COVENTRY UNITED 6-1 ATHERSTONE TOWN: light-hearted match report by THE MOWDOG...

Adders Addled By Uncaged Coventry…

Coventry United 6-1 Atherstone Town

A new-look Coventry line-up, enlivened on the left flank by the often thrilling runs of Connoll Farrell and served by Muzzy Nduna’s astute passing throughout, benefited from two quick goals near the end of a competitive first-half, in which the combative visitors forced the game into a physical battle at times. Both teams had netted early on but after the interval, United’s swift attacks saw Town reel and with the introduction of Charlie Cook and Ross Briscoe for two-goal men Josh O’Grady and Josh Blake adding further misery, Atherstone were well beaten by the end. They did force a double-save from home goalie Rich Morris late on, in the gloomy Tree-End at Sphinx Drive but they also had their own ‘keeper Phil Smith to thank for his fine saves from Farrell, Cook and Briscoe. At this level, for Coventry to be missing Brian Ndlovu and Leon Kelly, plus being able to call upon replacements such as Martin Hutchcox, Cook, Briscoe, Kiam Galdins and Gift Mussa, Atherstone probably felt up against it right from the start. A disappointment was the referee’s interpretation of cautions; he allowed several rough challenges to go unpunished by both teams, warned a couple of Adders, then booked Coventry’s Cook for his first challenge and Jean Dakouri near the end for persistent fouling! The official was named Brian … Made one’s blood Boyle. 

The ref is on the boil...

Anyhow, I was suddenly made aware this week that the first English bicycle was made in Coventry, around 1870. It had a large front wheel but a small back wheel, albeit with solid rubber tyres. Known as the ‘Ariel’, it was reminiscent of a ‘Penny Farthing’, so for this game against The Adders, Coventry United will be referred to as The Ariel…

The Ariel broke from the first of many free-kicks in this encounter, this one for the visitors and Nduna’s neat control on the left touchline allowed Farrell to latch onto the ball and fire a fine pass with the outside of his left foot to O’Grady on the right-flank; the tricky wide-man finally crossed the ball, which deflected off Adders’ defender Lee Waters but Farrell, 7 yards out, far post, smacked a great volley off the face of the crossbar, with Smith helpless. Soon, despite niggling fouls, The Ariel offense clicked into gear again and the ball found its way to the left byeline and Farrell, where the left-sided attacker crossed the ball towards the on-rushing but sprawling Blake, taking ‘keeper Smith out of the equation. However, the ball fell to O’Grady on the right side of the penalty-box and his eventual low shot from 12 yards appeared to fly off Smith’s desperate lunge into the net.

Josh O'Tricky: 1-0...

Mark Latham, who should have been wearing 11 but wasn’t (he was wearing 18 in fact…) smashed a volley from distance way off target for the guests, for whom skipper Greg Webb was proving a force in midfield. Blake then fastened onto an unwise Adders back-pass but was unable to serve O’Grady inside him but soon a free-kick conceded in midfield by The Ariel cost them dearly. The free-kick was swung in towards the middle of the penalty-box from deep and inside-left, and defender Ash Gray rose to head the ball, which took a slight deflection off home skipper Cox and evaded ‘keeper Morris as it bounced into the left corner of the net. Ash Gray? Neat colour…

1-1: Gray with White, in yellow and blue...

Cox’s driving run ended with a 27 yard drive off target, as The Ariel attempted to regain the initiative but too many errors were evident from both teams and even O’Grady’s free-kick shooting ability deserted him, after Blake had been pushed from behind, 20 yards from goal. O’Grady’s shot was blocked by a defensive wall, he sliced his rebound attempt and Ben Vallance’s subsequent left-side centre drifted over the goal-frame. Cox lost out as he took the ball away from defence but Latham’s shot at goal again from distance, flew well past the right angle of bar and upright, before Farrell responded for The Ariel with a shot on the turn from 23 yards, which flew too high. Nduna was badly fouled by Adder Kurtis Mewes, who received only a mild telling-off from the referee but a long centre from the right by Town caused some consternation in the home defence, with Morris and his defenders hesitating but the ball bounced harmlessly past the left stick.

Kurtis Mewes (7) is warned...

Then, with players like Nduna and Farrell having to forage to find possession but then finding gang-tackling a real pain, the hosts powered into a 3-1 lead, as Tommy Cooper would have said: “Just like that…” First, a long cross from the right was well followed and controlled almost on the byeline by the dangerous Farrell, whose quick near post delivery was planted into the net with aplomb and with rat-like determination by Blake. Soon afterwards, the hosts broke from a defensive situation, O’Grady carried the ball centrally and threaded a clever pass through the inside-right channel for Blake to fasten onto. The striker cleverly tricked Smith and beat him, one-on-one, but fair play to Nduna, who had ghosted forward to capitalise upon any shooting mishap by his team-mate. Not that this would have occurred, of course…

Connoll Farrell (11): a menace...

The Rat for 2-1...

The Rat again: 3-1...

Those goals had surely stunned the Adders and despite the cruel blows, their attitude didn’t falter, with Mewes, Latham and Webb driving on their troops. Half-time soon arrived and it became obvious again just how dark the floodlit arena actually is at Sphinx Drive, especially at the end further away from the changing area. The second period belonged almost completely to the hosts, who dominated the opening stages and although their quality faded a little for a while, the offense was cranked up again by rattling several shots at the beleaguered Phil Smith.

This image captures the gloom...

