FA Premier Academy League, South  
         Alan Higgs Centre, Coventry 
     Saturday 20th October 2007, 11.30am

      COVENTRY CITY    v      SPURS   
    (All Light Blue)       (All White) 
        4-4-2                 4-5-1
 
          1(1)                3(0)
 
          Neil Collett 1 David Button
                       2 Adam Smith
         Chris Hollist 3 Daniel Hutchins
           Andy Richie 4 Yasser Kasim(C)
    Jermaine Grandison 5 Yuri Berchiche
      Liam Robinson(C) 6 Takura Mtandari
           Ashley Cain 7 Kyle Fraser-Allen
           Adam Walker 8 Sam Cox
           Reis Ashraf 9 Alex Olsen
        Shaun Jeffers 10 David Hutton
        Dean Marshall 11 Jonathan Obika

    Keiran Fitzharris 12 Ryan Mason
           (11)56Mins    (2)66Mins
                      13    
                      14 Danny Rose
            (8)77Mins    (7)46Mins
                      15 Joe Martin
            (4)80Mins
                      16 Sol Asajile 

Coach:-
             J.Rioch     A.Inglethorpe

Scorers:-
    Ashraf 6 (pen.)     Olsen 59
                        Mtandari 80
                        Rose 89

Booked:-
Fitzharris 60(Raised hand)

Referee:- Mr. T.Simmons

It was a warm sunny morning at Coventry - real shirt-sleeve weather in October. A crowd of around sixty gathered in warm coats to watch the visitors take on the bottom club in the table. As there were no teamsheets I have had to improvise and so apologise in advance for any errors. It didn’t help that the pitch was in a sunken hollow surrounded by a fence.

Because a couple of players are away on England duty, Inglethorpe had to re-jig his team a little. Berchiche lined up alongside Mtandari at the back with Smith at right back and Hutchins on the left. Cox joined Kasim in the centre of midfield with Fraser-Allen on the right wing and Obika on the left. Olsen played up front with Hutton in the hole.

Spurs defended the left goal and took a little time to get accustomed to the surface. The home side pressed their advantage with strong runs by Marshall on the left and Ashraf in the centre. They took the lead when Marshall had got down the left and was tripped by Mtandari as he got into the area. Ashraf put the penalty to Button’s right.

Coventry had the better of the opening period as the visitors' defence struggled to hold them conceding a couple of free kicks close to the area. Half-way through the half spurs had their first chance when Collet pushed over an effort from Cox. This led to a spell of Spurs pressure when the home side were pinned into their own half for much of the time. Cox fired over and Olsen was put through but hit his effort weakly. Kasim had a shot diverted wide and Berchiche forced a save after a foray up field and Smith fired over in stoppage time.

Rose came on for the second half in place of Fraser-Allen and went into the hole behind Olsen with Hutton moving to the right side as they did last week at Leicester with great success. The first chance fell to Smith who ran the length of the pitch exchanging passes with Hutton and Rose before Collett saved at his feet. Hutton followed that with a shot that went across the goal. Obika fed Rose who then took the ball left and fired it across the face of the goal for Olsen to force in at the far post.

The Sky Blues responded well with Ashraf hitting a shot wide before striking the underside of the bar with a snap shot from the edge of the area. Mason came on for Smith going into the midfield with Cox dropping to right back. Rose put another effort over the bar and Collett collected a Hutton free kick at the far post. Ashraf hit another shot wide before Spurs had a number of corners which Hutton varied. Mtandari flicked one over at the near post before heading in from a more central position two minutes later.

Coventry’s last chance came from a corner which Grandison headed over. With less than five minutes to go Collett saved from Olsen. Spurs made the game safe when Mason turned the ball back from the right side for Rose to score low to the keepers right in the last minute.

Spurs did well after a shaky start. They had problems keeping on their feet and the ball did not run evenly. Marshall was a threat with his pace which won the penalty and a couple of free kicks early on and always caused problems until he was replaced. Once Spurs got the hang of the conditions they slowly got a grip of the game and were the better side for over half the time. David Hutton again gave a star performance causing the Coventry defence all sorts of problems which opened gaps for others like Obika and Cox. Danny Rose looks like a good capture as well as he is strong and pacy and has scored twice in two 45 minute spells.

Spurs remain fourth in the table and entertain MK Dons at Spurs Lodge next Saturday. Before that the Reserves will play Portsmouth on Tuesday at Leyton Orient’s Brisbane Road. Pompey may have ex-spur Mendes in their line-up along with Pamarot and the likes of Nugent and Taylor.

Ray

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