LFL: COV

This was a classic victory and one that will no doubt be remembered for many years to come but of course the tie is far from over. We defended stoutly against relentless pressure and when we broke our strikers showed what they were there for. I was particularly pleased to see Isidor back on the score-sheet and his confidence will be sky-high again.

BEFORE

Well, tonight's the night. Whatever's happened in the last five matches doesn't matter now and we have to raise our game and get a result. Part of me is still hoping that recent performances have been some kind of elaborate kiddology and we'll see the real team this evening. Another part of me thinks that we've just been shite and will be well-beaten. I do suspect that Le Bris is playing games about Mundle's fitness and that he'll play some part today. He has the flair to make a crucial difference. Haji Wright, who's already scored against us four times this season, is clearly the man to watch so I hope to see Ballard starting. Ballard can also get a goal and they've certainly been in short supply of late. I'd also like to see Mayenda starting instead of Isidor as he can get a goal out of nothing. I'm back in Sunderland and will be watching the game in the pub with my bubble. If we can avoid defeat, it'll be a good evening's work. Sunderland expects that every man will do his duty. Match prediction: 1-1.

I got to the pub around 7.15 and there were two changes from the side that started against Q.P.R. with Ballard and Isidor in for Mepham and Rigg. Seelt was among those on the bench but there was no sign of Mundle. Simms was among their subs and I hoped we wouldn’t be seeing him. My friends’ match predictions were:- 2-1 and 1-0 to Coventry and 2-1 to us. There were plenty in the pub as the game kicked off.

THE GAME

Three minutes into the game things were looking heavy as we conceded three corners in a row and alarm bells rang when Patto flapped at the third one before it was booted to safety by Hume. We continued to soak up the Coventry pressure and around the tenth minute we managed a couple of forays down the pitch ourselves. Apart from corners, Coventry were also threatening from long throws but in the thirteenth Patto confidently held one of these coming in from our right and I thought that must have been good for his confidence. Reviewing the opening quarter-hour I thought we’d done well to restrict them to one shot. Sakamoto was proving to be a very tricky customer down their right and in the twenty-first Cirkin was yellow-carded for splattering him near the touchline. 

In the twenty-fourth we had our first serious chance when Mayenda made one of his typical battling runs that culminated in a low shot that went just wide of their right post. Wilson in goal probably had it well covered but it warmed the cockles of everyone around me. Very soon, though, we were battling in our box to keep Coventry at bay and it was great to see us playing tenaciously after the recent lacklustre displays. We won our first corner in the twenty-seventh but it came to nothing and shortly afterwards Thomas-Asante put Ballard on the deck and I thought for a minute he’d have to go off but he recovered. Coventry continued to do most of the pressing but with our 4-4-2 formation we were looking solid. In the forty-first we won a free-kick near the right angle of their box after a foul on Le Fee and he took the kick himself rolling it to his left for Hume to have a crack but his shot was blocked. Next thing, up the other end Isidor made a striker’s tackle and we conceded a free-kick in a dangerous position but we escaped when Wright headed well over. It remained goalless at the break and I thought we’d done well to deal with Coventry’s attacks. The mood in the pub was buoyant.

Coventry continued to do most of the pressing in the opening stages of the second-half  but their finishing was poor. They also received three yellow-cards within eight minutes or so for fouls by Sheaf, van Ewijk and Kitching and this must have had an effect on their defending. In the sixty-fourth a Ballard shot was deflected for a corner and you could feel our momentum growing. Four minutes later we were in the lead. Le Fee made a great pass out to Isidor on the left and he moved into their penalty-area and rather casually hit a low shot that Wilson in goal could only help into the bottom right corner. The pub exploded with joy but very soon we were silenced when Coventry equalised. We’d lost our focus after going ahead and when Coventry broke down our left a cross came over and Rudoni put in a powerful header that gave Patto no chance.

Anyway, with twenty minutes on the clock I still felt good as I’d have been happy with 1-1 and there was a chance we could nick another one. We survived a couple more Coventry corners and then in the seventy-fifth we made our first change, replacing Isidor with Rigg. Sakamoto continued to torment us down our left flank but Coventry weren’t creating any real scoring chances. Mepham came on for Roberts with four minutes to go and the draw was looking as good as it would ever look but then two minutes later we took the lead. It came from a terrible mistake from van Ewijk when he played a back pass straight into the path of Mayenda who kept his cool and side-stepped Wilson before slotting it home. The pub went completely ape-shit with everyone on their feet with their mouths wide open. There were six minutes of added-time. Mayenda had another good scoring chance but Wilson put it out for a corner and very soon he was subbed by Browne. I thought it was good to see an experienced player coming on to see out the dying minutes. It soon ended 1-2 to great joy all around me.