Coventry 3 Norwich 0 - 09/09/2006
Coventry 3 Norwich 0 - 09/09/2006
Coventry City: Marshall; Whing; Hall; Page; Ward; Hughes; Doyle; Kyle (Hutchison 70); Birchall; John (Osbourne 82); Thornton (Cameron 70).
Subs not used: Adebola; Heath.
Booked: Page (27), Whing (29)
Goals: Birchall 12, Kyle 63, John 67
Norwich City: Gallacher; Drury; Shackell; Huckerby (McVeigh 49); Croft; Earnshaw; Safri; Etuhu (Henderson 67); Colin; Doherty; Robinson.
Subs not used: Camp; Fleming; Hughes.
Booked: Shackell (3), Robinson (25)
Attendance: 20,006 (2,573)
Referee: J Moss
Teamtalk
Coventry romped to a convincing 3-0 victory over high-flying Norwich at the Ricoh Arena to maintain their 100% home record so far this season.
The Sky Blues took the lead against Nigel Worthington's men after only 12 minutes.
And it was summer signing Chris Birchall who gave them the half-time advantage with a stunning 20-yard strike, his first goal for the club.
Kevin Kyle was next to get in on the act on his home debut, with a great header just after the hour.
Stern John made the points safe for the hosts with a third goal minutes later.
Coventry boss Micky Adams was forced to do without Leon McKenzie, the club's new £1million signing, after a clause in his contract made him ineligible to face his former team-mates.
Norwich, however, were missing injured duo Matthieu-Jean and Peter Thorne for the trip to the Midlands.
The opening two minutes of this clash set the tone for a highly contested encounter, with both teams guilty of making some crude challenges.
Yet once the game had calmed down it seemed to be the home side who found their feet first.
And it was no surprise when the Sky Blues opened the scoring.
Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Birchall latched onto a poor defensive knock-down to fire an unstoppable low drive past the despairing Paul Gallagher.
John had a good chance to double the home side's lead midway through the half, but could only fire his shot wide.
The second half started at a laboured tempo, forcing Worthington into making his first substitution as early as the 47 minute.
And the move seemed to have an immediate impact for the visitors, with Youssef Safri seeing his well struck drive deflect narrowly over the bar from 25-yards.
But it was Coventry who struck again after 63 minutes to deflate Norwich's ambitions, just when it looked as if they might find their way back into the game.
Good work in central midfield found John out on the left-hand byline, and he floated an inch-perfect cross into the path of Kyle, who was on hand to head past Gallagher from six yards out.
Things got even better for the hosts only four minutes later when John picked up the ball just outside the visitor's penalty area.
The former Birmingham man managed to jink his way past some comical Norwich defending and end the contest with a low strike into the far bottom corner from a difficult angle.
CCFC
The Sky Blues turn on the style at the Ricoh to beat high-flying Norwich by three goals to nil, with Chris Birchall, Kevin Kyle and Stern John all getting on the scoresheet.
Micky Adams handed a first home start to Scottish international striker Kevin Kyle for this afternoon's clash as he lined-up alongside Stern John upfront.
The former Sunderland man made his debut in the hard-fought one nil win against Hull at the KC Stadium last time out, but the powerhouse forward was getting his first taste of the Ricoh atmosphere.
In a shake-up to the system the gaffer reverted back to a more conventional four-four-two set-up, which sees Matt Heath and midfielder Colin Cameron drop to the bench with Andy Whing and Kevin Thornton taking their place.
Thornton was the goal scoring hero at Hull and got his reward in a midfield also containing Stephen Hughes, Michael Doyle and Chris Birchall.
After the two-week lay-off it didn't take long for both teams to get stuck-in and after just three minutes Norwich's Jason Shackell put in a horribly mis-timed challenge on Stern John.
The Trinidad and Tobago international showed great speed of thought to knock the ball forward with the defender sliding in to scythe John down and earn himself a booking.
The Sky Blues were setting a good tempo with both Andy Whing and Marcus Hall bombing forward at every opportunity as City went about finding an early breakthrough.
And the Sky Blue Army weren't made to wait much longer for the goal they had been hoping for.
Chris Birchall picking up a bobbling ball 25 yards from goal the lively midfielder only ever had one thing in his mind, smashing the ball into the bottom far corner to leave Gallacher with no chance after 12 minutes.
It was the former Port Vale man's first goal for his new club after his move across the Midlands during the summer.
The game was opening up into a real end-to-end affair with goalscorer Birchall surging into the box before crossing for Thornton, who miscued his effort on goal before former City man Huckerby crossed low at the other end.
On 29 Andy Whing looked to have won the Sky Blues a penalty in the box after he went down under pressure from Adam Drury but the referee waved away City's appeals and instead booked Whing.
