and an assist
3rd Jordy Hiwula: Getting better all the time

Southend United Vs Coventry City


A long distance trip to Essex started off with our traditional breakfast in Lutterworth. A trouble-free trip down saw us arrive in bright and warm sun more like the start of the season than late October. The side was unchanged from the last game with Burge in goal, Sterling, Willis, Davies and Brown at the back, Thomas, Doyle, Bayliss and Hiwula in midfield with Chaplin and Clarke-Harris up front.

A good following the old fashioned barrel shaped roof at least it kept the sun out of our eyes. The Sprimpers got the first shot on target but no trouble for Burge. City got going and won a corner, Doyle took it and it was met by Davies who headed towards goal, the players celebrated but the game went on. The players surrounded the ref claiming the ball crossed the line. It was hard to tell for us from the other end but the ref went over to the linesman but again he didn’t see it. The players thought it was over so did Radio Essex but with no goal line technology it seemed we was robbed and Doyle was booked for protesting. This fired up City and the Sky Blues went forward. City soon won another corner and Doyle took it, he found Clarke-Harris who put the ball in and Hiwula was on hand to poke it home for his first league goal. Southend who are unbeaten in the last five games responded by keeping the ball and passing it well but the defence was solid and they were struggling to break us down. Later a fan on Essex Radio complained that “Coventry came here to win whilst we (Southend) had a negative formation”. Coker went into the book seconds before Davies slid into a challenge that the United players wanted a red card for. Still it was City that looked the more dangerous as Clarke-Harris headed over before Thomas had a shot as well. City were happy to defend and hit them on the break and made it to half time with no trouble.

Second half City attacked the away end in the second half. Thomas was first to have a shot but somehow their keeper Oxley, kept it out. There seemed to be no danger from Southend but we still needed a second goal. Davies then went into the book before Hopper came on for the home side. It was the sub that finally made the breakthrough with a good run into the box and beating Burge with a low angled drive. Now the home side were back into the game and their fans woke up. City could have responded quickly as Clarke-Harris was in the box but couldn’t get his shot away before Chaplin fired it into the side netting. The home side’s number 10, Cox picked up a yellow card before a surprising change as Shipley replaced Hiwula. At the other end Simon Cox fouled again and the ref showed him his second yellow card and he was off. Now Southend decided to shut up shop to go for the draw. City exploited the superior numbers and Sterling knocked in a great cross, Shipley threw himself at it connecting with a diving header but the keeper must have got something on it and put it out for a corner. With six minutes to go another surprising substitution as off went Chaplin, who had a poor game but was replaced by Jones, was City only going one up front against ten men? City kept the pressure up winning some corners before Bakayoko replaced Clarke-Harris with a minute to go. Into injury time and Bayliss picked out Jones with a good pass to Jones he stepped inside and had shot in the area the ball took a deflection or tow before rolling past the keeper to give City yet another late goal. Now Southend threw everything forward and won a free kick near the area the ball was played in and City cleared for a corner. The set piece came in and was deflected straight to their keeper but thankfully like last week the keeper blazed the ball over the bar and City won.


Man of the Match
1st Tom Davies: Solid at the back and should have had a goal to his credit as well
2nd Luke Thomas: A handful
3rd Jordy Hiwula: Finally a league goal

Coventry City Vs Wycombe Wanderers


A day after yet another court defeat for Sisu we had a game at the Ricoh. The visitors were a team we did the double over last season, Wycombe Wanderers. The secret to our success last season was to nullify the man-mountain Akinfenwa, leading their attack. It was a surprisingly mild day as only one change as made to the starting line-up. The full team was in goal Burge with Sterling, Willis, Davies and Brown at the back, Hiwula, Doyle, Bayliss and Thomas in midfield with Clarke-Harris and Chaplin up front. Wanderers had former City keeper Ryan Allsop in goal who looked a very poor keeper in his time at City until he was replaced by a young Lee Burge in goal.

