Was it an apparition? Did we hallucinate that sequence where Clinton Morrison, while turning Justin Hoyte, caressed a floating ball on his right arm, let it drop and beat Brad Jones for the first of two late Coventry goals? And surely we were lucid when last-man Elliott Ward impeded Leroy Lita and, after a lengthy confab, wasn’t sent off?
Those things DID happen, this was not a mirage – if Boro felt hard done by the referee after the West Brom implosion then now they must be, should be, absolutely steaming. Two pivotal points of the match that went largely unpunished; they collectively were the primary contributor to the trademark late match misery that does nothing but elicit greater befuddlement among the ever-increasing fissured fan base…the club were well on their way after Gibbo ‘exclusive’ this week. We won’t bother linking out, just reflect back on the end of year radio caucus from May when we were assured everything would be fine – it was just like that.
Leading into the match Gaz demanded a positive response from his charges to help mitigate the recent shortcomings. Boro were bright from the start and ultimately grabbed a deserved half-time advantage through Sean St Ledger and Rhys Williams – it was unsustainable as Coventry made squad and shape changes at half-time, always looking more threatening than the visitors in the last 45 mins. The ‘touch of cramp’ that forced Adam Johnson from the match on 73 minutes accelerated the steep late decline – we desperately lost our structure on the left. It wasn’t much better on the right – Gary O’Neil was operating from a more central role that eliminated linkage between the full back and forwards.
Whether this missed opportunity was really down to poor game management or questionable refereeing, go on and have a whinge… No longer do we stand by w/ pursed lips. The preservation of gentlemanly conduct is admirable, but so to is when a man stands up and passionately raises his fists.
September 27th, 2009 @ BA
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