COTON GREEN 2-3 COVENTRY UNITED: match report by The Mowdog...

Coventry Nearly Caught By Resurgent Coton Green

Coton Green 2 Coventry United 3

Don't look now but there's a horse in the crowd...

The toss, although the United skipper doesn't get too close.
Can't blame him...

Huddled beneath the Green Coton shelter (geddit?), with rain dripping from the roof and an advertising hoarding making my view awkward because I am not 6 feet tall, I stood with a number of spectators who witnessed rather a strange game at New Mill Lane. I had lived for two years in Tamworth but still hadn’t found the ground easily, yet eventually I settled with this jaunty band of hardy, wet Bank Holiday diehards, a horse and a Mothercare container, to watch a confident Coventry pass cleverly, take a 0-2 lead early, begin to over-play in attack, then become ragged. Coton Green realised that long balls would skid past their forwards, so eventually utilised Damien Jarrett as a pivot and began to compete. He wore 9, played as a 10, or in 1950’s maths, a 4 or an 8, even maybe a 6. A third United goal after the break should have settled the affair but carelessness on offense, a weird dismissal for goalscorer Melusi Mazwi and the withdrawal of effective midfielders Andrew Woodall and Rob Prinzel allowed Coton Green back into the contest with zest and they netted twice from set-pieces to create a desperate final moment, in which Marcus Shaw, the home skipper, failed to head home an undeserved equaliser for the plucky hosts.

 

The free-kick which would begin the scoring...

Hesitation in the home defence led to Brian Ndlovu’s possession and a 24 yard shot past the left post, as Coventry’s movement, especially between Muziwandile Nduna, Ndlovu and Mazwi caused all sorts of problems for the hosts, with midfielders Prinzel and Woodall backing them with strong and inventive play, whilst right-back Pierre Moudime supported powerfully on the flank. Shaw fouled Dan Stokes, 19 yards out, inside-right channel and Woodall simply side-footed a smart shot to the right of the defensive-wall, which ‘keeper Ben Caulwell must have seen late as it squirmed beneath him to give the visitors a 0-1 lead. It was soon 0-2 and Coton Green were reeling and dizzy as United dazzled them like a conjurer pulling playing-cards from behind their ears and doves from their red sleeves. Ndlovu passed to Nduna, whose feed to Stokes was stopped but the ball flew left to Mazwi, who exchanged lazy passes with Nduna and found himself 12 yards out and unchallenged to fire into the left corner of the net, with the home defence a set of warm-up cones.

 

0-1: Woodall...

0-2: Mazwi...

Jake Walker was cautioned for a foul on Woodall, as the Green, wearing er, red, began to flounder and the home defence escaped miraculously as the next wave of the Coventry offensive wand caused all sorts of chaos. Ndula and Ndlovu combined on the left and the latter passed out to the right flank and Moudime, whose low pass into the 6 yard box was shot at goal by Ndlovu but Caulwell saved with his legs on the goal-line; the ball found its way out to Moudime again, who combined with Prinzel but the midfielder’s low centre rolled across the goalmouth untouched for Mazwi to retrieve and pass low to the calling Prinzel, now in the middle and the tall playmaker fired a hard 8 yard shot which beat Caulwell but was superbly cleared from the goal-line by defender Gianluca Loveridge. Ndlovu then set up Moudime from the rebound but the defender miscued his shot and Coton Green survived.

Walker receives a card as yellow as my jumper...

Quite suddenly, the hosts attacked and Walker pushed a pass from the right for tall forward Lee Styche, whose low shot was pulled wide of the left upright from 18 yards. Weak midfield tackling by Coventry soon allowed Jarrett to exploit space in the middle and his 25 yarder clipped the upper edge of the crossbar on its way into the car-park, where the money-detective still hovered to eke cash from people hiding in vehicles which had sneaked in late. Moudime broke effectively on the right again for United but his pass inside to Stokes was just too far ahead of the striker, who worked hard all afternoon for little reward. United goalie Joe Connor caught Jarrett’s clipped centre, Ndlovu broke dangerously for the visitors but the move fizzled out and then a great pass from Green’s Walker, threaded through the middle for Styche, saw a brilliant tackle by Stevy Djedje save the day for Coventry.

Prinzel lost out in midfield but Jarrett could only shoot straight at Connor then Ndlovu almost freed Stokes, a small striker, who was adjudged to have fouled the rather larger Shaw, who had fallen to the ground like Ashley Young on a bad day. An incredible dribble by Mazwi from the right, in which he seemed to have no control of the ball at all, yet left two defenders grounded as if under a falling spell, then walked past two others, frozen like they’d seen Medusa’s face, ended too casually, for a one-two with Stokes failed. Then Moudime drove a shot well wide. A really bad foul by Shaw, who was becoming quite an influential figure in this game, on Woodall, earned a caution but it was Coton Green who threatened next with a low right-wing corner from Jarrett, which Styche lifted way over the crossbar from 12 yards or so at the near stick. As the half wound down, Walker’s left-wing corner somehow evaded the by now rather harassed Coventry defence and landed on Green’s Theo Price’s head but looped then bounced past the left upright, with everybody watching, like a badger had been spotted in the undergrowth.