Another 10,000+ crowd saw the game get underway in blustery conditions. The good numbers that came from High Wycombe seemed to prefer to cram into the first couple of rows at their end forcing the P.A system to tell them to take up their own seats “one supporter per seat” it blurted out. The game got underway as City tried to pass the ball whilst Wanderers looked for the big man up front. The first real chance fell to Clarke-Harris after 18 minutes heading a Thomas cross straight to their keeper. The game was pretty level when Hiwula got a run cut in and fired a shot on target but Allsop pulled off a great save tipping the ball over the bar. Wycombe then were forced into a change as one of their players was injured and was replaced by former City midfielder Bryn Morris a player who played 7 games for us in 2015 and not very well. City were doing well at the back with Davies and Willis trying to keep Akinfenwa and Mackail-Smith quiet. City kept the ball moving whilst Wycombe did their best to slow up play something a very poor referee let them get away with. City had another great chance as the ball was pinged into the box and Chaplin, the little forward turned well and got a good shot off into the bottom corner but Allsop got down well and pulled off another good save. Davies wasn’t just defending he also started a few attacks. Clarke-Harris had a shot blocked before Burge was forced into his first real save diving to his left to push a shot around the post. As the half got towards the end the half the referee waved at Allsop to telling to hurry up with his goal kicks. The half ended with Burge saving from Mackail-Smith but no goals for City at home in the league for the eight game in a row stretching back to last season.

City looked better in the second half as Wanderers seemed happy to sit back and try to get the ball up to Akinfenwa whenever possible the trouble was he was being well marshalled and any balls he knocked down were being swept up by the defence. Hiwula was causing all sort of problems out wide and ten minutes into the half cut in but blasted his shot over the bar minutes later he did the same again. City now were pressing the visitors back and in one penalty box scramble the fans appealed for a penalty as a Wycombe defender on all fours seemed to have made contact with the ball with his hand. It was then Thomas turned to have a go but instead of shooting he tried to thread the ball through a sea of legs and it was cleared. The referee’s performance was annoying many as the calls for Bakayoko started. The ref finally produced a yellow cad for a Wycombe player after he upended Chaplin. City then had another chance as the ball fell to Hiwula but instead of swinging his foot at it he passed the chance went, City players were guilty of bad decision making in the area maybe a sign of low confidence. It was Clarke-Harris’ turn then to put one wide as the fans were getting frustrated but still backing the team. Thomas and a Wycombe player were both booked for some shoving. Then we had an incident that drives all fans mad, City won a free kick and yet again a Wycombe player got the ball to stop City taking it, Davies grabbed the ball and their player threw himself to the ground holding his face, the referee who didn’t see what went on had a trot over to his assistant, after chat we all feared a red card for Davies in what looked like a blatant piece of cheating but the linesman saw exactly what went on and took no action, a yellow cad to the Wycombe player for cheating would have been nice. The game was moving on and Wanderers’ tactics of spoiling the game and come for a point seemed to be working as we wanted changes to be made. Into the last ten minutes and Sterling went on the run down the right, he checked inside and then outside again keeping the ball as his marker followed him, near the box he stopped so did his marker before moving again giving him some extra space before knocking in a cross and on the other end Chaplin leapt to head past Allsop to give City a well deserved lead, the players raced over to Dujon to celebrate his assist. JCH had a shot on target as City tried to finish them off. Morris was booked before the manager made a double substitution taking off Bayliss and Hiwula and bringing on Kelly and Bakayoko. Wycombe pushed forward and won a late corner, Allsop raced forward to join the attack; I thought “old players always scored against their old teams” as the set piece fell his way, unmarked he thankfully blasted over the bar. The referee blew up for full time seconds later and we had back-to-back wins.

Man of the Match
1st Tom Davies: Outstanding at the back
2nd Jordan Willis: Yet again solid
3rd: Jordy Hiwula: If he gets his confidence he will score a hatful of goals.

