Main Menu

Sickening defeat as home hoodoo strikes again

Coalville Town 1 Leicester Westleigh 2

BodyKraft East Midlands Premier Division

Coalville's home hoodoo continued into 2008 as they slipped to a costly defeat against fellow strugglers Leicester Westleigh.

In a game that Town dominated, Westleigh showed that they had clearly learnt from the 8-4 thrashing they received in the Bodykraft East Midlands Premier Division earlier in the season.

County Drains-sponsored Coalville started reasonably well and Chris Vernon soon fired wide. Westleigh were relying on the counter attack and packed 10 men behind the ball. Coalville again went close, with Ryan Mason seeing a shot saved by the visitors keeper, and then Vernon forcing another save from him.

So it was somewhat against the run of play when the Leicester side opened the scoring. A move down the Coalville left saw a Westleigh player dribble along the baseline and pull back. Although Coalville keeper Paul Marston managed to block the first effort, he could do nothing to prevent the rebound being fired home.

Coalville piled it on again after this. A neat interchanged between Phil Sign and Mark Newman set Vernon clean away on the Westleigh goal, but again the Westleigh keeper managed to come out on top. Chances continued to come Town's way, Sam Crowie seeing a shot saved by the Westleigh, while Sign saw another cleared off the line.

Town went in a goal down at the interval, but confident that if they kept plugging away they'd get something. But within 30 seconds of the restart, Town shot themselves in the foot with an absolutely dreadful goal to give away. Town conceded possession on the halfway line and one pass set the Westleigh winger away who glided past Marston with ease and then fired home from an acute angle to make it 2-0.

Coalville were left shellshocked by this, and it took them a few minutes to regain their composure. An aerial ball from Sign then saw a Westleigh defender attempt to play the ball with his stick over his head, and a yellow card resulted. Vernon and Mason both had further chances, but failed to hit the target.

But then Town managed to make their man advantage tell. Crowie picked the ball up on the right and burst forward, crossed into the dee for Adam Barnett. His first shot was saved, but the rebound fell back to the same player who fired home to give Coalville hope.

Coalville again piled it on, and came within inches of levelling when Vernon managed to create a yard of room and hit a shot which hit the outside of the Westleigh post. Mason then also went on a mazy dribble, beating four Westleigh players and hit another shot, only again to see the ball frustratingly cannon back off the post.

It was becoming apparent that it wasn't to be Coalville's day, and sure enough, time ran out and Town had fallen to a poor defeat which puts Westleigh above them in the table - and leaves Coalville very much in the middle of the battle to avoid relegation. Town must hope that they can continue their decent away form when they visit Players on Saturday - a side who performed a similar smash and grab performance at King Edward VII College earlier in the season.