Coventry City 0 - 2 Southend United

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Coventry City 0 - 2 Southend United

Postby dutchman » Tue Mar 14, 2017 8:44 pm

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Re: Coventry City v Southend United (kick-off 7.45pm)

Postby rebbonk » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:42 pm

It was very noticeable tonight that there was a lack of fans around. - I counted two in the local!
Of course it'll fit; you just need a bigger hammer.
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Re: Coventry City 0 - 2 Southend United

Postby dutchman » Tue Mar 14, 2017 11:22 pm

Sky Blues lose twice in three days

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Coventry City were expecting a backlash from Southend United but no-one expected Mark Robins’s men to be 2-0 down inside the first 23 minutes at the Ricoh Arena.

Shrimpers’ boss Phil Brown tore into his players after their weekend defeat at Bristol Rovers, saying he was ‘shocked’ and ‘disgusted’ after witnessing a ‘dishonest’ performance. And he got the perfect reaction from his play-off chasing side who charged into a second minute lead and then doubled their advantage 21 minutes later from a fierce 30-yard free-kick.

Robins was unhappy with the way his side defended against Bradford on Saturday and he won’t be best pleased with the way Theo Robinson was allowed to mug Jordan Turnbull just as he was shaping up to clear down the line. Having out-muscled the centre-back near the touchline and well away from danger, the striker made a dash for the box and squared the ball to Nile Ranger who hit a precise finish past Lee Burge to inflict the early set-back. That set the tone for the visitors who were big and physical all over the park and clearly determined to make amends as they pushed forward looking to increase their lead and never let City settle for a second in the early exchanges as Robinson had a long-range effort deflected wide for a corner, from which Ranger headed over as United dominated the opening 20 minutes.

City’s cause wasn’t helped as they conceded a couple of free-kicks within shooting range, the second of which in the 23rd minute saw midfielder Ryan Leonard hit a powerful shot that took a wicked deflection to loop round Burge and into the top corner. What followed was as abject a performance as you can imagine as Coventry simply had no response. Robins made five changes to his side from the weekend as well as switching formation to 3-5-2 in a bid to secure his first win.

There was a return for Gael Bigirimana in the midfield where he linked up with Ben Stevenson, the pair getting their foot on the ball and trying to settle things down but United were relentless with their pressing and City struggled to deal with the pace and physicality of the front two and were guilty of giving away possession far too freely with stray passes in a truly dreadful first half display that incurred the wrath of the fans, who booed at the break, and Robins who, no doubt, will have had a few choice words for his players in the interval.

It had to go down as one of the worst 45 minute showings of the season – and there have been a few – as City looked shell-shocked and unable to react to the early goals against a side who out-fought and out-muscled them all over the park. Turnbull, who’d had a shocker for the first goal, failed to return for the second period, replaced by forward Kwame Thomas as Robins changed back to a flat back four, and when Callum Reilly hit a low but tame shot on target in the 48th minute – only City’s second of the game – it provoked ironic cheers from the home fans who sang, “We’ve had a shot... We’ve had a shot...”

Marcus Tudgay used all his experience to hold up the ball and did his level best to create openings while Bigirimana sent in a decent delivery that skimmed off the head of Anton Ferdinand as the Sky Blues attempted to restore a bid of pride. The one player who supporters couldn’t fault for effort was the diminutive right-back Dion Kelly-Evans who rose to the physical battle, throwing himself into a crunching challenge to earn himself a yellow card and grappled with heavyweight front man Ranger despite the mis-match in size.

Stevenson also showed a bit of bite when he won a 50-50 that left full-back Ben Coker requiring treatment and the referee allowing play on for the talented midfielder to get a cross into the box, albeit headed clear by United’s dominant centre-back Ryan Innis. Robins made a second change just after the hour when he sent on another forward, George Thomas, for Bigirimana who hadn’t had his best game for the club, while former City centre-forward Marc-Antoine Fortune replaced Ranger shortly after for the visitors.

Another ex-City player, Frank Nouble, received a warm reception and a song from the suffering home fans when he went on to replace Stephen McLaughlin with seven minutes to go, the striker having had an exciting, if hot and cold spell with the club in 2014/15. Coventry huffed and puffed but never really looked like scoring against another side who saw the game out comfortably on a night when they took another step towards mathematical confirmation of the club’s relegation to League Two, the defeat leaving them now a huge 17 points off the safety cut-off point occupied by Oldham who beat Oxford to stretch the gap.

Attendance: 7,646 (449 away)

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