Coventry City Vs Forest Green Rovers


After another full day at work I made my way for the 2nd group game of this season’s Check-a-Trade Trophy. After losing to the Arsenal kids we needed a result tonight against a Forest Green Rovers side that did the double over us last season. Mark Robins made ten changes to the last side but no one was complaining despite the £11 match fee. In goal was O’Brien; in defence was a returning Mason and Hyam along with Morgan Williams a player we signed from Mickleover Sports and Jordan Thompson. In midfield we had youth team graduate Jak Hickman, and the far more established Kelly, Ogogo and Hiwula leaving Andreu (apparently now pronounced Andrew) and Bakayoko. Meanwhile FGR made eight changes but did include Farrend Rawson who played 14 times for us on loan a few seasons back.

FGR are unbeaten in League Two at the moment and reflected that with a following of 80 fans officially but more like half that number. After winning this competition once none of us was that bothered about tonight’s game but after two minutes Hickman played in Hiwula and he curled the ball past their keeper to register his first goal for the club. FGR were not looking too bad with some good passing but they were finding hard to break down the City defence as O’Brien had nothing to do in goal, Hyam made a good clearance or two as the game went on. At the other end Hickman who may have been playing in a back five, was getting forward well as the entertainment on the field was pretty non existent and it had all the feel of a reserves fixture which it was (they should let fans in for free). Rawson, who was sent off in his last game then knocked O’Brien to the ground challenging for the ball before minutes later the keeper had to be quick off his line to close down a forward who fired wide. Half time no more drama.

The second half saw City attacking the “Jimmy Hill” stand and City looked better from the start with Hiwula blazing over. Then a good move saw Bakayoko blast into the side netting. The game was ambling along in the same manager with FGR using the ball well but without look like they could test O’Brien and City improving especially when the ball got to Hiwula out wide and he had the beating of his full back. MR decided to make some changes off went Mason Williams who looks now ready to return to the 1st team squad and on came Chris Camwell for his 5th game for the club in all competitions but the first from the bench, minutes later Hickman went off and was replaced by Jack Burroughs who became the first Millennium (born after 1999) to play for City. The Sky Blues still had chances to kill the game off when a good move saw the ball knocked back to Andreu but he fired high and wide. City were made to pay for the missed chances when a player got to the ball from a free kick to head past O’Brien to level things up. The game came to life a bit after that as both teams looked for a winner as Hiwula was looking more and more dangerous. A final sub was then used as Dexter Walter, a winger we got from Tamworth came on, and he had one real good run beating two or three players before being fouled. This time there was no late drama as the ref blew for full time.

Some fans didn’t realise drawn games are settled with penalties. FGR won the toss and decided to use the goal near were their fans were. The last team City took part in a penalty shoot out in this competition, O’Brien was in goal and we won, at Walsall. One thing has changes since then is the penalty shoot-out system, then we used the A-B-B-A method but that was a little too complicated so we have gone back to the straight forward A-B-A-B system.

Jordy Hiwula took the first kick putting to the keeper’s right but Montgomery in the Forest goal guessed right and saved it, not a great start 0-0.

Next up was Worthington who put it to O’Brien’s right; the trouble was he put it to the right of the post as well 0-0. “We might be here all night”, Paul said.

Bakayoko was next up and he made no mistake 1-0.

Williams then stepped up but O’Brien got it right and pulled off a good save as the ball was smacked down the middle, 1-0.

Chris Camwell stepped up and buried the ball in the top corner of the net 2-0.

The amusingly name Grubb, was next up and he showed his hunger by scoring but O’Brien got his hand to it and almost stopped it. 2-1

Liam Kelly made no mistake from the spot 3-1

Archibald was next if he failed to score City would win but it was not to be as he sent O’Brien the wrong way 3-2

Hyam stepped up to convert and to win the game for City.

We probably need to beat Cheltenham away in the 90 minutes to progress.

Man of the match
1st: Jordy Hiwula: No doubt he was the best player
2nd Jak Hickman: Had a good game
3rd Dominic Hyman: Solid

Charlton Athletic Vs Coventry City


It was a wet day as I walked to the train station to join Kev and Rach for the rail journey down to South East London. An hour later we arrived at Euston. Waiting for us there was the Sitton Brothers who were making their annual trip to watch the City and I had their tickets for them. We ignored a pub and had a drink in a coffee place before catching the tube and train to reach Charlton. It was still raining but thankfully The Valley is fully covered and a short walk to the ground so we didn’t get too wet. The team news was Junior Brown was back thanks to the Sunderland game kicking off before 3 so his mandatory week out for concussion was over. The rest of the team was Burge in goal, Willis, Davies and Sterling making up the rest of the defence. In midfield we had Bayliss, Doyle, Kelly and Thomas, up front was Clarke-Harris and Chaplin.

