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7 October 2006

Crushing defeat for Town

Coalville Town 1 Leicester Thursday 4

DTZ East Midlands Premier Division

Coalville crashed to a heavy home defeat as county rivals Leicester Thursday outfoxed the north west Leicestershire side with a counter attacking display.

In truth, the score probably flattered the visitors as Coalville controlled long periods of the play, but if you fail to take your chances, you pay the price.

Games between Coalville and Thursday are always spicy affairs, particularly with the return of former Town players Phil Bowerman and Shaun Phillips in the opposition side. But Town started brightly, pinning the visitors deep in their own half in the opening 10 minutes.

Chris Vernon soon saw an effort go wide for Town, and Rich Wright went close to getting on to the end of a good layoff from Ryan Mason. Ollie Knight was also causing problems, moving the Thursday defence all over the place and linking up well with Steve Partner.

It was against the run of play when Thursday sprung the Town defence and managed to chip the ball over the advancing Joel Barker in the Coalville goal and into the back of the net.

But Town tried not to let going behind affect them too much, and continued to hog most of the possession. But tempers and frustration began to show when Thursday got a second goal from a penalty corner, with Town claiming that a visiting player held Barker down on the ground to allow a team mate to slot home into an open goal.

The goal stood, though, and Town went in at the break 2-0 down. But Coalville showed some fight in the second half, and their pressure soon paid off. Vernon slipped the ball into the path of Mason, and the birthday boy, who was celebrating his 17th birthday, produced a trademark reverse stick strike into the far corner of the goal.

This gave Town more impetus, and they began to create further chances, with Mike Browbank forcing a save out of the visiting keeper. But again, Town got caught on the break and Thursday took a 3-1 lead.

Town's day was then completed with another controversial goal for Thursday, this time Coalville claimed that a player kicked the ball into the goal after a swift break. But the umpires failed to spot it, and the goal stood to make it a disappointing day for Town, despite some good play at times.

Coach Jim Lamb said: "There were some good points in the performance, but we've got to work on our concentration. For 70 minutes, we've got to be totally switched on, and we didn't manage that today."

Town face a tough test on Saturday when second-placed Northampton Lions visit King Edward VII College. Lions thumped Barton, the team Coalville beat on the opening day of the season, 8-0 on Saturday.