2011-12 Match Reports CCFC v COVENTRY

21.3.2012

CCFC 2 v 2 COVENTRY

I think I might have mentioned last Sunday that the mood was a little flat. Not anymore. The mood has changed. It’s not flat, it’s subterranean. I don’t think I can take anymore. A ninety four minute, last kick of the match equaliser. NINETY FOUR! The truth is that Coventry deserved a point but it was a cruel finale to a game that we should have had sewn up by half-time. We entered time-added-on believing we had stolen back the game from a rejuvenated Coventry side which was unrecognisable from the clueless, dispirited, relegation-bound side from the first half.

Our boys began as if a great weight had been lifted. Perhaps buoyed up by the news that Gorgeous George had arranged for the nation’s pensioners to subsidise their next Baby Bentley, for 45 minutes they played with gay abandon passing the ball around, making neat little triangles, controlling the game like, well if not exactly Barcelona then perhaps Swansea Town (there, I’ve said it!). Not Premier League Swansea, more Championship Swansea ie. lots of patient build up play but with no cutting edge. Mr Mackay, without the services of the absent Miller (no explanation) brought McPhail in (good move) and played Mason as the lone striker (not so clever) leaving Earnshaw and Gestede on the bench (questionable, at best). 

Coventry had managed just four points on the road this season (four draws) and seemed determined to press the self-destruct button. Not only did they provide us with our first goal, a misdirected header in the box the like of which we haven’t seen since the days of Leo Fortune-West, they tried their damndest to double our lead when their full-back sent a bullet of a back pass to their startled keeper which had him scrambling back to head off his line and had the crowd laughing up their sleeves. It was the most comfortable 45 minutes witnessed all season and we had no reason to expect anything other than a second half stroll in the park. But that is not the Cardiff City way.

The half time call from the accountant advising that the dream home in The Vale paid for via Channel Islands Prima Donna Tax Dodgers Inc. will now be subject to crippling Stamp Duty and consequent anxieties about how they might break the news to Platinum Blonde Pamela that her Nail Salon allowance might suffer, understandably affected our Golden Boys’ second half performance.

Coventry dominated in a way that was inconceivable after their first half performance. We were suddenly on the back foot and after a first half that showed 76% possession (confirmed via Bath-based Statto) we couldn’t get hold of the ball, failed to compete in midfield and were chasing shadows. Coventry duly got reward for their endeavour, awarded a penalty after a Gunnarsson infringement. Up stepped the experienced McSheffrey to execute with Charlie Adams-esque aplomb a Row Z blast-over. A lucky break, time to regroup and get back on track. The tiring McPhail was replaced on the hour by Gestede which meant a midfield reshuffle and more potency upfront where Mason had been struggling to impose himself. However, before we could settle into the revised formation Coventry drew level through the impressive Jordan Clarke. 

Sensing an unlikely victory the Sky Blues brought on an extra striker and continued to take the game to us.

With 15 minutes left Earnshaw came on for Lawrence and settled into a good understanding with Gestede. The shape of the team was now much better with Whittingham getting forward more. And so it was in the 84^th minute that Whitts collected on the edge of the box to blast a daisy-cutter into the bottom corner. 2-1 and surely game over? The oft-repeated stat that we have taken the lead more times than any other side but also lost more points (25 and counting) from a winning position left a nagging doubt after the fourth official indicated that a barely credible extra four minutes would be played. Reports this morning confirm that it wasn’t until the 95^th minute that we finally but somehow inevitably capitulated. Wot a shocker!

After the Bristol victory, the hint of a return to form and the prospect of a favourable run-in beginning with three home games on the bounce, it would have been churlish not to talk up our chances of easing our way into the Play-Offs. 

After a measly return of 2 points from 9 and with Mr Mackay spinning that ‘we’ve only been beaten once in the last five games’ in a statement straight out of the Dave Jones Book of Self Delusion it would be easy to conclude that despite all the early-mid season optimism that the old frailties have not been expunged. 

Worryingly, the formerly irreproachable Malky is vulnerable to accusations of questionable team selections and tactics. How long before the watching Malaysian owners express their concerns over dwindling crowds, dwindling performances and the dwindling prospects of an immediate return on their investment?