City attacked the far end in the first half City won an early corner before Thomas put one wide. Athletic were soon looking like a good side lead by the pinked hair Lyle Taylor the forward dyed his hair as he is supporting a cancer charity. The game went on then a great chance for the home side as Burge was beaten but Davies somehow blocked it going in and cleared it. At the other end City had a real chance as the ball was played into Chaplin in the box, his first touch was excellent but his turn and shot wasn’t as he knocked it wide. City were defending well as Charlton were pressuring. The forwards seemed isolated up front before JCH got his first meaningful touch after 20 minutes. A couple of minutes later Kelly went into the book for an earlier foul after a good referee played an advantage. The game continued with City looking solid. The entered injury time were there shouldn’t have been much but forty seconds in Taylor got past Brown, admittedly by grabbing the defender’s shirt and got past, Junior slide in and brought the player down no doubt about the penalty. Taylor took it sending Burge the wrong way to give the home side the lead.

Erik and Neils thought the team lacked passion at half time and Bayliss kept cutting in leaving his flank exposed.

Second half City attacked the mass ranks in the away end. Twist and Shout was booming out from the stand which Charlton later admitted they were enjoying. Nothing was happening so the manager made a double change off went Kelly and Clarke-Harris and on came Hiwula and Bakayoko. The big forward first action was to get a header on target. City were looking a lot better as the ball broke to Bakayoko and he fired a shot on target that was blocked by a defender. The singing was still continuing as Bayliss got a shot on target, “we’ve had a shot on goal”, sang the City fans. This was followed by “1-0 down and we’re still singing”. Taylor was still a handful up front but Davies was doing his best to keep tabs on him keeping City in the game, Burge too was doing well coming off his line and some good punching of the ball. Davies even had an attempt before Bayliss now in the middle had a couple of long range shots. We entered the last ten minutes with City playing better. Then a minute later Sterling got wide and crossed to Hiwula but the player missed a swing at the ball but missed the ball got to Thomas who got beyond his player and drove in a ball and Bakayoko was first to the ball and stabbed it home, we couldn’t believe it and went mad in the stands. Bakayoko blew kisses to the away fans as a celebration. We would definitely settle for a point here. This brought Charlton back to life as Taylor forced Burge into a save before they put one wide with a diving header. A clearly spent Thomas was taken off and replaced by Shipley to see out the game. Three minutes were added on when City attacked down the left, Brown advanced forward and picked out Chaplin, wide, the forward whipped in a great cross and Bakayoko threw himself at it and before he got to the ball the fans were jumping as we could see what was to happen he met it with a great diving header to score the winner, the away end exploded with people being pushed and shoved all over the place, I got hold of Kev to stop him flying too the floor as Bakayoko attempted to get in the other side of the stand to celebrate was well. We saw out the injury time to a memorable win.

The team came over to celebrate at the final whistle lead by Shipley. We couldn’t quite believe we won that one as Charlton fans could believe they lost it. At the station the song to the tune of Sing Hosanna “Give me 20 goals, Bakayoko, playing football in the off-side way” but no second chorus! Got home for 8.30 after a good day out, The Sitton Brothers due to reach home 10 in the morning on Sunday, they are nearly home now.


Man of the match
1st Amadou Bakayoko: What an impact
2nd Tom Davies: Great defending
3rd Lee Burge: Commanded his box

Coventry City Vs Portsmouth

This, for me was a long day starting at about 6.50 a cycle to work at Amazon, ten and a half hour shift, cycle home, some thing to eat before biking it to the ground for the game. Good job I live not too far from work and the Ricoh. Pompey were top and unbeaten our third tough home game in a row. The line up was Burge in goal, recovering from being hit by a puck watching an ice hockey game and moved to 17th place in the all time appearances for a City keeper, Willis, ex-Pompey Davies, ex-Pompey Hyam, Sterling, in midfield were Thomas, ex-Pompey Doyle, Bayliss and Shipley, with Andreu supporting Clarke-Harris up front. Pompey’s manager Kenny Jacket refused us permission for us to play Chaplin and no one could really blame him for this.

