LEICESTER CITY U21's 2-3 COVENTRY CITY U21's
City: Dunn, Phillips, Kilbane (Pegg 88 off 92), Daniels (Joe Henderson 81), Willis, Malaga, Connor Henderson, Lobjoit (Roberts 59), O'Donovan, Barton, Jeffers. Subs Burge, Maund,
Leicester; Smith, Pearson, Taft, McCourt (Greenway-Tambini 59), Sesay, Maduako, Paratore, (S.Smith 73), Jones, Blyth (Elder 77), Panayiotou, Cain. SNU Brennan, Anton
HT LCFC 0-1 CCFC FT LCFC 2-3 CCFC
Goals Billy Daniels 10, Roy O'Donovan 55, Connor Henderson 65, Louis Greenway-Tambin 69, Harry Panayioutou 87
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Coventry City U21's recorded their first win of the season with a 3-2 victory at Leicester City.
On King Power Stadium ground where the City first team has never won but its reserves have twice, Lee Carsley, assisted by Greg Rioch and Steve Ogrizovic named a strong side which included trialist Leon Lobjoit, the experienced Kevin Kilbane, loanee Connor Henderson and summer signing Adam Barton.
Steve Beaglehole's side included former City youngster Jacob Blyth and Harry Panayiotou who had been such a threat to City U18's last season in his two matches against the Sky Blues.
With the rain pouring down, a crowd of around 800 which included a handful of City supporters plus a few parents, Leicester won a very early corner and had efforts on goal from Panayiotou and McCourt.
The Sky Blues, playing in all sky blue, played with determination and guille and in the tenth minute, they took the lead when Shaun Jeffers, who played on the right side of midfield in a 4-5-1 formation , got down the right and sent over a cross right into the mixer which Billy Daniels was able to bundle past the keeper from close range.
With a great header from the hard working Kevin Malaga stopping a cross from the impressive James Pearson, City were close to going to two goal up when Roy O'Donovan was denied a penalty when referee James Thornhill failed to spot a handball by Jide Maduako, much to the bemusement of the Irishman.
Billy Daniels, who like the rest of his City team mates was putting in a decent shift, playing some good football on a pitch which was becoming more greasy as the match progressed, fired over from range before Leicester had a rare attack through Jones and the ball fell for Panayiotou to fire wide at the other end.
Leon Lobjoit was showing a nice pair of feet in midfield and played in Connor Henderson for a 28th minute shot after the loanee from Arsenal had a free kick sliced away for a corner.
In the 33rd minute, Connor Henderson curled a 25 yard free kick just wide of Smith’s right hand post, as City took their dominance in the to break.
The break, which had Leicester club legend Alan Birchinall giving out packs of programmes from last season and dvds to youngsters, as just one of the things on offer for families, saw no changes for the second half.
Two minutes in and with City, attacking the end nearest the away end at the King Power Stadium, the Sky Bljues won a free kick on the edge of the area after O'Donovan was tripped. Henderson took it, hitting first Jeffers and then a defender to win a corner.
Roy O’Donovan was starting to threaten and in the 55th minute, City U21’s leading scorer added to his tally when he lost his marker and got to a Henderson cross to increase City’s lead by scoring from six yards.
Back from Wales U19’s duty, Will Roberts was sent on for Lobjoit who had been tidy, shown some good passing skills and the ability to graft just before the hour mark.
With Roberts on, City, whose players were giving it their all, turned the screw up a notch with two great chances . Shaun Jeffers struck the post from eighteen yards and in the 61st minute, Roy O’Donovan fired wide from six yards.
The Leicester fans behind us, were now saying that City should have been six goals up and in the 65th minute, it was 3-0 to Coventry City when Connor Henderson got into space and fired a daisy cutter from twenty odds yards past Adam Smith.
Game over? No as Steve Beaglehole’s side had other ideas. Leicester pulled one back in the 69th minute when Panayiotou had a shot blocked and the ball fell for substitute Louis Greenway-Tambini to beat Chris Dunn from close range.
Panayiotou was starting to make a real nuisance of himself, keeping Jordan Willis and Kevin Malaga busy before Kevin Kilbane made a good clearance following a 76th minute free kick.
With ten minutes to go, Roy O’Donovan really should have wrapped things up but he headed over the bar.
Lee Carsley could see that Leicester were still a threat and brought on defender Joe Henderson for Billy Daniels and with Kevin Kilbane now struggling, he was just about to make a change when Harry Panayiotou tapped in after a goalmouth scramble to see City leading by a goal with three minutes of normal time to go.
Kilbane did go off and was replaced by Joe Pegg. The Leicester hailing youngster was involved in a clash with Greenway-Tambini in the third minute of stoppage time and the City physio made the decision to take him off immediately, leaving the Sky Blues with ten men.
Thankfully, the determination, effort and spirited commitment shown by the City players continued and Coventry City were able to come away with a much needed and very well earned victory.
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