I looked at the train schedule on Saturday morning and all seemed well until I reviewed the return journey. There were five changes for my journey which included a mere five minute change at Leamington Spa (what could possibly go wrong?) and an hour at Banbury meaning I got back home at least two hours later than usual and the train services want to charge how much? The cause of the rubbish service is of course industrial action which I cannot see getting resolved until after the next general election so there’s more disruption to come. I don’t know why but I decided to drive which I hate since I can’t write this drivel, read or contemplate my navel. Motivation to go the the game today was in extremely short supply but I take the view that we’ve all come this far we may as well attend the last funereal rights given that Plymouth beat Leicester last night, a result few saw coming but us being who we are, could have predicted. I didn’t see the game but by all accounts Leicester should have won easily and if they now don’t go up they will have only themselves to blame as will we when we go down to League 1. There, I’ve said it; I am finally reconciled to relegation this term. The reality is we are not going to beat Coventry and we would have to win all the remaining three games to have any chance of surviving if we look dispassionately at our present predicament with a team that can’t score and can’t keep a clean sheet. The lacklustre performance against a resolute but very limited Cardiff City in midweek showed exactly where we are at present; a very poor side. I’m afraid the losses against QPR and Millwall were hefty nails in our coffin so we may as well start planning trips to Blackpool next year.
I made good time and arrived at our agreed meeting place, The Festival at Stivichall where I was joined by Chris, little Jack and Seb. Mark, a longstanding Coventry fan was joining us on this excursion but surprisingly wasn’t that confident given that he felt the Sky Blues had been somewhat inconsistent. We shared a convivial drink in the Festival whilst enduring the sight of Blackburn scoring at Elland Road in the 83rd minute to compound Plymouth’s result. It seems that the Gods of football have finally lost patience with us. We set off for St Andrew’s to enjoy another pint in the Abode and a Caribbean chicken wrap in the park outside. There is certainly a good vibe before games now that Tom Wagner alluded to in the week at the Open House session which I thought was excellent. Just as I was writing that sentence, the man himself walked along the gangway at the edge of the pitch right in front of us to a standing ovation! How many owners of a team 23rd in the Championship would do that? It demonstrates how positive the fans are feeling despite the fact that we are probably going down.
The noise inside the stadium as kick off approach was music to the ears. Nearly 27,000, capacity only denied by enforced partition sheets over seats to provide firebreaks between opposing fans in the away end, made for a raucous atmosphere with noise levels up over 95 decibels. The crowd accompaniment to Sir Harry Lauder’s rendering of our famous anthem Keep Right On to the End of the Road nearly lifted the roof off. Whilst I fervently hoped it would inspire our players, I wasn’t confident as I say and waited for Coventry to take control of the game and probably beat us.
Well, what do I know? A completely different performance to the one witnessed on Wednesday ensued. Blues came out of the traps at pace with quick, incisive, one touch flowing football with no dallying on the ball, no taking half a dozen touches before passing it inaccurately to the opposition. However, it was the visitors with the first attempt on goal in the early stages when Milan van Ewijk flashed a fierce cross shot across John Ruddy’s goal which was a couple of feet wide but up the other end after a good flowing move Koji Miyoshi found himself in space 15 yards out and shot just the wrong side of the post rippling the side netting. Many of us thought it was in and in truth it should have been.
We didn’t have to wait long however, to take the lead Blues early dominance deserved. A throw in on the Kop side saw Buchanan combine with Tyler Roberts whose cute pass into Keshi Anderson resulted in his shot from an acute able which flicked off defending player Bobby Thomas which gave his keeper Bradley Collins no chance as the ball found the opposite corner. The home fans erupted and the roar would have been heard in town. Miyoshi should have doubled the lead when once again he was guilty of wastefulness when after another good move leaned back and lifted the chance over the bar when well placed. Despite being the better side, Blues almost undid all the good work when a dangerous ball over the top was dealt with by Ruddy who attempted to head clear outside his box. The keeper ran under the ball slightly resulting in more of an up rather than out clearance. The ball fell to Haji Wright whose first time lob from 35 yards appeared perfect. A retreating John Ruddy had no chance of catching it but he was relieved like most of the crowd to see the ball bounce and clip the bar and over for a goal kick. The little bit of luck that appears to have deserted us in recent weeks was repaid. That incident was a huge let off. It would have been a different game, I suspect had the chance registered. This is not to detract from the high intensity performance that Blues were producing. Stansfield had a chance created by Miyoshi which flashed over the bar and I was beginning to think that these wasted chances would come to haunt us later but Blues did get a deserved second just before the break when an out swinging corner by Paik Seung-ho was only half cleared off the head of Liam Kitching. The ball fell to Ivan Sunjic on the edge of the box who demonstrated excellent volleying technique keeping the ball low and threading the needle through a crowd of players to find the net for 2-0. It was a glorious goal and it sent the home crowd into raptures.