With 37 gone some good link-up play between Thornton and John almost saw the striker burst through on goal, but the ball was just under hit allowing the defender to clear the danger.
Having not created any genuine chances in the first half Norwich were in need of stepping it up a little in the second period if they were to peg the Sky Blues back. City fans were probably expecting Huckerby to give their defence a torrid time on his return to his old club but he had been largely ineffective and was substituted in the 49th minute with Paul McVeigh taking his place.
In the 53rd minute the equalizer nearly came from another City old boy as Safri let fly from well over 30 yards and a deflection off Elliott Ward's head very nearly caught Marshall out.
But with 63 on the clock the Sky Blues doubled their lead thanks to some superb interplay between our two strikers. Kyle curled a precise pass out toe John before making a run into the area. The Trinidad and Tobago international then put an inch perfect cross into the area and Kyle leapt between two defenders to send a powerful header past Gallacher.
City were playing with bags of confidence now and moments after the second goal John nearly made it three with a beautifully struck low shot from the edge of the area which flew just wide of the far post.
But he did not have to wait long to register on the scoresheet, making it 3-0 in the 67th minute. He used all of his skill to evade a number of challenges from Norwich men and his shot took a slight deflection to wrong foot Gallacher and nestle in the back of the net.
Micky Adams soon made a double substitution with the effervescent Kevin Thornton being replaced by Colin Cameron and Don Hutchison coming on for Kevin Kyle who had enjoyed an excellent home debut. Stern John soon came off to a standing ovation as Isaac Osbourne was given a run out for the final ten.
With five left on the clock Marshall made a fine point blank range block from McVeigh to preserve the clean sheet in what was pretty much a flawless performance from the Sky Blues.
4TheGame
Coventry City made the most of Norwich City's travel sickness to record a welcome home win at the Ricoh Arena.
Micky Adams' side, who have made an indifferent start to the season, put on their best performance of the season to brush aside Nigel Worthington's men who have yet to score on their travels.
And the Coventry manger will find it hard to bring in new signing Leon McKenzie who was barred from playing in this game after his move from Carrow Road.
The fast and furious opening was down in part to Norwich defender Jason Shackell who was lucky to stay on the field when, with less than two minutes gone, he felled Stern John as the striker ran clear inside the visitors' half.
The centre-half escaped with just a yellow card but it added bite to proceedings at an early stage.
And it was deservedly Coventry who prospered when they took the lead in the 12th minute.
Kevin Kyle, making his first appearance since his £1million move from Sunderland did well to take the ball down and pick out Mark Birchall. The former Port Vale man was given plenty of time but did very well to bring the ball down and then pulled his right foot across the ball and swerved a shot in past Paul Gallacher Coventry had certainly made the better start and Norwich - with three offensive players in their line-up - were struggling to make much of an impression.
Marcus Hall had to twice throw himself into the path of the ball to prevent Norwich capitalising from a corner just a minute after they went behind.
Coventry could have added a second midway through the first half when Birchall pulled a cross back for youngster Kevin Thornton, but his right foot shot went weakly wide.
Nigel Worthington had seen enough and just after the restart he took off Darren Huckerby and brought on Paul McVeigh but it had little effect.
Coventry stretched their lead in the 62 minute when Kyle started a move by feeding the ball out to Stern John and was then on the end of the Trinidadian's right wing cross to leap and head home.
They made certain four minutes later when John got a slice of good fortune after some very clever footwork when his shot struck a defender and bounced in.
That was the game over and Adams was able to make changes to protect Kyle, who is still short of match fitness after being sidelined for so long at the Stadium of Light.
Norwich only managed a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes when McVeigh's shot was kept out by Andy Marshall.
Coventry boss Micky Adams said: "We had a game plan against Norwich and to a man they stuck at it.
"Norwich are a good side and they have got a system of playing but we adopted a style which suited us.
"We tried to stifle them and they were limited to very few chances but that's three clean sheets on the spin for us in the league.
"Squads today are about making changes. We changed a winning side from the Hull game and it if it is good enough for Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho and the like, it is good enough for Micky Adams and Coventry City.
"Players are going to find that they aren't in the team, but we adopted a style that suited us.
"I thought we defended terrifically well individually. I think the key was concentration against their front three, because they are a big threat." Norwich manager Nigel Worthington added: "The standards that we have set in the first six games just were not there. We're not going to make excuses.
"The performance wasn't what it has been. The defending for the three goals was average.
"We have a few players who might need x-rays when we get back to Norwich on their cheekbones which we're disappointed about, but the referee failed to pick it up."
