Coventry City - 1 (Hughes pen 5.)
Crystal Palace - 0
At the start of this match Dele Adebola got a cross in to Dougie Freedman, but the danger was cleared by a well-marshalled defence, the ball being quickly punted upfield to Lee Hughes, forcing a good clearance by Matt Clarke. A free kick to Palace was taken by Danny Butterfield, but the ball went flying over the top without causing any undue concern to the Blues. Another attempt to find Hughes resulted in the referee judging that Darren Powell had fouled the attacker in the area, and a penalty was duly indicated. Hughes picked himself up, placed the ball on the spot, and sent Matt the wrong way, not hard to do as the keeper can only guess in these circumstances, and the match was less than five minutes old and we were 1-0 down.
A good ball into the centre found David Thompson lurking in the area, but his header went just wide of the mark, and the travelling Palace fans breathed a collective sigh of relief. Thompson again forced a fine piece of defensive work from Tony Popovic, but the ball fell to John Eustace, his shot going well over the top of the bar. Hayden Mullins dispossessed Julian Joachim before another attempt at a cross, this time by Muhamed Konjic, was cut out by Matt.
A shot from Hughes was deflected by Joachim, but fortunately Matt was equal to the task, and it was starting to seem as if all the run of play was going with the home side. Another free kick to Palace saw Morten Hyldgaard save an attempt by the two Danny's, Granville and Butterfield, to link up play. Dougie got on the end of a throw, but was unable to control the ball, and yet another chance was wasted.
Good play from Palace again came to nought, and then old favourite Dean Gordon got in the action, winning the ball in midfield, but his pass to Youssef Safri only resulted in the latter seeing his shot well saved by Matt. A corner to Coventry was very poorly delivered, and Palace once again came away with the ball, but there was not a player in sight to assist Dougie at the other end.
Good play between Dougie and Curtis Fleming saw the former get a cross in that Danny Granville really should have done more with, but again the chance was wasted.
Aki Riihilahti took a throw on the right, which found Dele, but he was immediately robbed of the ball, and Joachim was released down the field, his run coming to an abrupt stop when he met with Shaun Derry, who made good ground back to defend. Dougie then managed to run himself offside, but shortly after a good cross in, by Danny Butterfield, just missed the incoming Aki, looking for his first goal of the season.
A poor free kick, taken by Hayden, saw the ball go straight out of play, and then Darren "earned" yet another yellow card for a foul on Hughes. I wonder how many that is he has already collected this season? A good strike by Gordon, reminiscent of his Palace days, was well kept out by Matt, then our keeper had to be alert to snuff out the danger from a rapidly advancing Thompson. Danny B sent in a cross looking for Aki, but he would need to grow another couple of feet to meet a ball that high. Shaun did manage to get to the ball on the other side though, but his effort was lifted way over the bar, and Coventry were allowed to settle once more.
Hughes was well set up by Joachim, but the striker was flagged for offside, and at the other end Dele just failed to reach a cross in from Aki, that would surely have set the visiting Palace supporters alight had he got to the ball in the one fluid motion. Aki was then booked for holding back Eustace, but Matt cleared up any thoughts of danger and got the game rolling once more. Another free kick for Palace (there really was too many of these from both sides) saw Danny G find Darren, who slipped the ball through to Tony, but though his shot was immediately buried in the back of the net the linesman ruled that he had handled the ball, and the goal did not count. The Palace fans, ecstatic in their celebrations, had to sit down once more.
Aki again failed to get to a cross, this time from Dele, and the fourth official signified three minutes of extra time to be played in the first half. A free kick, again to Palace, was well dealt with by the keeper, and a free kick at the other end was cut out by Tony. Without further ado the half came to an end, and the players trooped off to listen to the words of wisdom from their respective managers.
Palace kicked off the second half, and within a minute yet another foul, this time by Dele on Safri, halted play. Palace managed to regain the ball from the kick, but this time it was Dele that managed to run himself offside and the play broke down once more. Tony cut out a promising move for Coventry, and the ball moved forward to Dougie, whose first time shot was easily dealt with by Hyldgaard. Darren dispossessed Joachim when things looked threatening, and Richard Shaw, yes, another ex-Palace player, returned the compliment at the other end.
Safri brought Shaun down, and earned the first yellow card for the Blues, but the effort from Danny B was headed away by the defence, and a penalty appeal was turned down by the referee. Joachim managed to become the next player offside before the first substitution of the match came about, Jay Bothroyd coming on for Youssef Chippo, who had been fairly quiet all match. Two free kicks in a row to Palace never even looked like troubling the City defence, and then Shaw was booked for a fairly innocuous tackle on Aki.
Joachim got the ball in to Hughes, but he was unable to stretch out and reach the ball on the volley, and the danger passed. The next foul belonged to Safri, and as he received his second yellow of the day the automatic red card came, and suddenly we were playing only 10 men. Not that it matters much, Palace have been unable of late to score against a depleted side. A corner to Palace went for another corner on the opposite side, and as this took place Andy Johnson came on for Shaun.
Coventry immediately countered, making their final two substitutions, Joachim and Hughes going off with Steve Walsh and Barry Quinn making their way on to the field. Whilst ours was a fairly attacking move it would be fair to say that Coventry's was reasonably defensive. Darren got a shot on goal that went wide and then AJ made a good run straight through the centre, his shot going wide of the mark. With play like that why wasn't he on the field a lot earlier than this?
Another corner to Palace was yet again wasted, and then Danny B got the ball through to Dougie, who once more wasted the perfect opportunity to bring the scores back level. Tommy Black came on for Aki, and he almost managed to link up with AJ at his first attempt, the ball being just a little too far ahead for his liking. A cross in to Dougie went wide of the post and Trevor Francis looked to make his last change, bringing Steve Thomson on for Curtis. Tommy put in a tame shot that went straight to the keeper, and with Coventry defending almost exclusively it was starting to become obvious that Palace were never going to find a way through.
As the minutes ticked by a final chance came to Darren, but his shot was blocked on the line. The whistle sounded, and once again Palace left Highfield Road empty handed. Based on their performance on the day they probably deserved little else, and Trevor will have a huge task to turn things round before Tuesday's match at home to Leicester City. I will still be tipping them for a win though!
Colin Pryce
Coventry City: Morten Hyldgaard, Calum Davenport, Dean Gordon, Muhamed Konjic, Richard Shaw, Youssef Chippo (Jay Bothroyd 55), John Eustace, Youssef Safri, David Thompson, Lee Hughes (Steve Walsh 68), Julian Joachim (Barry Quinn 68).
Substitutes not used: Gary Montgomery, Gary McSheffrey.
Crystal Palace: Matt Clarke, Curtis Fleming (Steve Thomson 81), Danny Granville, Hayden Mullins, Tony Popovic, Darren Powell, Danny Butterfield, Shaun Derry (Andrew Johnson 67), Aki Riihilahti (Tommy Black 77), Dele Adebola, Dougie Freedman.
Substitutes not used: Alex Kolinko, Dean Austin.
Attendance: 15,526
Referee: Mr P Prosser (Gloucestershire)