It ended 2-2 as CUFC hosted CUFC at Compton Park.
Saturday 13th November 2021
UHLSPORT UNITED COUNTIES LEAGUE-PREMIER DIVISION SOUTH
COGENHOE UNITED (0) 2 COVENTRY UNITED (1) 2
Cooks;
Archer 62
J. Cairns (og) 72
Coventry;
Carey 30 (pen)
Ellis 75
Att; 83
Darren Long was without skipper Rico Alexander today as the foot injury he picked up at Bugbrooke in midweek had yet to heal so Craig Foxall took the armband once more, Alex Vaughan started with the other change being the return of Ryan Archer and a full debut for recent signing Jack Norman with the unfortunate Ivandro Monteiro dropping down to the bench. Ben Short, Jake Walpole and Sam Mensah all stepped up from the reserves to give us five back-up options for the first time in a while.
Coventry wearing their unusual red & green kit assumedly inherited from Coventry Amateurs who were the last team I have watched wearing this, got the game under way as they kicked towards the village on a perfect Autumnal day for football with not even a whiff of the Cogenhoe breeze in the air. A free-kick from in front of the away dug out came to Curvin Ellis on the edge of the box and his shot went just wide, whilst down the other end Will Bates played a great ball to Dylan Wilson to run on to and he lifted it over the keeper as he came out to narrow the striker’s options, but unfortunately he also lifted it over the bar. A lovely piece of play from Ellis saw him flick the ball up on the edge of the box and turn to hit it on the volley as it dropped, but his effort flew inches wide of the far post.
Tom Wakley opened up his legs down the right and sent over a good cross that dropped just over the head of Harry Sawyer just beyond the far post and Wilson met it with a downward header, but it hit Sawyer’s back and Coventry were able to clear. Will Bates broke through the middle and slipped it right to Wakley just inside the box, but very good defending from Tyler Donaldson took the ball away from him as he shaped to shoot. We were caught in possession inside our own penalty area leaving Charlie Faulkner with a clear sight of goal, but Foxall quickly came off his line to put the striker under pressure and he lifted his shot over the top. This was a real let off for the Cooks and bit of a wake-up call too.
Bates made a good run down the right and he sent over a low cross that Donaldson got to in front of Wilson, then Jack Riley stood his ground well deep inside his own box to mean that Coventry only had a corner after Joe Blowers had got himself into a good position. Faulkner slipped the ball through to Kyle Carey who went round Foxall, but the keeper did enough to send him wide and his shot struck the outside base of the post and went behind for a goal-kick. A free-kick from the right was sent in by Josh Adams and Wakley got ahead of his man to steer the ball across Reece Francis and into the far corner, but the assistant’s flag was up and off-side was the outcome. Adams was back defending as he volleyed clear a Jarrell Hylton cross, then Faulkner made a strong run at the defence before being brought down by Riley and referee Ben Schofield pointed to the penalty spot. A reliable source told me later that although he fell inside the box, the foul was actually committed just outside, but that wasn’t going to worry Coventry or Kyle Carey who smacked the penalty down the centre as Foxall dived to his right. 1-0 to the visitors with 30 minutes of the game gone.
Hylton sent an absolute bullet of a shot over the bar and then good pressure from Wilson won his side a corner. It came to nothing though and the Red & Greens broke quickly only to find Adams in determined mood and he defended the situation very well. Ryan Archer dinked the ball up to Norman on the edge of the box and he went for a one-two with Bates, but the return was a little too strong and went out for a goal-kick. Jack Riley became the first player to be shown the yellow card after catching Sawyer on the halfway line on 38 minutes. The free-kick was lifted into the box where Faulkner met it with a back-header that a Foxall did really well to reach and tip over the bar.
Blowers was off target from well outside the box, then a nice move from the Cooks saw Norman find Wilson who played a good ball to Wakley and he tried to work his way into the box, but very good defensive play by Dominic Perkins kept the home side’s goal unharmed. Nice play from Wilson on the left saw him lose his marker and try to find Wakley in the centre, but it was cut-out by a defender. A good pass from Faulkner into the feet of Ellis inside the box saw Riley stick to him and stop him from turning and the chance was gone and we headed into the break with the visitors holding a one goal advantage.
Half-time; Cooks 0 Cov Utd 1.
Coventry made a change at the break with Faulkner being replaced by Joe Cairns. Riley robbed Ellis inside the box, then Norman and Wilson combined well to set Adams up for a cross, but it was headed clear in the centre. Despite only being on the park for five minutes, Joe Cairns picked up his second lecture for a foul as he looked to make an instant impact on the game. Foxall got down to save a low effort from Blowers, then a good win by Archer allowed Adams to play the ball down the line for Wilson who outpaced his marker before sending over a cross that Francis caught cleanly. The first change for the Cooks came on 55 minutes when Norman, who is short of match fitness at the moment, made way for Chief Boateng. Paddy Cichosz was yellow-carded for a foul on 56 minutes.
