COVENTRY CITY (home – Carling Cup) 22/08/06
Stuart Fleetwood became the first ever Hereford player to score a
hat trick in a League Cup tie, as his treble sent the Bulls on their way to a
memorable victory over Championship side Coventry City.
The youngster opened the scoring with barely a minute played and
added two more in the second half against a side containing three
internationals – two of whom had featured in this summer’s World Cup. Richard
Rose’s speculative lobbed through ball was misjudged by million pound defender
Elliott Ward, and Fleetwood raced onto the pass before slotting past Andy
Marshall, the man who kept goal for Millwall in the 2004 FA Cup final.
A lively match saw chances galore for both sides, with the Sky
Blues looking to equalise before half time. Stephen Hughes saw his fierce shot
blocked by Tim Sills – not that the striker knew much about it – and Faysal El
Idrissi showed his considerable pace from the left wing to take the ball past
Trent McClenahan before shooting narrowly wide.
Stern John came close with a shot before his fellow Trinidadian
international Chris Birchall had a shot cleared by a combination of Rose and
goalpost as the visitors piled on the pressure. Not that it was all one-way
traffic: indeed, Dean Beckwith should have added a second with a close-range shot
and Fleetwood missed two great chances, one of which he put just wide when
one-on-one with Marshall.
The tempo continued to be just as high after the break, with yet
more chances being squandered. Just as Hereford had taken the lead in the first
minute through a defensive error, Coventry nearly equalised right at the start
of the second half. Martyn Giles’ miskick presented the ball to Birchall, who
used his pace to advance into a massive gap in the Hereford defence, but he put
his shot just past the post.
Fleetwood’s pace was causing numerous problems for the Coventry
defence, and a defensive mix-up between Marshall and Andrew Whing saw the
striker extend the Bulls’ lead ten minutes into the second half.
Within two minutes however more poor defending gave the Sky Blues
something of a lifeline. Tamika Mkandawire attempted to shield an attempted
through ball back to Tynan, but the Hereford keeper was slow off his line and
experienced striker Dele Adebola nipped in to fire into an empty net.
Rather than galvanise Coventry into action, the goal had the
opposite effect and Hereford attacked the Meadow End goal with renewed vigour.
Five minutes later, Fleetwood wrapped up the win and his hat trick after
beating the offside trap. Again it was Ward that was caught flat-footed, and
Fleetwood sped past his attempted tackle before prodding the ball beyond
Marshall and into the bottom corner.
City heads dropped, and Hereford created several chances towards
the end of the game. Marshall was at full stretch to keep out a long-range shot
from Rob Purdie, before the Hereford midfielder attempted an even more
ambitious effort from further out, which didn’t miss the target by much.
Fleetwood was eventually forced off through injury, but if
Coventry’s defenders thought they were in for some respite they were mistaken,
for the equally pacy Andy Williams came on. Within minutes he had opened up the
defence again before supplying a great pass for Rose, whose cheeky backheeled
effort brought another fine save from Marshall.
Substitute Kevin Thornton nearly reduced the deficit in injury
time when his fierce drive from outside the box bounced off the top of the
crossbar, but it was a rare effort on goal for City in the second half, with
Mkandawire and in particular Giles putting in some terrific tackles. Although
Fleetwood will deservedly take all the plaudits for his display, a number of
players put in terrific performances. The back four produced a decent
impression of a black-and-white wall, Andy Ferrell was back to his best with a
number of crunching tackles, and Tim Sills showed some good touches on the
deck.
After such a dominant performance – and with a number of
Championship sides being knocked out by lower division sides – Hereford will be
optimistic of further progression in a competition that has not always brought
out the best in them.
Team: Tynan, McClenahan, Mkandawire, Beckwith, Giles, Travis,
Ferrell, Rose, Purdie, Fleetwood (sub Williams), Sills. Subs not used: Wallis,
Connell, Gulliver, Lewis.
Star man: Stuart Fleetwood
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