COVENTRY CITY 3-0 NORWICH CITY BY KEV MONKS
The visit of a high flying Norwich City was always seen as a tough test for the Sky Blues but they came through with flying colours notching up a 3-0 victory.
For a game that was the 100th meeting between City and Norwich, Micky Adams was without the ineligible Leon McKenzie and only made two changes from the side that won at Hull a fortnight ago with the goalscorer on that day Kev Thornton replacing Colin Cameron who was benched and Andy Whing came back in as the Sky Blues reverted to 4-4-2.
On a bright sunny and warm Saturday afternoon )the first Saturday game since April 1st) at the Ricoh, the City supporters in a crowd of 20,006 were soon on their feet demanding that referee Mr Ross produce a red card after Stern John had been savagely hacked down by Jason Shackell after one hundred seconds of play.
The former Norwich youth teamer picked up only a caution as John was not denied a goalscoring opportunity. However, many in the crowd felt that the savagery of the tackle merited an early bath for the Norwich number four.
Andy Whing and Chris Birchall worked well down the right flank with the Trinidadian international forcing Paul Gallacher in the Norwich goal into an eighth minute save.
The next time, Chris Birchall attacked it led to the opening goal after eleven minutes. The winger from Port Vale raced down the right and thumped a low drive into the bottom corner of the net for City first goal in a first half since the friendly at Kidderminster on August 1st.
Norwich also played 4-4-2 with Robert Page left to do a man marking job on fellow Welshman Robbie Earnshaw. Page did this superbly and although the former WBA striker looked dangerous on the ball, Page,Hall, Whing and Elliott Ward soon rendered him useless.
The second caution of the afternoon came in the twentieth minute when Dickson Etuhu tripped Birchall.
Carl Robinson went into the book five minutes later and was soon followed by Robert Page.
In the 28th minute, Booking number four went to Andy Whing who got into the penalty area and went to ground. Some City supporters I spoke to thought Whing had good cause to claim a penalty. Mr Ross didn't and cautioned Whing for diving.
Both sets of supporters were now finding their voice with both "The Sky Blue Song" and "On The Ball City" - a ditty from the 1930's echoed around the Arena.
Darren Huckerby and Youseff Safri were in Nigel Worthington's starting eleven and the former City striker was booed relentlessly during the first half.
I was surprised that the Norwich supporters who numbered 2,573 didn't join in as well as Huckerby was clearly off the pace and looked totally disinterested.
As half-time approached, Lee Croft,,a player Micky Adams had tried to sign in the summer, was booked for a foul on Michael Doyle.
Darren Huckerby was replaced four minutes into the second half by Paul McVeigh. The Northern Irishman failed to spark any life into his side and in the 62nd minute, the Sky Blues went further ahead.
Kevin Kyle on his home debut, played the ball out to Stern John on the left. and raced into the penalty area. Stern John spotted him and delivered a wonderful cross for Kyle at the far post to rise above a defender and head the ball past Gallacher and into the net.
The signing from Sunderland raced over to the City supporters in the CET Stand with his face showing signs of relief rather than joy.
It was still high fives all round and smiles on faces when Stern John got the ball inside the penalty area. He turned and jinked until he was in a position to get in a 66th minute shot and then hit a shot which was certainly not the best shot he has ever hit but it was enough to perplex the Scottish keeper and find its way into the back of the net.
Like the City supporters, the players went mad with Stern John soon mobbed by his fellow players as he stood in front of the advertising hoardings.
Four minutes after the goal, Micky Adams decided the game was won and opted for a double change bringing on Colin Cameron and Don Hutchison at the expense of Thornton and Kyle who both received good ovations.
Stern John was also replaced by Isaac Osbourne making a welcome return to the side in the 81st minute.
With five to go,a bit of ping pong in the penalty area saw Andy Marshall make a good stop from a McVeigh shot.
Stephen Hughes who like the rest of his side all played well, could have added a fourth late on but three goals was enough for an excellent team performance which brought its third consecutive clean sheet in league games.
HT CCFC 1-0 NCFC
FT CCFC 3-0 NCFC
ATT 20,006
GOALS Chris Birchall (11),Kevin Kyle (62), Stern John (66)
REFEREE J.Ross
BOOKED Shackell,Etuhu,Robinson,Page,Whing, Croft
TEAM
Marshall,Whing,Hall,Page Ward,Hughes,Doyle, Thornton (Cameron 69),Birchall, John (Osbourne 81), Kyle (Hutchison 69) SNU Adebola & Heath
NORWICH
Gallacher,Drury,Shackell,Doherty,Colin,Robinson,Safri,
Croft,Huckerby (McVeigh 49),Etuhu (Henderson 66), Earnshaw SNU Camp,Hughes,Fleming