COVENTRY CITY 3-2 SHEFFIELD UNITED BY KEV MONKS
Date 15/09/09 At The Ricoh Arena Championship
Team
Westwood, Cranie, Wright, Turner, Hall (Clarke 84) , Osbourne, Cork, McIndoe, Clingan, Best, Morrison (Gunnarsson 84) SNU Konstantpolous, Cain, E.Ward, Grandison, Eastwood
Sheffield United
Bunn, France, Walker, Morgan, Taylor (Stewart 71), J.Ward, Harper, Quinn (Evans 61), Montgomery, Treacy (Cotterill 66), Henderson. SNU Reid, Bennett, Little
HT CCFC 1-1 SUFC FT CCFC 3-2 SUFC ATT 14,326
GOALS Leon Best (11), Jamie Ward (30), Clinton Morrison (50), Martin Cranie (60), James Harper (75)
Referee Anthony Taylor Booked Morrison
Man Of The Match – Jack Cork took the votes with plenty of contenders in an excellent team performance
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Coventry City put in a hard working performance to beat Sheffield United 3-2 at the Ricoh Arena tonight.
Chris Coleman fielded the same team that had started the 1-1 draw against Bristol City on Saturday in front of a crowd which looked no more than 10,000 spectators actually in the stadium by the time the match kicked off.
In the crowd amongst City supporters from Northern Ireland and those closer to home was Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish, who is alleged to have told a South Coast based City supporter that Coventry could have Gary McSheffrey.
Despite there not being massive numbers for this game, there was some good noise. The 1100 Unitedites in the Jewson Stand gave us their version of that John Denver classic “Annies Song” as the match kicked off.
They nearly had something to sing about after 73 seconds when Henderson fired straight across the face of the goal and watched his shot go out for a throw.
There had been much praise for Isaac Osbourne’s performance on Saturday and the midfielder was soon involved, winning City a sixth minute corner.
In the 11th minute, Michael McIndoe got in one of a number of decent cross during the game and the ball went over to the far side of the area.
There was Leon Best, who controlled the ball before rifling it into the bottom corner of the Jewson Stand net.
United came straight back and Keiren Westwood made a great save with his feet.
The crowd were getting behind City and were loving it as they passed the ball around on the deck with precision.
Jack Cork was having his best game in a City shirt since he joined on loan from Chelsea. He displayed a hunger for the ball and basically ensured that the Sky Blues were well ahead in the midfield battle with his effort and enthusiasm.
Keiren Westwood was alert in the 21st minute when the purposeful City defence which had Martin Cranie at right back and Stephen Wright alongside Ben Turner at centre half, was breached by a shot from the clearly offside Stephen Quinn.
However, on the half hour mark, Westwood could do nothing as Jamie Ward got towards the penalty area and let rip with a stunning drive which flew into the net to tie the match.
Kevin Blackwell’s side threatened a couple more times but it was all square going into the break.
With the temperatures dropping, we only had to wait five minutes after the restart to be back on our feet in celebration.
Michael McIndoe was again the architect, skipping past one time City target during his non league days Ryan France and sending a 50th minute ball across the face of the goal for Clinton Morrison to run in and smash the ball past United’s on loan custodian.
Morrison removed his shirt in the celebration which saw him run into the corner between the CT and Tescos Stand. As he was celebrating. referee Anthony Taylor picked up his shirt and looked at his number and cautioned the striker as he made his way towards the centre circle.
Despite City being 2-1 up, this exhilarating contest was finely balanced. Issac Osbourne managed to clear a 57th minute corner off the line via a post.
City went up the other end and Clinton Morrison, who was enjoying a lot of freedom thanks to the tremendous job Leon Best was doing against Kyle Walker, won a 59th minute corner.
Michael McIndoe took the corner from the same area, Morrison had run into after his goal and the Scot delivered a telling ball for Martin Cranie to rise and power a header into the net.
Issac Osbourne, who has yet to score for City, tried his luck with a long ranger and was not far away but in the 75th minute, United who had made three substitutions pulled a goal back.
Jamie Ward got into the area and hit a shot that Keiren Westwood could not hold and there was James Harper, who pounced to score before celebrating in front of his team’s supporters.
With seven minutes left, one of the United subs – Ched Evans thumped the bar.
Chris Coleman went for a double change taking off the hard working duo of Marcus Hall and Clinton Morrison and replacing them with Jordan Clarke and Aron Gunnarsson.
Five minutes of stoppage time were added (two and a half minutes for the substitutions and 30 seconds a piece for the goal) as City kept their nerve and collected a very welcome three points from a good night’s work.