COVENTRY SKY BLUES 4-3 AFC BINLEY: MATCH REPORT & IMAGES...

Speedy Coventry Sky Blues Pip ’Driving With the Brakes On’ AFC Binley…

Coventry Sky Blues 4-3 AFC Binley

Listening to Del Amitri’s best 17 songs on CD during the drive to Coventry led me to believe that the titles of each track might be relevant to my match report, so ‘Here and Now’, despite being ‘Stone Cold Sober’, I’ll persevere to get them all in. If anyone gets really fed up, that’s fine because I’ve always wanted to rain on ‘Some Other Sucker’s Parade’ but I suppose it’ll ‘Be My Downfall’ in the end…

Certainly during much of the first-half of this game, Binley were ‘Not Where It’s At’, for the two Coventry strikers Tahji Smith, all chunk and wriggle and quick-fire legs, alongside Uyissa Osawe, all power and no nonsense and the pace of a New York Giants tight-end, caused the Binley defence some real problems. Osawe netted a hat-trick and Smith nabbed a smart left-footer too to shove their team 4-1 ahead during the second period, after which Binley seemed to throw caution to the wind, or ‘Spit In the Rain’, resulting in a couple of goals to make the latter stages of the encounter a little worrying for the hosts.

EDWIN GREAVES HEAD-BUTTS BLAKE KASSAR FROM BEHIND...

SMITH, MOORE & OSAWE PREPARE FOR THE TOSS WITH BINLEY'S YOUNG (HIDDEN...)

Only forty minutes each way were played, due to the likely lack of daylight by 1930 hours which begs the thought that with the extra ten minutes added on, maybe Binley’s late offensive push would have resulted in gaining a point… Or maybe Osawe would have shrugged off his nasty late miss and buried another chance… We’ll never know. What is certain though is that Binley took some time to stoke up their energies after a day’s work, even though their hosts had begun in haste with good pressing and quick attacking. 2-0 down, a header by skipper Steven Young gave the Jimmy Blues some hope before the break but a pair of killer goals in the opening period of the second-half all but put paid to the visitors’ hopes. In fairness though, the guests made a real fist of spoiling their hosts’ party with goals by Tyler Morgan and replacement Jaydon Bickley but in the end they fell short. When you really want to make that final telling recovery, you sometimes come to realise that ‘Nothing Ever Happens’… 

OFF WE GO THEN...

WAITING FOR A SET-PIECE...

Strangely though, Blake Kassar had latched onto a long kick by Binley ‘keeper Tony Johnson in the early stages but his lift over home goalie Enoch Nkatia cleared the crossbar too. Before Osawe opened the scoring from a run at inside-left, Smith had already exploited that channel but Johnson had advanced to get a partial save on the lively striker’s low shot, so that Binley left-back Dan Vincent was able to screw the ball off his goal-line. Right-sider Callum Mack was making inroads into the AFC defence too and the visitors were not quite alive to covering quickly taken short corners either. When the goal arrived it was a pass from Isa Abraham which freed Osawe into a bullish run in that exploited inside-left position and his measured, low right-footer beat Johnson from 12 yards.   

WHICH OF THESE GUYS HAS GOOD BALL-HANDLING SKILLS?

1-0...

OSAWE THE SCORER...

Nkatia did fumble a cross by Andrew Godfrey near the lurking Kassar but was astute and quick enough to pounce on the loose ball, like a leopard leaping upon its prey. He collected a low Kassar centre from the left too but it was Johnson who was proving to be the busier gloveman, first tipping a low Osawe shot for a corner, following a pass by Joey Waters then touching an 18 yard effort by Falikou Donzo for a corner with the aid of his left upright. When Smith again wrestled, wrangled and wrought a gap into the Binley 18 yard box onto a pass from the splendidly named Kyah Devonte Campbell-Williams, yet again at inside-left, the resulting challenge by AFC’s Curtis Smallwood was declared illegal by the referee and subsequently Osawe took responsibility for the spot-kick. Osawe shot smartly into the right corner of the net, as Johnson drifted in the other direction.

NEAT STYLE...

2-0 & A PENALTY BY...

...OSAWE...

