HALESOWEN TOWN 3-1 COVENTRY CITY X1 BY KEV MONKS
A strong City eleven went down to a defeat at Halesowen Town.
For the first friendly on British soil after the three games in Portland and Provo, Alan Cork fielded a team of first teamers and reserves with starts for Andy Morrell,Matt Heath,Colin Cameron,James Scowcroft and David McNamee.
City fell behind in the tenth minute when Nick Amos went to ground inside the penalty area. Referee Andy Henley awarded the spot kick and Matty Lewis duly thumped the ball in past Neil Collett.
Two minutes later,Lewis scored again when Neil Collett came racing out and failed to clear. The ball fell for Lewis who lashed the ball home from an acute angle.
City played with Scowcroft and Morrell up front and with Giddings,Thornton,Osbourne,Colin Cameron and David McNamee all working hard to get City back in the contest.
Apart from a Jorgensen effort being cleared for a corner and a few useful crosses from Giddings and Man Of The Match Kevin Thornton there was little to cheer for the 50+ strong City support. on a warm night at the Grove.
A strong City eleven went down to a defeat at Halesowen Town.
For the first friendly on British soil after the three games in Portland and Provo, Alan Cork fielded a team of first teamers and reserves with starts for Andy Morrell,Matt Heath,Colin Cameron,James Scowcroft and David McNamee.
City fell behind in the tenth minute when Nick Amos went to ground inside the penalty area. Referee Andy Henley awarded the spot kick and Matty Lewis duly thumped the ball in past Neil Collett.
Two minutes later,Lewis scored again when Neil Collett came racing out and failed to clear. The ball fell for Lewis who lashed the ball home from an acute angle.
City played with Scowcroft and Morrell up front and with Giddings,Thornton,Osbourne,Colin Cameron and David McNamee all working hard to get City back in the contest.
Apart from a Jorgensen effort being cleared for a corner and a few useful crosses from Giddings and Man Of The Match Kevin Thornton there was little to cheer for the 50+ strong City support. on a warm night at the Grove.
Three minutes before the interval, Alan Cork was forced into a change when Ben Turner limped off and was replaced by Ryan Lynch.
There were no changes at the break from the Sky Blues but Paul Holleran made four changes.
Claus Jorgensen forced Danny Woodhall into a save early on with a tame Osbourne header going wide as did a Thornton run and shot.
In the 55th minute and with City having raised the tempo,James Scowcroft knocked the ball down for the unmarked Claus Jorgensen to rifle a shot which Danny Woodhall superbly blocked.
Halesowen cleared the danger and won a twenty yard free kick which Grant Beckett superbly curled round the wall and into the net.
The Yeltz continued to make changes with subs sticking any old shirt on,something which totally confused the stadium announcer who gave up announcing the changes.
In the 75th minute, City did get some reward for their effort when they reduced the arrears thanks to Kevin Thornton beat the offside trap and finishing with a low left footed curler from eight yards.
At the same time,James Scowcroft limped off to have ice strapped to his right leg and Ryan Lynch was also replaced.
Andy Gooding who replaced Lynch got the ball in the net with seven to go but the assistant on the terrace side who had removed his black base ball cap when the sun went down was having none of it and ruled it out.
With seconds left, a lovely cross from Claus Jorgensen was met by the head of Isaac Osbourne but the home side had a defender on the line who cleared for a corner.
HT HTFC 2-0 CCFC
FT HTFC 3-1 CCFC
Att 350-400
Goals Matty Lewis (10,12),Grant Beckett (58),Kevin Thornton (75)
Team
1 Neil Collett,David McNamee,Stuart Giddings,Ben Turner (Ryan Lynch 42,Andy Gooding 76),Matt Heath,Colin Cameron,Claus Jorgensen,Isaac Osbourne,James Scowcroft (Liam Davis 76),Andy Morrell, Kevin Thornton.
SNU Ange Lourougnon,Cameron Belford
Halesowen
1 Danny Woodhall, 2 Rob Warner, (Stuart Pierpoint 69), 3 Dave Haywood (12 Paul Szewczyk 46), 4 Niki Preston, (Nick Amos 78) 5 Gary Knight (Lee Ayres 65),6 Lee Williams (Smith 65), 7 Alex Cowley, 8 Sean Dowdall (Gary Knight 78), 9 Matt Lewis (Dan Thompson 46) 10 Nick Amos (Ian Cooper 46),11 Nick Smith (16 Grant Beckett 46),
SNU 19 Chris Brindley.
No Programme was issued for this game.
Stuart Giddings hunts for the ball
Scowie has to sit it out
FT HTFC 3-1 CCFC
Att 350-400
Goals Matty Lewis (10,12),Grant Beckett (58),Kevin Thornton (75)
Team
1 Neil Collett,David McNamee,Stuart Giddings,Ben Turner (Ryan Lynch 42,Andy Gooding 76),Matt Heath,Colin Cameron,Claus Jorgensen,Isaac Osbourne,James Scowcroft (Liam Davis 76),Andy Morrell, Kevin Thornton.
SNU Ange Lourougnon,Cameron Belford
Halesowen
1 Danny Woodhall, 2 Rob Warner, (Stuart Pierpoint 69), 3 Dave Haywood (12 Paul Szewczyk 46), 4 Niki Preston, (Nick Amos 78) 5 Gary Knight (Lee Ayres 65),6 Lee Williams (Smith 65), 7 Alex Cowley, 8 Sean Dowdall (Gary Knight 78), 9 Matt Lewis (Dan Thompson 46) 10 Nick Amos (Ian Cooper 46),11 Nick Smith (16 Grant Beckett 46),
SNU 19 Chris Brindley.
No Programme was issued for this game.
Stuart Giddings hunts for the ball
Scowie has to sit it out