A real scything,but fair, Pierre Moudime tackle set The Ariel moving after the break and Nduna, beginning to find more space, conjured up a fine pass, diagonally left for Farrell to run onto, only for the bravery of the onrushing Smith to deny the forward’s progress. In no time at all, the Adders’ hopes were dashed again, when Nduna’s instep knocked the ball over his own head at inside-right for O’Grady to fasten onto and he, at the edge of the 18 yard box, foxed the Adders’ defence, foxed onlookers, foxed goalie Smith, foxed even himself, surely, as he wove tight patterns on the soaking turf in a small space, then fired a low drive into the net. It appeared so simple. But it wasn’t.  

4-1 but Tricky to photograph in the gloom...

Nduna’s next subtle pass to the 18 yard line was nudged back by O’Grady to Blake, who served the ball left for Farrell to smash goalwards from inside-left and Smith did awfully well to fly and turn the rising effort over his crossbar. And then the hosts struck again. Dakouri had grown into this game, really missing Gift Mussa’s presence but taking on more responsibility himself as the game wore on and he was the recipient of a pass across the penalty-box by Mr Assist, Connoll Farrell and Dakouri’s first-time effort rapped the diving Smith’s left fingers from 15 yards, on its way high into the net. Once again, an alert Nduna had fashioned and angled the original pass left to Farrell. Sadly, the awfully dim surroundings caused the video focus to lose itself as Dakouri struck his shot, but the lead-up play is visible… Apologies to Jean Power-Arse Dakouri… 

5-1 by Jean Le Buttock and gloomy for the Adders...

Substitutions preceded and followed a wild shot too high by Adder Alan Millar, so that George Bradley replaced defender Ash Thorpe for the visitors, then after Bradley had miscued at the left byeline, like he’d slipped on ice, Blake was rested and on came Briscoe, who had missed Saturday’s win at Bolehall. Michael Pollard was withdrawn by Town, for the introduction of Lloyd Storey, a new chapter in the game, perhaps… Charlie Cook then replaced leading scorer O’Grady and although these changes arrived at a time that The Ariel had become a little slapdash, the substitutions coincided with a resurgence in the hosts’ attacking play and soon Cook was tackled as he threatened at inside-left, then he chased back to tackle an opponent, mistimed it and was instantly cautioned by the referee. Let’s hope that Mr Boyle didn’t name a son Lance…

Muzzy (10) finds more space in the encompassing gloom...

Pierre smiles, gloomily...

The Sphinx Drive gloom makes it tough to see your boots...

Gift Mussa, approaching his 13th birthday this week (not really, Atherstone fans…) replaced hard-foraging skipper Cox and Dakouri looked pleased to be sharing midfield with his side-kick again. The final portion of the match was enriched by some goalmouth action, of which there had not been a great deal in truth and first, Smith dived down to his right on the goal-line to keep out a downward Briscoe header with a strong right hand. Cook wasn’t able to get to the rebound but suddenly Briscoe set off on a run like a Saxon horse, a real Hoofy gallop (check the cartoon character in the match programme…) before passing left to Farrell whose shot on the run was well blocked by the lunging Webb. Smart footwork by the ever more elusive Nduna led to a feed for Cook whose 22 yard strike towards the left upright was superbly kept out by the diving Smith again.

The visitors, pluckily and gamely attempting to find a second goal, nearly did so with Michael Bloore being denied by the advancing bear of a Coventry goalie Morris, who also blocked Latham’s follow-up effort with a scrabbling leg. To add further insult to the Adders’ injuries United netted a sixth, if late goal. This time Mussa benefited from more decent control by Nduna whose pass inside to the substitute resulted in Briscoe holding his run at inside-right to perfection, so that Mussa’s assist freed the striker to move forward and plant a confident finish past Smith who had been left totally unprotected again. It remained only for Latham to take a break and for Connor McEnroe to replace him and the points were secured for The Ariel…

Hoofy Briscoe has added a 6th goal, somewhere in the gloom...

Apart from Nduna’s growing influence on the game and Farrell’s imminent left-side threat for the hosts, Jamie Coleman and Ben Vallance again looked quite solid on the defensive left side, whilst Moudime was as rampant as always on the right and constantly on his bike for The Ariel, but crucially, Callum Burgess was a real leader on the field, constantly urging on and coaching his colleagues from the right defensive position. Atherstone failed to submit, despite conceding three second period goals and with Mewes, Webb and Latham’s midfield efforts, the hosts never found offense easy. And their central defenders were Gray and White… Amazing. However, the later pace of Briscoe and Cook, added to that of Farrell really iced the Coventry cake…   

Caution: the book is out...
Gloomy.

The lights were quickly turned out to darken Sphinx Drive even more and the spectators trickled into the car-park to make their ways home. 

Me? Honey Monster Puffs and a Rich Tea biscuit. 

It’s what I sometimes do… 

TEAMS:

COVENTRY UNITED:

Rich Morris, Pierre Moudime, Ben Vallance, Chris Cox (Capt), Jamie Coleman, Callum Burgess, Josh O’Grady, Jean Dakouri, Josh Blake, Muzzy Nduna, Connoll Farrell.

SUBS:

Martin Hutchcox, Charlie Cook, Kiam Galdins, Ross Briscoe, Gift Mussa.

ATHERSTONE TOWN:

Phil Smith, Ash Thorpe, Lee Waters, Ash Gray, Harrison White, Michael Pollard, Kurtis Mewes, Michael Bloore, Alan Millar, Greg Webb (Capt), Mark Latham.

SUBS:

Lloyd Storey, Ryan Ball, Connor McEnroe, George Bradley.