SWANSEA CITY 2-1 COVENTRY CITY BY KEV MONKS
Date 14/09/10 At The Liberty Stadium
Team
Westwood, Keogh, Wood, Turner, Clarke (Cranie 46), Ward (Baker 31), Clingan, Carsley, Gunnarsson, Platt, Jutkiewicz. SNU Ireland, Cameron, Doyle, O'Donovan, Bottomer
Swansea
De Vries, Williams, Taylor, Tate, Pratley, Dyer, Dobbie (van der Gun 76), Allen (Lopez 83), Monk, Gower, Sinclair SNU Cornell, Cotterill, Orlandi, Serran, Thomas
HT SCFC 1-0 CCFC FT SCFC 2-0 CCFC ATT 12,411
Referee G.Sutton Booked Platt, Williams, Dyer, Baker
Goals Darren Pratley (19), Scott Sinclair (47), Ben Turner (55)
Man Of The Match Ben Turner took the votes with nominations for Richard Wood, Carl Baker and Sammy Clingan.
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Coventry City finally managed their first goal at the Liberty Stadium but they had already conceded two as they went down to a 2-1 defeat at Swansea City.
For City's second longest away trip of the season, the Football League fixture computer decided that a wet Tuesday afternoon journey to a city that on Monday, staged the end of an international cycling race stage, was in order.
We arrived at the Liberty Stadium to see a Coventry side whose beginnings can be traced back to bicycle workers, which featured just one change from the team that had scraped a draw with Leicester on Saturday. Gary McSheffrey, (the Coventry Sphinx manager,a ccording to a massive typo in the CT today), was replaced by Aron Gunnarsson.
I counted 170 City supporters, including those from Southampton, Swansea, Cardiff, Kent, Cambridgeshire, Northampton, Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Coventry & Warwickshire in the away end as the teams came out to "White Riot" by The Clash (182, according to official figures announced by Swansea later in the game), who saw the Sky Blues in their green and black away kit, attacking the end where we were housed in the first half.
Aidy Boothroyd started with Danny Ward on the left and played Clive Platt up front on his own.
Referee Gary Sutton was doing his first Championship game and was soon showing his in-experience when he cautioned Clive Platt for a foul on the keeper despite the fact that he got to a loose ball from a Jutkiewicz shot which De Vries who got up as soon as Platt was booked.
Keiren Westwood was kept busy but in the 15th minute, Coventry should have taken the lead when the clearly unfit looking Lukas Jutkiewicz got to the end of a Platt cross and from three yards sent the ball past the far post.
As rumours of Marlon King being at Preston v Forest and possibly signing for Forest on Wednesday, filtered through the away end, Jordan Clarke paniced and conceded a 19th minute corner. There was virtually no marking and when the ball came over, Darren Pratley, had the easy task of heading in to the net.
Boothroyd stood with his hands behind his back in his technical area as Nathan Dyer, who was Swansea's best player for me, continued to wreek havoc
Just after the half hour mark, Danny Ward, who had been pretty quiet, was forced off by an unpunished tackle from behind. Carl Baker was sent on in his place but it was the home side who were making the Sky Blues look like the poor side that they were for most of last season.
Aidy Boothroyd, whose lump it to Platt tactic had again been easily sussed, waited for all his players to get off the pitch at the interval before he went down the tunnel and into the dressing room. Now, we don't know what was said in the dressing room but it had little effect as within 65 seconds of the restart, Coventry conceded a second goal when Dyer, benefiting from a back pass by substitute Martin Cranie who had replaced Jordan Clarke at the break, hit Westwood's left post and Scott Sinclair tapped the loose ball into the empty net.
The home fans were delighted but in the away end, the message was get it sorted or get someone in who can.
For the next twenty minutes or so, there was actually some fight for us to briefly enjoy.
Baker had a shot on goal, then Jutkiewicz got forward and rounded the keeper. With a good section of the goal to aim at, the former Everton player instead hit the one Swansea defender back and it was cleared for a 55th minute corner. That came in and there was Ben Turner to bundle the ball into the net.
We went ballistic, not Watford away ballistic, but pretty mental for what was City's first goal at the Liberty Stadium, since Swansea moved to their new home.
Two City corners, a Baker shot hacked away, a corner cleared a yard off the line and as the Swansea fans vented their wrath at the referee, another shot was cleared off the line.
In the 72nd minute, we appealed for a penalty when Carl Baker went down in the area but it earned him a booking rather than the spot kick it looked from the other end of the ground.
"C'mon City" sang the Sky Blue supporters but two minutes from time, after an error by Richard Wood, Westwood denied Dyer with a great save.
Although there was more fight from City in the second half, this was another poor showing and unless we want a free-fall down the table, the mistakes that led to the defeat have to be eradicated.
Picture copyright of Covsupport News Service. Credit CNS/KM