Half-time arrived, people clambered over orange fencing to claim drinks and food, rain continued to drip and cool the afternoon, but United’s early dominance had been nullified by an improving Coton Green showing. In truth, clumsy play in the attacking zone by the visitors had spoiled their performance and they seemed to lack one midfielder, a go-to creator, to boss the game with a calm resolution. Despite that, they really did move forward with some excitement on occasions…

After the break, Ndlovu chased a fine and long Prinzel pass towards the right-flank but with Caulwell stranded, a defender forced the United striker to nudge a messy touch well wide. A short Prinzel free-kick, deep at inside-left for Stokes led to a fine Shaw tackle for Coton Green then Ndlovu broke away from deep, raced towards the penalty-box but stumbled, like his roller skates had encountered a hidden twig, lost control and the ball rolled to the grateful Caulwell. Styche and Jarrett combined smartly for the latter to turn and fire a 20 yard effort too high, before Shaw was involved negatively for the hosts and suddenly, the interesting Nduna was away and clear and he tucked his right-footer past the advancing Caulwell from 16 yards into the bottom left corner of the net.

0-3: Nduna...

Nduna then set off on a great run from defence, which surely ought to have brought a fourth goal; visiting skipper Kobe Ntim blocked a Styche shot and Nduna picked up the loose ball and veered past Walker, was fouled by slim home midfielder Charlie Shaw but remained on his feet, evaded a sliding tackle by Gavin Brown and ran on superbly, before feeding Stokes to his right, but a saving tackle on the forward prevented a goal. Some run by Nduna though… Stokes and Mazwi set up a chance for Nduna at 18 yards but the ball scuffed off a right-boot and well wide, like it had deflated as he struck it. Woodall had not been able to sustain his influence for Coventry and he was badly fouled again, this time by Brown, yet it was speedy left-back Ben Vallance who was replaced by Ash McBride for the guests.

Stuff going on...

Ndlovu then created an opportunity on the right for United, passing the ball towards Stokes, who lifted a clever near post flick upwards to the far upright, where Mazwi dived to head the ball, only for Caulwell to save really well with a defender’s typical sliding tackle. Substitutions then messed up play, Mazwi shot gently at Caulwell and we saw the withdrawal of Price and Walker for Coton Green, who were replaced by Simon Latchford and Aaron Cartwright, whilst United’s Gift Mussa replaced Woodall. Then Marcus Shaw was unable to capitalise from a decent Latchford corner, as the hosts scrapped it out. The game erupted into farce after Prinzel had been replaced by Scott Lindley for the visitors; Mazwi challenged Marcus Shaw, apparently innocuously, but the defender suddenly began to yell, then hop about on one leg like an aimless bellowing kangaroo, which seemed amusing at first, until it became clear that Mazwi’s studs might have made an appearance upon the home skipper’s shinguard and the quiet United schemer was dismissed by an uncertain looking referee.

The ref says: "Are you hurt, or did you want a quick chat?"

Mazwi (7) looks confused at his dismissal...

More good work on the right by Ndlovu led to a side-footed effort at goal by Lindley, which was well blocked at 17 yards by home defender Dylan McLoughlin, then Dan Gilbert replaced Kieran Parish for the hosts. Incredibly, from a simple punted free-kick, Coton Green made the game interesting again, for the second period had been laborious and mistake-riddled, in fairness. McLoughlin’s deep free-kick was nodded on by Jarrett, after cleverly nudging Mussa and the ball dropped onto Marcus Shaw’s foot for a venomous volley from 8 yards, which ripped high into the Coventry net.

Shaw bares a thigh in celebration: 1-3...

Latchford, seeing red, didn’t see yellow for his anger, before a Lindley corner from the United right found the head of defender Djedje, only for the effort to bounce just past the left upright. With United struggling to retain any composure, a needless corner was conceded by a hurried, hacked clearance and Latchford’s flag-kick was challenged for by Gilbert and Djedje; the ball bounced loose off a defender and Cartwright fired a left-footer, straight at colleague Brown on the 6 yard line, from whence the defender spun and shot smartly into the right corner of the net, past the covering defenders on the goal-line.

Brown, left, struts his stuff: 2-3...

In the closing moments, Gilbert’s long left-side throw was cleared back to him and his really accurate left-boot delivery looked to be perfect for Marcus Shaw to equalise with an emphatic header but the defender was probably deceived by Djedje’s jump and was unable to get any purchase on the ball at all and the chance to complete a very unlikely comeback was lost. The game ended with Coventry sighing in some kind of relief, no doubt, for what appeared to be a walk in a rainy park for 20 minutes, ended up being like in a rowing-boat tossed about in the surf at Mawgan Porth in Cornwall. Apart from the clever, skilful opening period, the visitors really did become unhinged and careless, which the hosts benefited from and although the substitutions and dismissal certainly deprived United of three important midfielders, Coton Green weren’t quite able to capitalise and regain parity. Coventry looked unsure at times in central defence and Coton Green’s Styche latched onto the ball all too easily in those areas but well done to the Shaws for the Tamworth-based team: Charlie was a decent passer and Marcus a colossus, certainly the landmark performer for the home team. Ndlovu and Stokes failed to trouble the scoreline but worked hard nonetheless, Moudime was powerful on the right side but the quick one-twos and skills of the early part of this game by Coventry will be remembered.

Friends at the end...

I wondered what the horse thought of the match, then you know what? I climbed the orange barrier and fled to my car. How dreadful was that… But then again, although it’s not what I do, it’s what I did…