Coventry City: Marshall; Whing; Hall; Page; Ward; Hughes; Doyle; Kyle (Hutchison 70); Birchall; John (Osbourne 82); Thornton (Cameron 70).
Subs not used: Adebola; Heath.
Booked: Page (27), Whing (29)
Goals: Birchall 12, Kyle 63, John 67
Norwich City: Gallacher; Drury; Shackell; Huckerby (McVeigh 49); Croft; Earnshaw; Safri; Etuhu (Henderson 67); Colin; Doherty; Robinson.
Subs not used: Camp; Fleming; Hughes.
Booked: Shackell (3), Robinson (25)
Attendance: 20,006 (2,573)
Referee: J Moss
Teamtalk
Coventry romped to a convincing 3-0 victory over high-flying Norwich at the Ricoh Arena to maintain their 100% home record so far this season.
The Sky Blues took the lead against Nigel Worthington's men after only 12 minutes.
And it was summer signing Chris Birchall who gave them the half-time advantage with a stunning 20-yard strike, his first goal for the club.
Kevin Kyle was next to get in on the act on his home debut, with a great header just after the hour.
Stern John made the points safe for the hosts with a third goal minutes later.
Coventry boss Micky Adams was forced to do without Leon McKenzie, the club's new £1million signing, after a clause in his contract made him ineligible to face his former team-mates.
Norwich, however, were missing injured duo Matthieu-Jean and Peter Thorne for the trip to the Midlands.
The opening two minutes of this clash set the tone for a highly contested encounter, with both teams guilty of making some crude challenges.
Yet once the game had calmed down it seemed to be the home side who found their feet first.
And it was no surprise when the Sky Blues opened the scoring.
Trinidad and Tobago midfielder Birchall latched onto a poor defensive knock-down to fire an unstoppable low drive past the despairing Paul Gallagher.
John had a good chance to double the home side's lead midway through the half, but could only fire his shot wide.
The second half started at a laboured tempo, forcing Worthington into making his first substitution as early as the 47 minute.
And the move seemed to have an immediate impact for the visitors, with Youssef Safri seeing his well struck drive deflect narrowly over the bar from 25-yards.
But it was Coventry who struck again after 63 minutes to deflate Norwich's ambitions, just when it looked as if they might find their way back into the game.
Good work in central midfield found John out on the left-hand byline, and he floated an inch-perfect cross into the path of Kyle, who was on hand to head past Gallagher from six yards out.
Things got even better for the hosts only four minutes later when John picked up the ball just outside the visitor's penalty area.
The former Birmingham man managed to jink his way past some comical Norwich defending and end the contest with a low strike into the far bottom corner from a difficult angle.
CCFC
The Sky Blues turn on the style at the Ricoh to beat high-flying Norwich by three goals to nil, with Chris Birchall, Kevin Kyle and Stern John all getting on the scoresheet.
Micky Adams handed a first home start to Scottish international striker Kevin Kyle for this afternoon's clash as he lined-up alongside Stern John upfront.
The former Sunderland man made his debut in the hard-fought one nil win against Hull at the KC Stadium last time out, but the powerhouse forward was getting his first taste of the Ricoh atmosphere.
In a shake-up to the system the gaffer reverted back to a more conventional four-four-two set-up, which sees Matt Heath and midfielder Colin Cameron drop to the bench with Andy Whing and Kevin Thornton taking their place.
Thornton was the goal scoring hero at Hull and got his reward in a midfield also containing Stephen Hughes, Michael Doyle and Chris Birchall.
After the two-week lay-off it didn't take long for both teams to get stuck-in and after just three minutes Norwich's Jason Shackell put in a horribly mis-timed challenge on Stern John.
The Trinidad and Tobago international showed great speed of thought to knock the ball forward with the defender sliding in to scythe John down and earn himself a booking.
The Sky Blues were setting a good tempo with both Andy Whing and Marcus Hall bombing forward at every opportunity as City went about finding an early breakthrough.
And the Sky Blue Army weren't made to wait much longer for the goal they had been hoping for.
Chris Birchall picking up a bobbling ball 25 yards from goal the lively midfielder only ever had one thing in his mind, smashing the ball into the bottom far corner to leave Gallacher with no chance after 12 minutes.
It was the former Port Vale man's first goal for his new club after his move across the Midlands during the summer.
The game was opening up into a real end-to-end affair with goalscorer Birchall surging into the box before crossing for Thornton, who miscued his effort on goal before former City man Huckerby crossed low at the other end.
On 29 Andy Whing looked to have won the Sky Blues a penalty in the box after he went down under pressure from Adam Drury but the referee waved away City's appeals and instead booked Whing.