As the guests began to harry, hurry and harass more frequently, a free-kick by visiting playmaker Will Waddell saw a clearance cannon off a Jimmy Blue player for a goal-kick, then Waddell drove too high from distance, before a right-side centre by Kyle Metcalf towards Morgan beyond the far post was headed behind by the Binley forward. The AFC goal stemmed from another Waddell free-kick assist, whereby skipper Young rose over Coventry’s Jean-Luc Lukusa to head a near post effort downwards into the right-corner of the net. 

2-1 NOW...

YOUNG HAS SCORED...

SEEMS A LITTLE EMBARRASSED...

It remained only for good work by Smith to release Osawe again but at inside-right this time and although he drove his shot wide of the left stick, the Binley linesman’s flag was waving for offside anyway. As the half ended, Justin Lang drove way too high for the visitors and a short recess was ordered by the referee with an eye on the setting sun. I hadn’t known at that point that the half would be forty minutes long, not forty-five and as Del Amitri once sang, I seemed to be ‘Always the Last To Know’… 

SMITH RECKONS HE'D LIKE A WRESTLING SCHOLARSHIP TO UCLA...
(JOKING...) 

MORE OF THE SAME AFTER THE BREAK...

LESS OF THE SAME AFTER THE BREAK...

The referee, watched by three marking officials propped on chairs at the half-way line, did well on the night and ‘Just Like A Man’ he dealt with any potential flashpoints with seeming confidence. And so the restart brought some offense from the Jimmy Blues, when a delivery by Waddell was brilliantly flicked out for a right-wing corner, facing his own goal by the right boot of the Coventry skipper Edry Moore, who performed steadily and with great concentration throughout the match, pushing Kassar deeper and rarely offering the skilful Binley forward a chance to score. The ensuing corner by Waddell was headed over the home crossbar by Vincent.

BALL CONFUSION...

Just when it seemed that Binley might make their hosts sweat a little, a huge thumping punt by Nkatia bounced awkwardly and high over the head of AFC defender Arron Laming and this allowed the rampaging Osawe the opportunity to bustle by and nod the ball over the advancing Johnson into the empty net. AFC’s skipper Young had been replaced at the interval by Bickley, yet before he could influence the game at all, his team weren’t only 3-1 behind but soon they trailed 4-1, when Laming’s clearance was weak and fell to Osawe 19 yards out, who heard Smith’s tuneful voice call ‘Roll To Me’… Osawe’s rolled pass into the penalty-box was taken by his strike partner with his buttocks pressed into a defender and in no time at all he had swivelled and powered a 16 yard left-footed drive into the upper reaches of the right side of the net, with Johnson unable to check the flight of the ball.

3-1: OSAWE AGAIN...

4-1: SMITH THE SCORER...

CHECK HIS GOAL CELEBRATION ON THE MOVIE CLIP...

Smallwood was replaced by Binley’s Simon Lightowler and either side of Smith’s withdrawal for the introduction of the beast that was Phinehas Fletcher, Abraham cut inside from the left and drove a fine shot just over the crossbar from 25 yards but then after a neat run, Donzo was unable to trouble Johnson with his 18 yard effort. However, Metcalf began to influence the game a lot more for the visitors and a cross from the right by Bickley landed right on Morgan’s boot, 3 yards from goal at the far post but the forward miscued badly and allowed Lukusa to get the ball clear. And then AFC struck… 

ABRAHAM IS ABOUT TO CUT INSIDE AND SHOOT JUST TOO HIGH...

Morgan, whose wholehearted efforts had been noticeable a few times, held off the near post challenge of Lukusa as he fastened onto Lightowler’s right-side delivery and was able to slot the ball beneath the lunge of Nkatia to reduce the deficit. If you ‘Cry To Be Found’ then often a pass will find you, I guess…

4-2: GOAL BY MORGAN...

Both teams withdrew players: Abraham for Coventry and Vincent for Binley, allowing Tahlil Salaad and Prince Kandemiiri respectively to enter the game. A powerful and positive Osawe run ended with a rising drive too high from 23 yards, Kassar reached the left byeline for AFC but his cross was deflected by the dependable Moore to concede a corner and after Haji Kamara had replaced Coventry’s Donzo, a clipped delivery from the left by Binley’s Morgan forced Nkatia to tip the ball over his crossbar. The Jimmy Blues ensured a tense ending by netting a third goal which was engineered by Metcalf with a pass on the right to Bickley, whose cross towards the far post bounced into goal off the upright, as Nkatia scrambled in vain to keep the ball out of his net. 

