Main Menu

30th September 2006

Thirds suffer opening day defeat

Coventry & N. Warwick 3rd XI  2  Coalville Town 3rd XI  0

DTZ 3rd XI East Midlands Division One

Coalville's third string suffered an opening day defeat against a Coventry & North Warwick side looking to bounce back after relegation from the East Midlands Premier Division last season.

In truth, it was a game that Town could have won had they taken their chances. But it was one of those days.

Coalville played some neat stuff at times, with new boy Liam McArthur linking well with Darren Conway and Dave Mee in midfield. But it took Coventry only 20 minutes to find an opening goal, and the home side didn't look back from there.

Town soon carved open a good opportunity for Carl Clay, but his shot went straight at the keeper. It was to be a bad day for Clay, as another couple of decent chances also went begging, while Darren Ward saw an effort go wide.

Simon Calkin, Simon Wyatt and Gareth Turner put in a number of crunching tackles in defence to keep Coventry at bay, while Chris Pearson's direct running with the ball was causing problems for the Coventry defence.

But the home side sealed the win in the final minute with a second goal that squeezed through the legs of Coalville keeper Greg Tongue to secure the points for Coventry.