Portsmouth started with several long ball before the game settled down and missed the first good chance of the game when Close went nowhere near side-footing a chance wide of Burge’s goal. Davies then raided up field but lost possession and Sterling tripped the player trying to break free, no complaints about the yellow card. Minutes later the card was in uproar when Thomas was flattened with a bad tackle from Naylor the player eventually picking up a card from the referee but from were we were it was hard to see if he booked him at all. City then worked the ball well as Andreu had a chance to blast one, instead he played in JCH had a shot saved as the game was pretty even then Burge save a standard shot at the other end. With the game meandering on suddenly there was a chance as the Portsmouth defenders dithered Clarke-Harris took the opportunity to race on goal but his shot was blocked by their keeper. The game lacked any real excitement as both teams defended well but near the end of the first half a loose ball from Shipley found Doyle in trouble, he lost the ball and it was switched to the edge of the area were Curtis curled it home.

Second half we made a surprising substitution as Hyam went off, Willis switched to the centre and Jordan Thompson came on to make the Jordan count up to three. Hyam meanwhile had concussion. City conceded an early corner but defended it and broke, Thomas had the ball and was threatening to go clear before he was hacked down and Evans was booked. The Derby loanee seemed to be City’s biggest danger as Andreu and Shipley were not having the best of games. Ten minutes into the game it was no surprise when Jones came on and replaced Shipley. Jodi got straight into the action getting a few shots away. Portsmouth were now defending deep and I could see why they are top. Sterling then fouled a player and the glove wearing Pompey winger tried to get him sent off. Final change was made as Hiwula, who I though should have started replaced Andreu. Another Portsmouth player went into the book for another bad foul was City tried in vain to break them down. The leaders were always dangerous on the break with City pushing forward but failed to take advantage. In injury time City won a free kick and Doyle swung it in, Thompson got a shot on target that was saved by the keeper before a mad scramble saw the ball cleared. The ref then blew for full time.

Man of the Match
1st Luke Thomas: Ran at them all night
2nd Jordan Willis: Player of the season so far
3rd Tom Davies: Did well against his old team

Coventry City Vs Sunderland


It has been a while since I can remember such hype in a build up to a league game as this. Despite the early kick off vast hoards of Sunderland fans made the long trip (to them it might be a medium distance trip) boosting the home crowd. MR decided to keep Sterling in the line up and recall Bayliss from injury whilst Burge drew level with the great Reg Matthews in the number of games for City, the rest of the side was Willis, Hyam and Brown at the back, Shipley, Doyle and Thomas in midfield with Clarke-Harris and Chaplin up front. The main team news however was Jodi Jones was back in the squad. For Sunderland had two ex loan players who had contrasting fortunes at City the never to be forgotten Chris Maguire and lets all try to forget Dylan McGeough. The Memorial Garden was boarded up near where I park my bike as threats on social media by so-called Sunderland fans saying they were out to wreck it. The only violence I saw before the game was in the warm up when Chaplin miss hit a shot on goal and the ball smacked into a Sunderland fan the forward went over to see if she was alright.