A good effort on the run by Joe Cairns curled the wrong side of the far post, then Cichosz played a good ball up to Wilson who was brought down by Perkins. Cain Thomas was cautioned for the visitors as the Cooks put some pressure on the home defence. Adams sent the free-kick in low from the right and it found its way right through the crowd to Archer who back-heeled the ball into the net from two-yards out to bring the Cooks level with 62 minutes played. The Cooks so nearly took the lead moments later when Adams sent Wilson down the line and he sent the ball into the box to find Bates whose first-time shot was heading in when Perkins did really well to get a foot to the ball at full stretch and it looped over the bar.
Foxall had to come out of his box to head the ball and it fell to Blowers. He really needed to lift it first time, but he had to take a touch and when he did shoot, Foxall had got back to hold his effort comfortably. Wakley was forced to turn back on the left, but he still managed to send over a dangerous cross towards the far post. Archie Culley was moving in on the ball so Joe Cairns had to play it and unfortunately he only managed to loop his header past his own keeper to give Cogenhoe the lead with 72 minutes gone.
Bates fouled Carey just inside the Cooks half on our left and a brief altercation between the two ended with both players being shown the yellow card by Schofield. The free-kick was played into the Cooks box and headed on by a red shirt with Ellis getting to the ball before Foxall and lifting the ball over the keeper as he dived at his feet to level things back up at 2-2 with 72 minutes played. Culley went into the book for the second game running for a foul on 76 minutes, then Coventry had the ball into the net with an absolute screamer from 25-yards out, but the flag had been raised from the first ball into the box but the referee hadn’t spotted it. One-all on disallowed goals for offside now.
Culley made way for Monteiro with 12 minutes left, but it was Coventry who showed next as a decent free-kick into the box from Blowers was met by a teammates head, but Foxall was more than equal to the effort. Monteiro found Adams who played a dangerous ball into the box that Francis had to come off to line to claim before it reached Wakley. A powerful drive from Bates hit a defender inside the box resulting in a corner and Adams sent it in and Monteiro managed to get a touch to it, but it just wouldn’t fall from the Cooks.
Donaldson picked up a yellow card for a foul a couple of minutes from time, then a nice touch by Wakley saw him brought down on the right. Adams sent it into the box and it got stuck under the feet of Monteiro in the centre, but he managed to steer it to Bates but his first-time shot was blocked leaving the defender feeling the full force and is probably still stinging as I type this. Riley defended well at the expense of a corner but Foxall caught it well and with the game now deep into stoppage time Joe Cairns picked up a yellow card for a foul on Wilson. That was it though and I think the 2-2 draw was a fair result over all.
Having gone 2-1 up with 18 minutes played it was a little disappointing that we didn’t hold on to our lead, but as I said the draw is a fair result as Coventry did enough during the game to have avoided defeat. They looked a very good outfit with some quality players and I’m sure they will see this as two pints dropped, but they came up against a resilient Cogenhoe team who worked tirelessly with plenty of quality of their own. We had a little luck at times I guess, but the harder you work the luckier you get and I felt this was the best we have played for a while, but would have taken a point before the game in all honesty.
A good team performance again and we looked much solider at the back, especially when you consider we were missing the injured Rico Alexander and suspended Dan Mortimer back there, our two most experienced players in the young squad. I really wasn’t sure who to give the man-of-the-match to today with so many good performances so I handed the blame… sorry, responsibility over to John Culley and he felt the work-rate and overall play from Dylan Wilson earned him the accolade today, so who am I to argue. Debbie wasn’t there to choose and she would probably have given it to Rico even though he wasn’t actually playing. Personally I loved the performance today and it was a great game to watch. All the best to Coventry United who brought a number of supporters over with them today which is always good to see at this level.
Cooks; 1. Craig Foxall 2. Alex Vaughan 3. Josh Adams 4. Paddy Cichosz 5. Jack Riley 6. Ryan Archer 7. Will Bates 8. Archie Culley (sub 14. Ivandro Monteiro 78) 9. Dylan Wilson 10. Jack Norman (sub 12. Chief Boateng 55) 11. Tom Wakley. Subs not used; 15. Ben Short 16. Jake Walpole 17. Sam Mensah.
Coventry United; 1. Reece Francis 2. Harry Sawyer 3. Cain Thomas 4. Liam Cairns 5. Tyler Donaldson 6. Dominic Perkins 7. Joe Blowers 8. Curvin Ellis 9. Charlie Faulkner 10. Kyle Carey (sub 14. Joe Cairns HT) 11. Jarrell Hylton. Subs not used; 12. Nkos Mzungwana 15. Ashton Demulder 16. Jack Boden GK. Kris Roscoe.
Referee; Ben Schofield
Assts; Gary Gurney & Marc Finch.
