Scunthorpe United v Coventry City
Glanford Park
Coca-Cola Championship - Sunday, December 6, 2009
(Scroll down...)
FULL-TIME
Scunthorpe United 1 Coventry City 0
Scunthorpe get the win, and that's the bottom line. The performance won't have gotten the neutrals watching on Sky out of their chairs; but the three points will certainly excite United fans - after all, that's the first time they've won since they beat Newcastle a few months ago!
In terms of star performers, Gary Hooper did well in attack. He showed strength on the ball on more than one occassion, and combined well with Hayes to get his goal. Josh Lillis also did well when he came on. He showed no nerves, and kept a clean-sheet - so Nigel Adkins couldn't really have asked for much more from him.
SECOND-HALF
90 Minutes: Corner to Coventry. It's cleared, but there's nobody upfield chasing it, so it comes straight back up United's end. Sub by Scunthorpe - Friend - a defender, replaces Hayes - an attacker.
88 Minutes: United are defending with eleven men behind the ball. This is making nervous watching.
87 Minutes: Leon Best heads wide at the back-post. That's another sitter missed by Coventry. He was completely unmarked, and had a huge chunk of the goal to aim for! Sub by Scunthorpe - Straight after Best's effort, United bring on Garry Thompson in place of Gary Hooper.
85 Minutes: Josh Lillis makes a low save to keep out Gary Madine's header. That was decent actually - he can't have seen much of that headers flight path in the crowded penalty area.
83 Minutes: Freddy Eastwood fails to convert a close-range opportunity this time, even though he was offside. These chances should still be serving as warnings for Scunthorpe though - they're sitting too deep, and inviting pressure onto themselves.
81 Minutes: Madine, who has only been on the pitch for a moment, misses an absolute sitter at the back-post. He was unmarked, and although Lillis was snapping at his heels trying to put him off, the youngster, on-loan from Carlisle, should have scored - so that's a major let-off for Scunny.
80 Minutes: Sub by Coventry - Gary Madine's replaced Michael McIndoe, who hasn't really got into this one.
77 Minutes: Gary Hooper takes the ball in at his feet in the area with his back to goal. He then plays a really intelligent ball to Hayes - taking three Coventry defenders out of the equation in the process. Hayes shoots - the crowd roar - and then it quickly goes silent they realise it's actually gone wide. That was a chance. If Coventry level that will be the moment United look back on.
75 Minutes: Scunthorpe win a corner after a good move involving O'Connor, Wright and Hayes. McCann puts it in the box, and Jones flicks it on, but Coventry manage to clear their lines just before the ball enters the area where the majority of claret and blue players are situated.
71 Minutes: Martin Cranie floats a long distance free-kick into the area. His target is the collection of large Coventry players congregated at the back-post; but Josh Lillis reads the situation well, managing to punch and then catch the ball to avoid any nominal danger.
67 Minutes: Paul Hayes teases the defence on the left of the area. When he eventually sticks the ball in the area, Martyn Woolford is able to cut across his man and reach it, but he can't direct his effort on-target.
65 Minutes: Sub by Coventry - Chris Hussey comes on for the away side. Hall's the replaced player.
64 Minutes: A mistake is drawn by Martyn Woolford when he forces Leon Barnett into a poor passback, which equals a United a corner. It's a shame however, that the corner goes out and then comes back into play, meaning Scunthorpe don't take advantage of their lucky break.
62 Minutes: For the first time in this half, United are taking the game to Coventry. They've been content to soak up the pressure so far, but have come into their own a little more in the last few minutes, culminating in a shot by Martyn Woolford (which was blocked).
58 Minutes: Persistent battling on the wing by Cliff Byrne wins him the ball and gifts him the opportunity to swing a cross in. Hayes manages to wriggle his way onto the end of it, before setting-up Martyn Woolford, who tries to poke home (unsuccessfully) when he should really have tried heading the ball!
50 Minutes: The second-half hasn't started with Coventry going at it like a herd of bulls of anything, and as long as United can keep them out for the next twenty minutes or so, and then keep their discipline as Coventry grow restless, I think that today will end with three points in The Iron's bag.
47 Minutes: When Martin Cranie lofts a deep cross into the box, Josh Lillis manages to claw it away from immediate danger, before Michael O'Connor completes the job with his foot.
45 Minutes: Coventry, The Sky Blues - who are playing in black - get us up and running again.
HALF-TIME
Scunthorpe United 1 Coventry City 0
Scunthorpe will be reasonably happy with their performance there I think. They've not played spectacularly or anything, but have done the job they need(ed) to do - put themselves ahead. They've also had chances to score more, in a game which so-far, will be mainly remembered for the injury caused to Joe Murphy.
Speaking of which, I have some more information. Murphy was taken off with bruising to the kneecap; but his replacement was a precautionary measure.
At the break, the crowd are treated to something of a show by the Help for Heroes people. It includes marching and the playing of instruments...
Furthermore, I'd also like to take this opportunity to apologise for the fact that I haven't written many installments in my report as of late. This is due to the fact that the Glanford Park wireless network has played up a little this afternoon, meaning I've been unable to connect to the internet until now - as I've acquired an internet dongle!
Attendance: 5,013 (350 away)
FIRST-HALF
47 Minutes: The Iron win a free-kick on the edge of the area, which Michael O'Connor decides to take. His effort is a low one, and beats the wall, but only gets into the side of the net; and not the back of it.