The game was only a couple of minutes old when Sunderland were forced into a change as a player went down injured. Sunderland have, by far the biggest budget in League One and are firm favourites for promotion. They went forward after eight minutes but Hyam seemed to win the ball near the box, not according to the ref who said it as a foul and booked the defender. The big problem now was it was in shooting range of Maguire the player that scored with two free kicks on his City debut lined up a shot curled around the wall and with Burge beaten the ball cannon off the post and straight to an unmarked Honeyman who had an empty net to fire in but he took the shot first time and put it over the bar. The game was pretty even as City won a corner, it was delivered and both Brown and Clarke-Harris went for it with their head, not surprisingly Brown came off the worse and had to be taken off. Willis switched to right back, Sterling to left and on came Davies to fill the gap. The game got under way again with JCH firing at the keeper as the big forward was proving to be a real handful for the Sunderland defence. The game was competitive as Sunderland won a series of corners all dealt with by the defence. Some were a little too competitive as Cattermole clattered in and somehow avoided a yellow card for a reckless challenge but minutes later he was in the book when the referee dared not to give a decision in Sunderland’s favour. Not much was happening in front of goal but we then had the third enforced change as Sunderland took another player off through injury, three players off none the fault of the opposition. The crowd around me seemed to be making an effort to back Sterling. The game went on with Willis defending well and JCH winning most of his headers as we had eight minutes of injury time which seemed about right. Half time no goals City fans pleased with the performance so far.


Sunderland attacked the end where their fans were in the second half and four minutes into it a ball went across the area and Cattermole was left unmarked and he swept the ball past Burge to give his side the lead. City hit back as Thomas got a header on target before Maguire had a shot blocked. Suddenly the game had come to life but then we should have been level as good work down the left saw JCH slide the ball to Chaplin who had a free shot on target but miss hit his shot and put it wide. Burge saved again. This game could go either way as both teams insisted on playing the ball on the ground as much as possible but it was Clarke-Harris who had the next shot testing the Mackem’s very good keeper before pulling off an even better save from the forward. Bayliss then played a great ball to Thomas who got past the defence but was quickly closed down by their keeper. City kept up the pressure as Sterling ventured forward, he was tackled and the ball ran loose but the Sunderland defenders were not paying attention and Sterling nipped in got the ball back and played in JCH, the forward placed the ball wide of the goal and levelled the game up a very well deserved goal from the forward. Sunderland hit back as a good move saw the ball fall to their number 3, Gooch, he hit a hard drive along the ground that Burge did well to get to and block. Not to be outdone the Sunderland keeper pushed away a long range Chaplin shot. Then in the 77th minute the City fans gave a standing ovation as Jodi Jones returned to action replacing Thomas. It was now all Sunderland as City were struggling to get out of our own half. Then an even better save followed by Burge as the keeper flung himself to his right to keep out a shot and City level. City then should have scored on the counter as Chaplin latched on to a mistake at the back and ran free on goal but again their keeper came out and got a block but the ball was still heading in until a defender got back to clear. Davies had a header over in injury time before the final whistle and we left with mixed emotions a real good performance but a game we could have sneaked.

Man of the Match
1st Johnson Clarke-Harris: Maybe his best game in a City shirt.
2nd Jordan Willis: Excellent as normal
3rd Lee Burge: Some great and vital saves

Bristol Rovers Vs Coventry City


A wet day as we travelled down to Bristol in Paul’s car. Now Bristol has many plus points but the parking is horrendous whether it’s City or Rovers there is never anywhere to park. After a drive around and about a mile from the ground we found a hospital and decided to park in the almost unoccupied car park there. After paying and a trudge through the rain we reached the rugby ground pretending to be a football ground. This ground has seven different roofs but not one over the open away terrace so was going to be a wet day. Last time we was here it was Russell Slade’s second game in charge and we lost 4-1, only Burge and Willis survive from that day. The line up news was Bayliss was missing with an injury so the team was Burge in goal, Sterling, Willis, Hyam and Brown with Thomas, Doyle, Kelly and Shipley in midfield with Clarke-Harris and Chaplin up front.

City attacked the far end in the first half and Willis forced a good save from the keeper. From the corner the ball came out to Shipley who blasted the ball toward the top corner but the keeper somehow got across and pulled off the best save I have seen this season. Thomas then put one wide as City were on top. Then against the run of play Rovers attacked Sterling slipped allowing Reilly through and the unmarked played beat Burge. Now Rovers were on top as the very hairy Sinclair had a shot, Burge saved one before Rovers won a free kick it was swung in and Lockyer was left unmarked and it was 2-0. Sterling was taking the anger of quite a few City fans as the kid’s performance wasn’t the best. Minutes later the ball fell to Ollie Clarke and he blasted it home from distance for 3-0, it was like Yeovil all over again. Mood was not great in the pouring rain. City were rocking but started to steady the ship as we tried to get back in the game. Big cheers went up when the ref finally decided to give us a free kick, Doyle swung it in and Hyam was on the end to head home his first goal for the club. The half time whistle went and the goal stopped the team getting the rocket from the fans.

