Two Big Wins, One Big, Big Loss!

By CCFC Sid
August 31 2004

Four goals versus Forest, another two crackers against West Ham, and six points in the bag, made for a great bank holiday weekend - then CCFC went and spoiled it all by doing something stupid, like selling Callum Davenport....

The first of the two games over the holiday period saw CCFC travel to the City Ground (Which is on a slant!!)....

With wantaway Andy Reid supposedly causing unrest in the Forest dressing room, CCFC took full advantage, hammering them 4-1 - Forest's first defeat of the season.

Having lost their keeper in the warm-up, Forest then lost Louis Jean after four minutes! To lose one player so early is careless, two lose two very foolish....

Forest had the first real chance after 10 minutes, when Taylor missed a chance that far looked easier to score. The same player was booked after 22 minutes, and shown a straight red card shortly before half-time for elbowing Tim Sherwood. And he wasn't the only Forest player that should have enjoyed an early bath either - though thanks to a very lenient referee, some hefty challenges resulted in only a telling off, and sometimes not even that....

Reid missed an easy chance to give Forest the lead shortly before half-time, and minutes later CCFC punished his charity by taking the lead themselves. A quality Doyle corner (If this is the quality of delivery he is capable of, why hasn't he been taking set pieces for the last 12 months?!) was slotted home by Morrell, despite the attentions of a mass of Forest defenders and their keeper.

An absolute howler from Roche early in the second half saw Morrell claim his and CCFC's second, and five minutes later Eddie Johnson made it 3-0. With 69 minutes on the clock CCFC made it 4-0, with the ever improving Hughes getting on the score sheet again. At was at this point that I remembered CCFC throwing a 4-0 lead away against Forest a few years back!! The reality was, it was never going to happen with Forest this ordinary....

The clean sheet we had hoped for was denied us on 73 minutes, as David Johnson made it 4-1, with one of the least celebrated goals you're likely to see all season! The three points on one of our less favourite grounds (Despite us winning there earlier in 2004 too!) was welcomed non-the-less!!

Onto Monday, and the tricky fixture that was West Ham at home....

This saw the final performance in a CCFC shirt from the ever improving Callum Davenport - and whether the fee is £1.1 million or £3 million, on current form Spurs have an absolute bargain. Captain for the night, he put in a massive performance....

West Ham were offered an early gift thanks to a dreadful clearance from Shearer (a la Roche of Notts Forest!!) - thankfully Sheringham, unlike Morrell, fluffed it!!

Poor passing from both sides in the opening 10 minutes looked the likely way the scoring was going to be opened, with the ball gifted to Morrell after seven minutes, but he fell over(!), then a poor CCFC corner was cleared up the pitch for a West Ham attack - which ended with a feeble shot.

The goal Callum Davenport so desperately wanted to score on his final CCFC performance came on 13 minutes - or so everybody thought! The stadium announcer announced it (As he would!), as did the scoreboard .... but the referee disallowed it. He claimed Davenport had climbed on a WHU defender, but it looked okay from where I was sitting (First half, Family Stand - right above!!).

A Johnson cross on 21 minutes was cleared by the West Ham defence with Wood waiting to pounce, and minutes later a challenge from Staunton had WHU appealing for a penalty (A close call in my book!), but the referee (Thankfully) waved play on. Reo-Coker then walked through a few non-challenges from CCFC defenders, but his cross was cleared by Shaw.

Off the pitch, a stray cat racing down the touchline caused much amusement - as did a female CCFC steward (Hello Jazz!) removing an item which had been thrown on the pitch, with the WHU fans singing an unrepeatable ditty in her general direction, and the CCFC fans singing a reply that would suggest the answer was `yes'!!

A Staunton cross was missed by Bywater on 34 minutes, with the ball headed goalwards by Morrell, but cleared by a covering defender. Soon after, Reo-Coker was again allowed to walk past CCFC defenders (Either he has the skill and arrogance of Pele, or this was terrible defending down CCFC's left side), and his cross gave Sheringham an easy chance to score.

Doyle was fouled by Brevett just before half-time, and the former Celtic man stepped up and hit a superb free kick past Bywater (If this is the quality of delivery he is capable of, etc....!!). The 1-1 half-time scoreline was the least CCFC's display had deserved....

Wood was given a half-chance to make it 2-1 early in the second half, but opted not to attempt a first time volley, then stayed on his feet after a hefty challenge that saw the ball cleared. Had he fell over .... Minutes later an arrogant flick from Wood was cleared by a WHU defender with Johnson threatening to threaten!!

West Ham blew two chances to take the lead, with Harewood's effort being saved by the legs of Shearer, then a last-ditch challenge from Davenport (Which surely would have added another £250,000 to his price had contracts not already been signed!!) denying Sheringham.

Brevett then looked to get Morrell sent off, by suggesting that he had raised his hand to (And made contact with) him - with Brevett going down as if he'd been hit by Amir Khan! The reality was Morrell was guilty of nothing more than holding the WHU defender at bay. Quite why the referee's assistant didn't inform the referee of this over-acting, I don't know....

Luke Chadwick then wasted a great chance to give WHU the lead, and CCFC once again made the opposition pay! A superb Hughes cross was acrobatically hammered home by Andy Morrell - a goal worthy of winning any match!

Hughes and Barrett then combined well, and a fine shot almost gave CCFC a 3-1 lead, with Bywater saving well.

Morrell (Who it was later revealed was almost taken off BEFORE his goal) was replaced by Gudjonsson - though having come on as a substitute 20 minutes earlier, taking Suffo back off might have been a better option! He failed to get into the game, despite his growing reputation as a super sub....

The entertainment wasn't quite over, as Lomas, who had earlier come on as a substitute, was sent off!! (Supposedly for hurling abuse at either CCFC assistant Adrian Heath, or the referee's assistant). Stupid boy....

On the final whistle, a tearful looking Callum Davenport applauded all four sides of the Highfield Road stadium - with the news that he was off to Spurs being confirmed by CWR as I drove home. A sad way to end a fantastic weekend of football....

Good luck to you, Mr. Davenport! You will be badly missed....