With 37 gone some good link-up play between Thornton and John almost saw the striker burst through on goal, but the ball was just under hit allowing the defender to clear the danger.
Having not created any genuine chances in the first half Norwich were in need of stepping it up a little in the second period if they were to peg the Sky Blues back. City fans were probably expecting Huckerby to give their defence a torrid time on his return to his old club but he had been largely ineffective and was substituted in the 49th minute with Paul McVeigh taking his place.
In the 53rd minute the equalizer nearly came from another City old boy as Safri let fly from well over 30 yards and a deflection off Elliott Ward's head very nearly caught Marshall out.
But with 63 on the clock the Sky Blues doubled their lead thanks to some superb interplay between our two strikers. Kyle curled a precise pass out toe John before making a run into the area. The Trinidad and Tobago international then put an inch perfect cross into the area and Kyle leapt between two defenders to send a powerful header past Gallacher.
City were playing with bags of confidence now and moments after the second goal John nearly made it three with a beautifully struck low shot from the edge of the area which flew just wide of the far post.
But he did not have to wait long to register on the scoresheet, making it 3-0 in the 67th minute. He used all of his skill to evade a number of challenges from Norwich men and his shot took a slight deflection to wrong foot Gallacher and nestle in the back of the net.
Micky Adams soon made a double substitution with the effervescent Kevin Thornton being replaced by Colin Cameron and Don Hutchison coming on for Kevin Kyle who had enjoyed an excellent home debut. Stern John soon came off to a standing ovation as Isaac Osbourne was given a run out for the final ten.
With five left on the clock Marshall made a fine point blank range block from McVeigh to preserve the clean sheet in what was pretty much a flawless performance from the Sky Blues.
4TheGame
Coventry City made the most of Norwich City's travel sickness to record a welcome home win at the Ricoh Arena.
Micky Adams' side, who have made an indifferent start to the season, put on their best performance of the season to brush aside Nigel Worthington's men who have yet to score on their travels.
And the Coventry manger will find it hard to bring in new signing Leon McKenzie who was barred from playing in this game after his move from Carrow Road.
The fast and furious opening was down in part to Norwich defender Jason Shackell who was lucky to stay on the field when, with less than two minutes gone, he felled Stern John as the striker ran clear inside the visitors' half.
The centre-half escaped with just a yellow card but it added bite to proceedings at an early stage.
And it was deservedly Coventry who prospered when they took the lead in the 12th minute.
Kevin Kyle, making his first appearance since his £1million move from Sunderland did well to take the ball down and pick out Mark Birchall. The former Port Vale man was given plenty of time but did very well to bring the ball down and then pulled his right foot across the ball and swerved a shot in past Paul Gallacher Coventry had certainly made the better start and Norwich - with three offensive players in their line-up - were struggling to make much of an impression.
Marcus Hall had to twice throw himself into the path of the ball to prevent Norwich capitalising from a corner just a minute after they went behind.
Coventry could have added a second midway through the first half when Birchall pulled a cross back for youngster Kevin Thornton, but his right foot shot went weakly wide.
Nigel Worthington had seen enough and just after the restart he took off Darren Huckerby and brought on Paul McVeigh but it had little effect.
Coventry stretched their lead in the 62 minute when Kyle started a move by feeding the ball out to Stern John and was then on the end of the Trinidadian's right wing cross to leap and head home.
They made certain four minutes later when John got a slice of good fortune after some very clever footwork when his shot struck a defender and bounced in.
That was the game over and Adams was able to make changes to protect Kyle, who is still short of match fitness after being sidelined for so long at the Stadium of Light.
Norwich only managed a single shot on target throughout the 90 minutes when McVeigh's shot was kept out by Andy Marshall.
Coventry boss Micky Adams said: "We had a game plan against Norwich and to a man they stuck at it.
"Norwich are a good side and they have got a system of playing but we adopted a style which suited us.
"We tried to stifle them and they were limited to very few chances but that's three clean sheets on the spin for us in the league.
"Squads today are about making changes. We changed a winning side from the Hull game and it if it is good enough for Rafa Benitez and Jose Mourinho and the like, it is good enough for Micky Adams and Coventry City.
"Players are going to find that they aren't in the team, but we adopted a style that suited us.
"I thought we defended terrifically well individually. I think the key was concentration against their front three, because they are a big threat." Norwich manager Nigel Worthington added: "The standards that we have set in the first six games just were not there. We're not going to make excuses.
"The performance wasn't what it has been. The defending for the three goals was average.
"We have a few players who might need x-rays when we get back to Norwich on their cheekbones which we're disappointed about, but the referee failed to pick it up."
posted by SkyBlueSnowy at 8:22 am
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