45 Minutes: Six minutes of time will be added at the end of this half. I thought it would've been seven of more to be honest; but I'm sure that United won't mind that lenient figure at this moment in time, since they're leading!
39 Minutes: Michael McIndoe floats a series of Coventry corners into the box. Rob Jones manages to clear the first two - showing what a valuable player he can be in the air. The third corner is cleared also, but by a combination of claret and blue shirted players.
34 Minutes: The ball props up for Aaron Gunnarsson in the middle of the box, and the fact that Cliff Byrne is alert enough to beat him to it (because Gunnarsson was in a very favourable position) means that United keep their lead.
30 Minutes: Goal for Scunthorpe! And I'll be honest, it was superb. Simple but effective. Paul Hayes picked up the ball about three-quarters of the way up the pitch, and slipped it neatly into the path of Hooper. Form there on, Hooper was always the favourite - he was already in-behind the defenders, and when he slipped the ball past Westwood and into the corner of the net, not one person in the ground was surprised.
Scunthorpe United 1 Coventry City 0
28 Minutes: Hayes plays in the ball and Martyn Woolford connects. Westwood then saves, and United are unlucky not to be a goal ahead. That was a nice move.
24 Minutes: United win a free-kick wide on the right. They initially try to take it quickly (and make a mess of it) but thankfully, the referee orders that it be taken again, as United actually took it before the whistle was blown. At the second attempt, Grant McCann has a go, but it only constitutes a simple stop for Kieren Westwood.
19 Minutes: The game livens up a little when Gary Hooper springs upfield and gets into the box. He rides a couple of tackles, but is eventually forced into setting up Martyn Woolford (when I'm sure he'd have rather shot himself). Woolford then tries to pull the trigger, but as he attempts to strike it, is stopped by a last-ditch tackle.
16 Minutes: After a good five minutes of treatment, United are forced into a change. Sub by Scunthorpe - Murphy is replaced by Lillis. As Murphy leaves the pitch he's treated to a warm round of applause. The injury to Joe Murphy was caused by him banging his leg against the post as he dived to save Best's shot.
10 Minutes: A mistake by Rob Jones allows Leon Best to get through. He then turns inside Mirfin, but is greedy, and doesn't square to his strike-partner when really he should have, meaning Murphy is able to make a save. Just moments later, Scunthorpe make another error - this time via Grant McCann, and Best has another chance to score. Jones makes amends for his earlier sin by blocking Best's first effort, but the ball falls for the Coventry striker again, and this time Murphy is forced into making a simply fantastic save to keep it at 0-0. Murphy dived into the post in the process, however, and it looks like he'll have to be replaced.
8 Minutes: The back of his own net is nearly located by Coventry's Jack Cork. He tries to clear the ball, but in the swirling wind, it's blown back towards his goal, and the young midfielder will have breathed a huge sigh of relief when he saw it creep around the post, because Westwood was beaten.
4 Minutes: Scunthorpe win the first corner of the game when Marytn Woolford puts a cross into the box and the Coventry players are forced to hastily clear it. Nothing comes of the set piece, however.
1 Minute: The teams are marched onto the pitch behind a military band. Glanford Park is cold today, but much dryer than it was a few hours ago, when a rain storm hammered the town of Scunthorpe. United kick-off.
TEAM NEWS
Out for United are Milne, May and Peter Winn. There were also some questions raised over Garry Thompson's fitness when he picked up a knock during the reserve outing at Grimsby in the week. However, Thompson managed to train on Friday, and will consequently be hoping to get onto the pitch at some point today, after impressing as a substitute last week.
For Coventry, both Stephen Wright and Chelsea loaned Chelsea left-back Patrick Van Aanholt are suspended. That means that Coventry may be weakened significantly down the left side of the pitch. Elsewhere, Michael McIndoe is known to be struggling with flu, and will probably miss out on a place in the squad.
Scunthorpe United: Murphy, Williams, Byrne, McCann, Hayes, Hooper, Jones (c), Mirfin, Woolford, O'Connor, J. Wright.
Subs: Lillis, A. Wright, Togwell, Sparrow, Thompson, Forte, Friend.
Coventry City: Westwood, Hall, Best, Eastwood, Morrison, Cranie, Cork, Gunnarsson, McIndoe, Barnett, Wood (c).
Subs: McPake, Konstantopoulos, Hussey, Madine, Grandison, Clarke, Jeffers.
Referee: Nigel Miller
For United, there's only one change then. Martyn Woolford comes in at the expense of Sam Togwell. Woolford will play on the left I would suspect, maybe interchanging with Grant McCann every so often, giving United much more width than they had last weekend, when they played with a narrow midfield which didn't really work.
Coventry's Michael McIndoe makes the starting X1, against considerable odds; and the Sky Blues therefore (on paper) appear a strong side going forward, as they also include the likes of Freddy Eastwood and Leon Best in their squad.
PREAMBLE
Sky Television cameras are present at Glanford Park today, poised to witness and beam United's early kick-off against Coventry City around the globe. The Sky Blues, like United, find themselves at the wrong end of The Championship table, and this is certainly a game which both team teams will view as a great opportunity to pick up some points.
Today also figures as Scunthorpe United's first ever 'Help for Heroes Day'. Help for Heroes is a charity which aims to raise money for injured servicemen and women, and hence, Help for Heroes Day was formulated with the intention of raising money for them. Will Martyn Woolford appropriately prove the Iron's hero once more this afternoon? Or will Jack Cork turn villain - by putting in a good shift for Coventry?
