COVENTRY CITY 0-0 QUEENS PARK RANGERS BY KEV MONKS
Team
Marshall, Osbourne,Ward,Dann,Fox,Mifsud,Tabb (Gray 75),S.Hughes,Doyle,Thornton,Best SNU Hall, Andrews,Simpson, Konstantopolous,
QPR
Camp, Mancienne,Hall,Connelly,Delaney.Buzsaky,Leigertwood,Rowlands (Ainsworth 90), Ephraim,Agyemang (Blackstck 85),Vine
HT CCFC 0-0 QPR FT CCFC 0-0 QPR ATT 15,225
REFEREE M.Dean BOOKED Connnelly, Best, Buzsaky
Man Of The Match Elliott Ward took the votes from Kevin Thornton,Jay Tabb, Scott Dann and Stephen Hughes
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STARTING FORMATION
Chris Coleman brought back Elliott Ward,Stephen Hughes and Michael Doyle. Julian Gray and Marcus who were two of the three replaced were on the bench.
Best
Tabb Thornton Doyle Hughes Mifsud
Fox Dann Ward Osbourne
Marshall
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CITY SUPPORT
Supporters from Northern Ireland and South Wales were amongst the crowd officially given as 15,225, a figure which includes all season ticket holders whether they were present or not. The crowd which also contained 1100 visitors, plus Gary McSheffrey and Craig Pead was what one would expect for a midweek game.
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Coventry City created chances but could not put them away and drew 0-0 at home to Queens Park Rangers.
"Every game is now a cup final", declared manager Chris Coleman. But it is Coventry Sphinx who are on the Wembley trail, not a Sky Blues side which must concentrate on winning as many of their remaining league games as possible after back to back defeats at Burnley and Scunthorpe and a win by Preston last night which dropped City to 21st in the table at the start of play.
They took on a QPR side which has undergone a dramatic restructure this season. Their money worries are a thing of the past with big investment from the likes of Bernie Ecclestein and in some circles, the West Londoners are being talked about as possible title contenders for next season.
Since Ray Ranson took over the club, City have only brought in two players and both Scott Dann and Danny Fox were in a back four which saw the return of Elliott Ward.
On a night which grew colder by the minute, there was a good atmosphere and plenty of support for the Sky Blues as City managed by Chris Coleman tried something different with the players arriving on the team coach after having a pre-game meal and a snooze at Ansty Hall, attacked the Jewson Stand first off.
With one hundred and sixty seconds gone, Chris Coleman's side had the ball in the net thanks to a good finish from Scott Dann. Unfortunately, the assistant on the Main Stand side had his flag up and the goal was ruled out.
That may have been the only time in the game that the ball was in the net, but there were many positives to take from this performance. One was the number of chances that City created, especially in the opening period.
Good work by Leon Best found Fox in the eighth minute on the edge of the area, only for the former Walsall man to balloon over.
Best,whose yellow boots resembled ducks feet, was up front on his own but supported by Kevin Thornton when the ball went down the left channel and Michael Mifsud when the ball went down the right. His best chance came in the 33rd minute when he was sent clear. Former Derby keeper Lee Camp came out and blocked the ball for a corner.
Chants of "Sky Blue Army" filled the air and Best may have had a penalty in the 36th minute, when a tug on his shirt was spotted by supporters but not referee Mike Dean.
City found width and depth in midfield, whilst the back four all played their part and stopped the visitors from registering a single shot in the first half.
Another corner came in the 42nd minute when Jay Tabb drove a low shot which Camp again beat away and we went into the break, happier than we have been in the last two matches.
This should have been a game that was all over as the second half restarted but with QPR relying on long rangers, the Sky Blues started to slip into their bad habits.
Although not as bad as in previous matches, City were caught far too often in offside positions and guilty of trying to walk the ball into the net.
A chorus of the Sky Blue Song failed to spur the team to a goal against a side who were starting to make clumsy challenges. Two on Michael Mifsud brought bookings for Connelly and Buzsaky whilst Leon Best had his name taken for a pointless handball, a couple of minutes after he had got away wiith the same act.
Sixteen minutes from time, Best had his shirt held by Connelly, only to be ignored by the referee. A minute later, Coleman made his first change of the night bringing on Julian Gray for Jay Tabb who again had run himself into the ground. There were some boos from behind me in the CT Stand as the former Birmingham winger entered the field of play, but it is hard to say whether they were aimed at Gray or for the change.
Luigi Di Canio's made a couple of changes to waste a bit of time whilst City won a couple of corners and had Best volley over before the final whistle blew to give City a point when they really should have had all three.