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Enjoyable farewell to Highfield Road
Goals from John Oster, his first for the club, and Ian Moore, his first league goal since September were enough to see us to victory and in the end it was a deserved victory despite having to contend with a referee who wasn’t able to treat the two teams in the same way.
Steve Cotterill made two changes to the side that lost to Leeds with Michael Duff replacing suspended captain Frank Sinclair and Jean-Louis Valois returning for Lee Roche. More significantly he opted for a 4-4-2 formation with Graham Branch joining Mooro up front.
We played against the strong wind in the first half and we started the brighter but after our opening attacks were ended by a couple of dodgy decisions the home side started to put us under a bit of pressure. Gary McSheffrey was posing the greatest threat from his wide position and twice should really have given Coventry the lead but missed the target.
He certainly didn’t miss the target shortly afterwards when he left his foot in after Brian Jensen had collected the ball, it was an obvious yellow card but not even a foul was given as the Beast reacted angrily.
We weren’t having too much of the game in terms of attacking and were thankful to Jensen for keeping us level. He made a double save to deny Christian Negouai and shortly afterwards made a superb save to deny McSheffrey, tipping over the bar.
The Coventry player had torn us apart last season and was involved in everything they did in the opening half hour or so, his runs from deep were catching the Clarets out. We survived it though and as half time approached you sensed that we might just have seen off the home side.
As play started to switch to the other end John McGreal was unfortunate that the ball wouldn’t drop for him after a ball in from the right found him in space, and that enable the home side to clear at the expense of a corner.
Then right on half time Valois tried a shot from distance but it didn’t trouble loan keeper Luke Steele.
I think we were all happy enough to be level at half time but we needed to put them under more pressure in the second half with the wind in our favour.
Micky Adams made two substitutions at the start of the second half, one of the players coming on was Neil Wood and he could have scored with a header but it was a poor effort that caused Jensen no trouble. That was just about it from Wood who looked heavier and slower than he had done at Burnley and was only really noticeable because of his white boots.
We got on top in the second half and the only time we ever looked under threat was from free kicks that Coventry seemed able to get on the edge of our box even when fouls hadn’t been committed.
Our better play should have seen us go a goal up John Oster, Ian Moore and Micah Hyde managed to miss it between them. Oster chose not to shoot, Mooro got a shot on target from his lay off but it was weak and saved by Steele. The keeper should have held it but parried it straight to Hyde who contrived to miss the target from close range.
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Five minutes later and it was all over as we doubled the lead. Mo Camara lofted a free kick from the half way line into the home team’s box, Steele made a hash of it as he came out to collect and it dropped to Valois just outside the box.
The Frenchman beat a man and then hit what can only be described as a shot without much power, Ian Moore got a further touch onto it, and after what seemed a long time it rolled just inside the post.
Finally a league goal for Mooro, his last was in September in the 2-2 home draw against Stoke, and his fiftieth Burnley goal.
From then on you never thought for one moment that Coventry could get back into it and we were content to keep them at bay, knowing the points were in the bag. There was though an amazing incident that left the Clarets with nine men.
Tony Grant was fouled but the referee let play go on, a second later Gary Cahill was fouled but the referee let play go and a second on from that John McGreal was blatantly pushed but as the ball went out of play a corner was awarded. Grant and Cahill both required treatment and so were both forced to leave the field as Coventry took the corner. Somebody somewhere needs to take a look at these ridiculous rules.
Stern John was booked late in the game with the Burnley fans demanding a red card, they were backed by the other three sides of the ground who also wanted the player sent off, I suspect he is not popular with the Coventry fans. And I thought we could turn on our own players.
After that there was just time for Steve Cotterill to make a substitution at the end and what a fantastic gesture from the Burnley boss. After two poor performances to start his Burnley career we saw today just what John Oster can offer and in bringing him off he allowed the new man to receive his own standing ovation from the travelling Clarets.
He really had played well, but so had so many other players, and particularly in that second half. Choosing a man of the match is not easy with Jensen making good saves in goal right through to Branchy winning header after header up front.
It might be predictable but again for me this week I have to give it to John McGreal. After a shaky start he was back to his best and in the last hour of the game I don’t think he made a mistake.
I really will miss Highfield Road but I certainly won’t miss referee Steve Tanner. I think this particular referee needs to understand that both sides should be treated in the same way. His record suggests he hasn’t grasped that and his performance today confirmed it. He was scandalously bad and thankfully his dreadful performance didn’t cost us.
Where on earth do they find referees as bad as this?
If Coventry stay up we will be at the new Jaguar Arena next season, we passed it on the way in, typically it is next to the motorway and looks like a standard modern football stadium. I can only hope that it affords the away fans more leg room than Highfield Road does but I wonder whether he can win there just as easily.
Today’s teams were,
Coventry: Luke Steele, Andrew Whing, Adie Williams, Dean Leacock, Steve Staunton (Stuart Giddins 66), Graham Barrett, Micky Doyle, Stephen Hughes (Neil Wood 45), Gary McSheffrey, Christian Negouai (Stern John 45), Dele Adebola. Subs not used: Richard Shaw, Claus Jorgensen.
Burnley: Brian Jensen, Michael Duff, Gary Cahill, John McGreal, Mo Camara, John Oster (Lee Roche 88), Tony Grant, Micah Hyde, Jean-Louis Valois, Ian Moore, Graham Branch. Subs not used: Danny Coyne, Paul Scott, Joel Pilkington, Matt O’Neill.
Referee: Steve Tanner (Gloucestershire).
Attendance: 13,236.