By CovSid67
December 29 2005

It should have been four points from six, but disappointingly the charge up the table has hit a couple of red lights over the festive period. The ability to hit the target with far more accuracy must be top of our New Years Resolutions list.... The chance to put real daylight between ourselves and the bottom three was wasted (A potential ten point gap is now only seven) after a perfect display of self destruction was shown by Michael Doyle .... amongst others. With Coventry 1-0 up, and seemingly in total control, yet another ridiculous show of petulance from the seemingly undroppable under-achiever helped turn three points into one....

Adams has blamed the referee and Doyle for the dropped two points, though the wisdom of his decision to risk making a third substitution, knowing an injury would leave us with only nine players on the pitch, also has to be questioned. He got away with a triple substitution so early on against Plymouth, but was caught out within minutes of doing so last night.

Having been unlucky to be defeated at Leeds, where the woodwork (Hit by Whing and Duffy) and post (Hit by Adebola), plus a penalty miss by McSheffrey, helped us to a 3-1 defeat, matters turned to the supposedly easier matter of Crewe at home - Crewe on the back of eight games without a win.

A fairly decent crowd of 19,045 (The 45 being Crewe's away support!*) turned up for this clash, with most seemingly turning up as the match was about to kick-off (Which was partly why I only saw glimpses of the first 10 minutes, though by all accounts I missed very little!).

There was little worthy of note for the entire first half-an-hour, and it was then that the deadlock was broken, with Don Hutchinson scoring his third goal in Coventry colours (Note to Teletext: THIRD) following a fine cross from the right. He almost scored a second soon after, forcing the Crewe keeper into a decent save, and was behind just about anything worthwhile created by Coventry in the first half.

Crewe came out for the second half looking slightly more fired up, and a brave stop by Duffy resulted in Crewe gaining a corner, and in him needing treatment. A couple more chances were created by the away side, with some last-ditch defending keeping the score at 1-0.

Coventry then decided to join in with the second half.

Neat footwork from Jorgensen almost set Coventry up for another goal as he cleverly got past two defenders (Though it came to nil), while another move involving Hutchinson, Jorgensen and McSheffrey resulted in what was either a top save by Turnbull in the Crewe goal, or a stroke of luck as the ball hit him in the face.

More Jorgensen trickery helped set up Isaac Osbourne - who had another fine game in midfield - who headed just wide.

Scowcroft replaced Adebola with an hour gone - whether this was because he looked slightly out of sorts, or to save him for the two games in three games coming up is as of yet unexplained.

A McSheffrey free kick, won after Jorgensen was fouled, was then headed agonisingly wide by Jorgensen. A second goal would surely have put this game beyond Crewe, who never looked likely of fluking victory against Coventry City - something they managed to do twice last season.

Doyle was then booked for the sort of challenge that goes unpunished a dozen times a game (Or every minute if the Wigan-Manchester City game at the weekend was anything to go by). Rather than shut his mouth, knowing that dissent has already seen Hughes and Jorgensen sent off this season, the idiot continued to argue with the referee - for now his dissent was ignored. The free kick was taken by Crewe, and within 30 seconds Doyle had talked himself into an early shower, and helped Coventry concede points where three looked almost a certainty.

Whether or not Adams has had words with him about this already this season I'm (Obviously) unsure, but Doyle seems to do this almost every game without fail - and has been lucky to get away with it so often.

Don Hutchinson, seemingly still looking fresh, was replaced by Impey with 20 minutes left. Ditto the Adebola comment about saving him for the weekend matches - though I'm more inclined to use Bobby Robson's logic of "play them 'til they're knackered" rather than keep them fresh.

A playground scramble in the Crewe area, which saw the ball heading goalwards three times, was cleared off the line and onto the post, and eventually to safety, as once again the team with 10 men seemed to play better than the team with eleven (Though Doyle's contribution had been minimal throughout).

A cracking run from McSheffrey, which saw him go from the halfway line, past a few defenders and into the opposition penalty area, ended up with him going over in the area. Opinions differ amongst home supporters as to whether he "falls over" or is actually fouled, though it seems he's earned himself a reputation with match officials (Unfairly in my humble most....), and any hopes of a penalty were waved away. McSheffrey obviously felt this one should have been awarded, and was booked for dissent.

Soon after, seemingly looking as if he might be following Doyle by leaving the pitch early, McSheffrey was replaced by Stern John, who received generous applause on his return. His first contribution, ambling back when presuming he was offside rather than playing to the whistle, was greeted with jeers. His other contributions didn't amount to much either, and it looks as if he still has it all to do if he's to win over the majority of Coventry City fans.

The decision by Adams not to just instruct McSheffrey to keep it shut, and allow himself the luxury of a third substitute should anybody get injured, backfired soon after, with Page fracturing a cheekbone in a clash with a Crewe player. Coventry were down to nine.

It was obvious that the last 10 minutes (Plus the eternity that amounted to injury time likely to be added on) would be a backs to the wall job, and soon after Page was stretchered off Fulop made a fine save (It was noticeable that Fulop had "caught" the ball for most of this match, rather than parried). Soon after, with two Crewe players clean through (And onside), the home side were let off the hook when Fulop was gited a backpass rather than a shot.

Nine became eight, as Duffy was forced to leave the pitch through injury, as was a Crewe player injured in the same incident. With both players having received treatment, the Crewe player was allowed back on, while Duffy wasn't. The Welshman was clearly enraged (Especially as Coventry were defending deep in their own half at the time), with his anger becoming even worse when he was booked for encroaching onto the field of play. Yet another red card looked possible as he went ballistic on the touchline.

When he was finally allowed back onto the pitch, he found himself in an attacking position wide on the left, and an early ball from Jorgensen would have left him with a quarter of the pitch to himself. The pass was delayed, and any chance of a goal threat was wasted - the decision to not play the early ball when the option was on for Coventry was one of the reason why this match was not put beyond Crewe's reach far earlier.

Six minutes injury time was shown, and it looked as if the home side might just hold out for a fairly famous victory - especially as the awesome noise from the home fans was acting as the 10th man! I have confessed elsewhere, but I have to fight back the tears when our support gets behind the team in such a way....

Crewe stole an undeserved equalised through late substitute Luke Rodgers (A goal which seemed to take an age to actually land in the net), which was harsh on those Coventry players left that had given so much, but especially on Andrew Whing, who had once again enjoyed a fine display at right-back, and an even better display when employed as an emergency central defender. It seems Whing is a confidence player, and at the moment he has it. Long may that last....

One person decided that the referee's display warranted "a few words", and took it on himself to enter the field of play and try to do so. While not condoning his actions, it was understandable, with what had been a fairly decent display by the man in black suddenly becoming as abysmal as everything we're used to, as he totally lost the plot. His decision to book Stern John for holding the ball out for a Crewe player to take merely antagonised the home support even more.

Leaving the Arena, this felt more like a defeat than draw, and I presumed the excessive amount of flashing blue lights heading towards the stadium was to take the referee away after a criminal display of officiating....

Michael Doyle has since apparently apologised, and is to be fined by the club. The monetary loss he will suffer is nowhere near as important as the points loss suffered by the club - here's hoping that whoever replaces him does well enough to make him have to earn his place back in the sixteen, let alone the starting XI.

* Before any Crewe fan gets arsey, I am aware that the actual number was around 300.