The second half saw Sterling taken out of the firing-line and replaced by young Jordan Thompson. City were looking a lot better in the second half. Thomas was the main danger down the player has everything a winger needs apart from a final shot. Rovers then made a change and on came a certain Stefan Payne! A player with my name was met with amusement from Kev and Paul chanting “Stefan Payne is a w**ker”, as I berated him for spelling his first name incorrectly and Paul was claiming to the crowd he didn’t know me. City were trying but it was not working so MR made his 2nd change as Andreu replaced Kelly. The sub helped out with his skill on the ball. Then Chaplin broke through but out wide his shot was blocked by the keeper. Then Bakayoko went on but with not too much time left. City kept going as Brown was finding more room down the flanks. Andreu then played Chaplin in who finished coolly only for it to be ruled out for off side and it was very tight. The game ended and we had a soggy trudge back to the car.

Man of the Match
1st Luke Thomas: Dangerous
2nd Jordan Shipley: Forced a top class save
3rd Michael Doyle: Ran his socks off.

Coventry City vs. Barnsley


It does annoy me sometimes when the press say “this team hasn’t won here since …” and give a recent year but Barnsley have not won away against Coventry since 1923! That was the opening game of the 23-24 season and that is a run of 24 league games! Barnsley are one of the pre-season favourites and are unbeaten. No surprises in the line up as Burge was in goal, the back four were Brown, Willis, Hyam and Sterling, in midfield we had Shipley, Doyle, Bayliss and Thomas with Chaplin just behind Clarke-Harris.

The away side started off the better but the first chance fell to us as Chaplin broke clear in the area with only the keeper to beat we all expected a goal but he put it wide. Thomas was looking lively going forward as he had a shot blocked. The loan player played in our other loan player in Sterling but his shot, from an angle was straight at the keeper. City were matching the team that was in The Championship last season but then it could have all gone wrong as Junior Brown attempted to pass the ball back to Burge but scuffed it allowing their Brown race clear towards the goal it looked almost certain to score but Burge stood his ground and pulled of a great save. It was their Brown that went close again after a couple minutes more. Barnsley missed a few more chances in what was a good game. Meanwhile Doyle, was back to his best in midfield and after the game a Barnsley fan in Youtube complained that his midfield was overrun. Shipley in midfield was running hard but getting some of his choices wrong. We made it half time with no goals but matching Barnsley all the way.

The second half started with Chaplin putting one wide. At the other end their Brown tried a shot from distance forcing Burge into another good save. City launched another attack as the linesman had his flag up Clarke-Harris headed to Chaplin who swept the ball home but off side. Then something strange as the ref was called over to the linesman was he about to change the call? No, the linesman had an injury and had to go off but as he up with play when he flagged? Clarke-Harris got a shot on target as the forward worked hard throughout the game attempting to find space for Chaplin. The first sub came as Shipley, who was still carrying a knock went off and was replaced by Kelly and it was good to see him back “…Kelly in the middle we never give the ball away”. The ref Mr T Kettle (no puns, promise) then showed the yellow card for the first time as a Barnsley player flattened Chaplin as he threatened to go by. Barnsley missed a few chances as the game went on. City then won a free kick and Doyle took it and swung it into the box, Junior flicked it on and Willis threw himself at the ball in the six-yard box with defenders all around him he got the ball bravely in the back of the net with his head and City were in the lead. Barnsley hit back when Thiam went down too easily. Bakayoko then came on to replace Thomas who had just been floored by a bad tackle. Six minutes were added on but despite them starting to pile on the pressure with a series of corners but Burge and the defence was equal to them. City saw out the game and a good win.

Man of the match
1st Michael Doyle: In command of midfield
2nd Lee Burge: Two great saves several punches and good handling
3rd Jordan Willis: Great at the back and a brave goal.