CCFC's Slide Down The Table Continues

By CCFC Sid
January 16 2005

Probably as good a CCFC performance as there has been all season, but the game is about results, and caretaker boss Adrian Heath failed to get one (Though away to Ipswich was a big ask!) - so it could be goodbye from him....

To those away fans that did pay the ridiculous entrance fee to get into Portman Road (How do they justify it? How do they get away with it?), this CCFC performance appeared to have some tactics being played to! Sadly, despite more than matching the Championship leaders, CCFC failed to make this three home defeats on the trot for the Tractor Boys.

Stern John opened the scoring for CCFC, and re-opened the debate as to whether his currently impressive scoring rate is enough, or whether or not he is lazy and should do far more! I favour the latter, believing he could become a CCFC legend for a few weeks ('Til somebody offers to buy him), if he upped his workrate....

Steele made some fine saves throughout the first half, but, just as it looked as though CCFC might go into the interval leading, the fourth official showed three extra minutes were to be played on his board - quite where he got them from was another matter....

Not playing to the whistle cost CCFC their lead, with Ipswich equalising on the stroke of half-time. Staunton chose moaning to the referee, while Ipswich played on, and Bent popped up to score

Leacock re-appeared for the start of the second half, despite taking a hefty knock minutes before the first 45 minutes was up, but lasted only a further couple of minutes into the second half, having taken another hefty knock too. Andrew Whing replaced him at right-back.

Sadly, defensive frailties meant victory was always unlikely, and it was no real surprise when Bent scored again after 58 minutes.

Ipswich striker Kuqi helped CCFC bring the scores back to 2-2, having handled a fairly innocuous (For `innocuous' read `poor'!) corner, allowing Gary McSheffrey to score from the spot - rather than Stern John to miss! (i'm not on his case - it's just a joke....).

The winning Ipswich goal was somewhere between complete farce and complete sham, as Davis's hopeless slice upfield (Never reaching more than a couple of feet off the turf) somehow found Kuqi, who, being played onside by Williams, fired past Steele, having first surged past Shaw with ease. In hindsight, Shaw should probably have risked a red card by stopping the Ipswich striker outside the area....

A late surge into the area by Whing saw him end up on the deck, with the CCFC man and Ipswich's Naylor ending up having a brief skirmish.

`If Coventry had played like that all season then my old mate Peter Ried might still be in a job' - Joe Royle. If we had played like that under Reid, we might not have wanted him out....