LFL: COVENTRY
We lost a game that we couldn’t afford to lose. We weren't up for it, especially in the first hour or so, while more basic errors gifted Coventry great chances and they took them.
BEFORE
This fixture has had a definite edge to it for a long time and today's game will have the additional spice of it being a battle between the bottom two clubs. A win could take us out of the bottom three and I think we can do it. Isidor will be back in contention and after Ta Bi's performance against Brentford I'd like to see him play some part, sticking in crosses for Brobbey and him to get on the end of. Coventry have lost their last two league games after a couple of wins and they've conceded one more goal than us. I'm hoping to listen to the game online and my match prediction is a 2-1 win for us.
I got the team-news about an hour before kick-off and there was just the one change from the Leeds match with Alderete replacing Mukieke. Isidor and Ta Bi were among the subs. Sakamoto was starting for them and I rate him highly as we could hardly get the ball off him in those epic play-off matches. Man United lost 2-0 to Chelsea in the early kick-off and a win would take us above them, which would be most pleasing. I got the commentary on Radio Newcastle and there were ceremonies for Remembrance Sunday before we kicked off.
THE MATCH
Rudoni and Dasilva were sounding dangerous in the very early stages and both sets of fans (three thousand of ours) were making a great racket. Coventry won the first corner in the fifth minute but the whistle went for a foul on Roefs. The first yellow was shown to Torp for a foul on Rigg. Coventry had done most of the pressing in the opening ten minutes but we were sounding solid enough at the back. Rigg had our first attempt on goal five minutes later but his shot was straight at Rushworth in goal.
We soon won our first corner and the home fans were booing Le Fee for taking his time, in their opinion. Anyway, it resulted in a Hume shot going over the bar. In the seventeenth Coventry took the lead and it was Sakamoto who got it, shooting into the bottom-left corner after the ball had been allowed to bounce into his path. Coventry piled on the pressure but we were back up their end with both Sadiki and Rigg having attempts on goal. Our best chance so far soon fell to Brobbey but he put it wide.
We were awarded a free-kick in the middle of their half and it eventually ricocheted for a throw to us and a goal-kick to them. Roefs did well to parry a Torp free-kick for a corner and it immediately led to another corner. Roefs grabbed that one and the danger was over. Benno complained that we were allowing Coventry too much time in the middle of the park and we needed to get Le Fee on the ball a lot more. Speaking of whom, he was pushed to the deck in the thirty-sixth but no free-kick was given. Next thing we were 2-0 down and it came from Awoniyi after O’Nien had his pocket picked. It took a deflection off Alderete and that wrongfooted Roefs. That gave us a mountain to climb and Benno said that some of our players looked nervous. I was looking forward to the half-time whistle as we were sounding vulnerable and a third Coventry goal would definitely finish us. There was just one minute of added-time and it remained 2-0 as the whistle went. That was very uncomfortable listening and we needed a major sorting out before the game recommenced. Would we see Ta Bi on? I hoped so as we’d offered little upfront so far.
As we kicked off again there’d been no changes for either side. We started quite brightly but any optimism was soon dashed when Rudoni got their third in the fifty-second after finding far too much space. Benno was doing his nut and Barnesy was coming up with ‘Coventry Nightmare at Halloween’ movie titles. This prompted Regis to make some changes and in the fifty-seventh Isidor and Talbi came on for Rigg and Angulo as we went 4-4-2. The Coventry fans were in great voice, not surprisingly. Isidor and Talbi combined for a goalscoring attempt but we should have rolled it across their box as Brobbey was waiting to tap it in. We were putting some pressure on at least and after a lengthy VAR review following a Pinnock handball we were awarded a penalty which Le Fee took in the in the sixty-seventh. He drove it into the corner to make it 3-1. If we managed to get another, things would get very interesting.
There was bound to be a lot of added-time so 3-3 was imaginable and I had to get up and start pacing around. Coventry swapped Awoniyi and Gboho for Cherif and Thomas-Asante in the seventy-second but I wanted to see Ta Bi on for us. As it happened, Meunier and Fofana were introduced in place of Hume and Sadiki. An O’Nien shot was blocked for a corner to us but Rushworth got hold of it. We’d definitely improved, which wouldn’t have taken much, and there was still plenty of time left but Coventry also sounded like they could nick another one. Another O’Nien shot was blocked and the game sounded like a great end to end battle. In the eighty-fifth we won another corner and it led to a shot from Talbi going wide. Rushworth was down ‘injured’ for a while adding even more to added-time and soon nine minutes were announced. Alderete was yellow-carded for a blatant foul when it could have been a red. The resultant free-kick led to a Coventry corner which we got clear. An Isidor header was tipped over the bar but Rushworth easily held the corner. Alderete was given that red for another foul just to add to our miserable afternoon. It ended 3-1.