It was clear that the visitors had been given a rocket in their dressing room at half time since fortified by three half time substitutions, they came out with renewed vigour. Kasey Palmer warmed Ruddy’s hands with a fierce shot that needed saving but Ben Sheaf should have reduced the deficit from 18 yards blazing over the bar when he really should have hit it on target with time to pick his spot. It was to be Coventry’s best chance of the half. Things got a bit feisty with one or two spicy tackles going in as the visitors became frustrated. Jay Stansfield was giving Latibeaudiere a torrid afternoon and following a tussle with the Blues striker the Coventry man pushed his opponent into the boardings behind the goal at the Tilton. Handbags at close range resulted and each received a booking for their endeavours. Shortly afterwards, Krystian Bielik, who had been imperious at centre back all afternoon broke from deep, popped the ball off to Tyler Roberts in the inside left channel who provided the pass of the afternoon to find Jay Stansfield around the corner of the six yard box. The young striker beat his marking defender and the onrushing keeper to it and slipped the ball under Bradley Collin’s body for 3-0. Coventry’s challenge petered out and with five substitutions from 75 minutes onwards to provide fresh legs, Blues saw out the match, preserved their clean sheet and procured the three points. Blues nearly made it four with a header from substitute, Scott Hogan from a clipped cross from Paik which Collins saved.
During the afternoon, we had been keeping an eye on the other scores around us. Sheffield Wednesday had taken the lead against Stoke at home but the Potters had pegged them back meaning that we had climbed out of the bottom three. Then Huddersfield scored at Bristol City and we were back in the relegation zone despite our win. As we turned on the radio in the car we discovered that Bristol had been awarded a penalty in the 100th minute to secure a draw, deny Huddersfield two points and lift Blues once again out of the bottom three! The doom and gloom I was feeling after Wednesday and the fact that we all seemed fairly reconciled to relegation had now changed. The league table has a different complexion but we are still in serious trouble. We cannot afford complacency against relegated Rotherham next week and whatever happens we will have to be at our very best against Huddersfield who clearly have a huge vested interest in beating us. As for Norwich at home on the last day; let’s hope we can enjoy it with another bumper crowd eh?
The Good: The atmosphere of a packed St Andrew’s. This was easily Blues’ best performance of the season. We need three more like this lads.
The Bad: The missed chances. I hate to sound critical after such a comprehensive win but this could have been four or five. Ruddy’s poor header which nearly let Coventry back into the game.
The Ugly: The altercation between Jay Stansfield and Joel Laitbeaudiere. Unnecessary but fortunately it didn’t boil over.
Birmingham City: John Ruddy 7, Ethan Laird 7, Dion Sanderson 7, Lee Buchanan 7, Krytian Bielik 9, Ivan Sunjic, 8 Kojo Miyoshi 7 (Juninho Bacuna 82, N/A) Keshi Anderson 8 (Jordan James 76, 7) Tyler Roberts 8 ( George Hall 76, 7) Paik Seung-Ho 8 (Gary Gardner 88, N/A) Jay Stansfield 8 (Scott Hogan, 82, N/A)
Subs not used: Neil Etheridge, Andre Dozzell, Siriki Dembele, Emanuel Aiwu.
Goals: Thomas o.g. 13, Sunjic 41, Stansfield 59
Yellow cards: Sunjic 18, Stansfield 54, Miyoshi 79.
Coventry City: Bradley Collins 6, Joel Latibeaudiere 6, Bobby Thomas 6 (Fabio Tavares HT, 7) Liam Kitching, 6, Jake Bidwell 6 (Jay da Silva HT, 7) Ben Sheaf 7, Victor Torp 6 (Josh Eccles HT, 7) Haji Wright 7, Kasey Palmer 6 (Callum O’Hare 72, 6) Milan van Ewijk 6, Ellis Sims 6
Subs not used: Luis Binks, Liam Kelly, Ben Wilson, Matt Godden, Kai Andrews.
Goals: None
Yellow cards: Latibeaudiere 54, Eccles 72.
Referee: Thomas Brammall 7; I thought I was going to have to report a poor performance here as at the start there were at least three minor decisions that appeared bizarre or just plain wrong and Coventry should have had an early yellow card and then he booked Sunjic a couple of minutes later for a similar offence. However, the officials improved as the match went on and contributed to a good game of football. The referee was overall fair and consistent so there’s nothing to gripe about with the man in the middle and his assistants in the final analysis.
Attendance: 26,811.
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