Coventry City 1, Birmingham City 0: Blues give rivals a helping hand
Feb 23 2009 by Andy Walker, Birmingham Post
It wasn’t until the 38th minute that Birmingham truly tested the impressive Coventry goalkeeper Keiren Westwood when he was forced to change direction to brilliantly tip away Sebastian Larsson’s deflected free kick.
Meanwhile the home side could have easily gone into the half-time interval with a two goal advantage. A deflected Fox free kick almost caught Maik Taylor off guard but the best chance came in first-half injury time. The lively Leon McKenzie’s charge down the left presented firstly Aron Gunnarsson with an opportunity to shoot and then a golden chance for David Bell, who wastefully poked wide from just eight yards.
A second-half injury to McKenzie, believed to be a ruptured Achilles, failed to ruin the mood of the hosts and the majority of the Ricoh Arena’s season’s best attendance.
Leon Best, still wearing a face mask to protect his fractured cheekbone, was a menace in Birmingham’s area and had it not been for the fine form of Maik Taylor, he would have added a goal to his impressive performance.
Birmingham manager Alex McLeish’s decision to substitute Cameron Jerome for Carlos Costly in the 71st minute attracted a chorus of boos from the visiting end, where an advertising hoarding was ripped apart and frustration was clear. Coventry substitute, Jordan Henderson, added fresh energy to his side’s midfield and put Maik Taylor to the test on a couple of occasions. The most clear cut chance being in the 79th minute after Best had mopped up Marcus Bent’s poor throw-in to run three-quarters the length of the field and play-in Henderson, whose effort was well blocked by the back tracking Larsson.
A major talking point arrived in the 82nd minute when Birmingham thought they had pinched an undeserved point. The unlikely figure of Ridgewell strode forward, played a through ball which was wasted by Bent but found its way to Scott Sinclair who swept past Westwood. However, while a jubilant Sinclair immersed himself in the away crowd, the linesman’s flag stood tall.
While Sinclair, or even Bent, may have been marginally offside, it looked as though Ben Turner, the Yardley-raised Coventry centre-half, had inadvertently played the ball through.
Birmingham pressed and a tense five minutes of stoppage time ensued before the whistle was blown on McLeish’s side’s seventh defeat of the season.
Scorer: Dann (1).
COVENTRY CITY (4-4-2): Westwood, Wright, Turner, Dann, Fox, Bell, Doyle, Gunnarsson, McKenzie (Henderson, 54), Best (Simpson, 83), Morrison (Eastwood, 90). Substitutes: Marshall, Beuzelin.
BIRMINGHAM CITY (4-4-2): Maik Taylor, Larsson, Martin Taylor, Ridgewell, Murphy, Sinclair, Bowyer, Carsley (Bouazza, 33), Fahey, Bent, Jerome (Costly, 71). Substitutes: Lyness, Johnson, Traore.
Referee: Clive Oliver (Northumberland).
Bookings: Coventry – Morrison (foul); Birmingham – Bowyer, Larsson (both fouls).
Attendance: 22,637.
Coventry man of the match: Aron Gunnarsson – the Iceland international is Coventry City’s engine and his legs kept the Sky Blues going right to the end.
Birmingham man of the match: Maik Taylor – solid performance from Birmingham’s ever-reliable goalkeeper.