LUKUSA IS ATTENDED TO...

4-3: GOALSCORER BICKLEY WORSHIPS HIS RIGHT BOOT...

The final action however involved a right-flank corner from Kamara, whose flag-kick deflected off Metcalf into the path of Osawe, just 6 yards out but the hat-trick man lifted his attempt too high, even though at first I thought it was Fletcher’s shot, for which I apologise… 

DUSK FALLS...

THE SKY BLUES' RED IS VISIBLE...

...BUT BINLEY'S BLUES ARE MENTAL AS WELL AS PHYSICAL...

There was poor light by this time, there was no more time left either and in truth, Binley’s resurgence had materialised too late, meaning they had to ‘Kiss This Thing Goodbye’… Maybe ‘When You Were Young’ playing football after school was no problem but asking both sets of adult players to perform physically well at 6pm after a workday can result in some unpredictability… Coventry relished their deserved victory, sending Binley away with a rendition of Del Amitri’s ‘Move Away Jimmy Blue’ (not really…) and it was doubtless the power of Osawe and the guile of Smith which spearheaded the home victory, whereas the AFC forwards Kassar and Morgan were too often bit players in an uncoordinated display. The hosts’ midfield was keen and challenging, whereas the AFC playmakers took a while to fashion any real creativity. 

MOORE DID A GOOD JOB ON KASSAR...

Reece Hendrickson was solid for the Sky Blue Reds, Mack was lively, as was Joey Waters in midfield but there were issues in the Binley defence which failed to deal with the power of Osawe and the low centre of gravity of Smith…

Binley manager Edwin Greaves’ wife probably sent him a text to say ‘Don’t Come Home Too Soon’ (written by Del Amitri as a World Cup song for the Scotland football team, interestingly) but I’d have said to Edwin, ‘Tell Her This’: I’m as mad and disappointed as a ‘Hatful Of Rain’ (the album’s title…)

ALL THE SONG TITLES APPEAR ABOVE...
REALLY.

Edwin’s comments on the match appear below…

TEAMS:

COVENTRY SKY BLUES:

ENOCH NKATIA, EDRY MOORE (CAPT), CALLUM MACK, JEAN-LUC LUKUSA, REECE HENDRICKSON, JOEY WATERS, KYAH DEVONTE CAMPBELL-WILLIAMS, ISA ABRAHAM, TAHJI SMITH, FALIKOU DONZO, UYIOSA OSAWE.

SUBS:

TAHLIL SALAAD, EVANS DEBRAH, PHINEHAS FLETCHER, AARON ALI, HAJI KAMARA.

AFC BINLEY:

TONY JOHNSON, ANDREW GODFREY, DAN VINCENT, STEVEN YOUNG (CAPT), ARRON LAMING, CURTIS SMALLWOOD, JUSTIN LANG, WILL WADDELL, BLAKE KASSAR, TYLER MORGAN, KYLE METCALF.

SUBS:

SIMON LIGHTOWLER, JAYDON BICKLEY, PRINCE KANDEMIIRI. 

THE VIEWS OF EDWIN GREAVES:

“Tonight's game was an anticlimax after Saturday's good result.

For the best part of an hour we were second best to a good young Coventry Sky Blues side which was effective in what it did best.

My side only started to play at 4-1 down and finished the stronger of the two sides but it was too little too late.

We were below par in defence, we were below par in midfield and we were below par in attack, so that Coventry Sky Blues deserved their victory.

All in all a performance which sums up my team but once again I know the lads will try to bounce back on Saturday.

They know they can do better, I know they can do better, so together we will move on and get stronger together.

I am so glad we only have 2 days before our next game… No time to feel sorry for ourselves, just learn and move on.”

Edwin Greaves 

AFC Binley.

 

EDWIN MAKES A NOTE OF THE JAVELIN WHICH HAS JUST PIERCED HIS BACK...