More Points Dropped As CCFC Blow It Again

By CCFC Sid
December 5 2004

A draw snatched from the jaws of victory, conceding two goals in the last three minutes - it could only be CCFC. And it could have been worse as CCFC collapsed like a paper chair under a fat man's weight....

The home side were without former CCFC favourite Mo Konjic, whose recent knee operation doesn't (According to MK) seem to have sorted out his problem, while the fantastically named Blessing Kaku was also missing for Derby.

Having been penalised by conceding a penalty last week by not fouling somebody, this week Adie Williams was denied a blatant penalty after six minutes, having being flattened by somebody - but these things even themselves out over the season, eh?

Steele saved well from Johnson after 17 minutes (Who left the pitch just before half time, having had some of his teeth re-arranged - with one being donated to the tooth fairy), and soon after CCFC took the lead.

Twenty minutes in, and Stephen Hughes notched his fifth goal of the season, another fine effort from 20 yards out - have CCFC finally found a midfield player capable of chipping in with his fair share of goals?! Sign him up....

Derby thought they had equalised after half-an-hour, but an Idiakez handball meant Smith's effort was ruled out, and Camp had to save well from McSheffrey soon after to keep the scoreline at 1-0.

That CCFC were only one goal up at half time was a surprise (With McSheffrey, Morrell and Johnson having missed good chances), with scoring opportunities aplenty being created, and, as was the case versus Crewe last week, wasted....

Steele was the busier of the two 'keepers at the start of the second half, though 10 minutes in McSheffrey was given an opportunity to make the score 2-0 after a Kenna error.

With just over 20 minutes left, Burley replaced Reich with Peschisolido. The decision didn't go down too well with home fans, though they were singing a different tune by the time the final whistle was blown. Almost immediately after coming on, Peschisolido was falling over in the penalty area....

Staunton, who along with Carey had endured a difficult afternoon, fired in a decent effort on 72 minutes, but his attempt to double CCFC's lead hit the upright.

With just over 10 minutes left CCFC looked to have wrapped up the points with a superb strike from .... Adebola! It was a goal his recent efforts have deserved, and was a worthy winner for any match - helped by some urine poor, schoolboy defensive errors. Suddenly the home exits were busy! Unsurprisingly, being 2-0 up away from home, the CCFC fans that had made the journey were in fine voice....

CCFC fans were slightly quiter after Rasiak pulled back what should have been a mere consolation goal for Derby after 86 minutes, and quiter still as substitute Peschisolido equalised - the same player then missed a chance to give Derby what would have been an unbelievable win for the home side.

The second goal could have pulled up for a number of incidents - but wasn't. High kicking from a Derby player? Or a CCFC player ducking low in an attempt to head the ball? (Said player looked towards the linesman as if to admit guilt). And there was also the possibility of offside too - something one CCFC defender believed to be correct, as he waved his arm windmill style rather than playing to the whistle. It didn't matter, as the goal was given anyway....

After the match Reid was quoted as saying: `It's all about results and we're just not getting them' - but whose fault is that? At 2-0 up, and with only minutes left, most managers would have replaced the withdrawn Johnson with a defensively minded player (The highly rated Laville, for instance? Or the potenially decent Isaac Osbourne? Even Scott bloody Shearer!) in a bid to hold onto the lead - CCFC decided to bring on Suffo.

The idea, presumably, was for Suffo to hold onto the ball and waste time in the corner area of the pitch - I have yet to see him do this successfully. The super-sub tag slips ever further away....

CCFC are now six points off third from bottom, and ten points off sixth place (Having surrendered five points in two games), with Stoke away next. Stoke's last six home games have resulted in either 1-0 victories or 1-0 defeats - and eleven of their last dozen games has seen no more than one goal scored by either side. 4-4 coming up....