By CovSid67
January 3 2007

Let's start with the positives: 1. We didn't lose; 2. I was sitting at the back of the stand, so didn't get too wet when I watched the game; 3. My car was close to the Arena, so I didn't get too wet when I left the stadium. The negatives - as well as a poor result - included the loss of 6,000 Coventry fans from Boxing Day (A mere 16,623 for this fixture). If ever a match asked for a £5 entrance fee, this was it....

Somebody concerned with matchdays proved they still have a sense of humour, as the bloody awful 'Beautiful Day' by U2 was played to those people braving the rain to watch this less than glamorous fixture.

Off the pitch things started badly: somebody forgot to programme the Skidata entry system properly, so the sometimes turnstile operator free seemless new system didn't work properly! Back to manual....

Wholesale changes were made to the side that lost to Ipswich (Including a re-call from Brighton for Andy Whing), though it made little difference to the performance, as another disappointing result was recorded.

On the pitch, things started well enough with Ward giving the home side the lead .... then Coventry City gave the sort of display that left you wondering if any player in the side has any confidence left at all.

As with the Ipswich match, a feature of the game was just how much time Coventry players spent skidding around and falling to the ground - are we really so poor that the players only have one pair of boots each?!

Back to the match report, where nobody but the Southend keeper was identifiable for the away side (Though I guess a few of their own supporters would recognise them!) due to the weak lettering on the white kit Southend were wearing....

A quality Whing cross was reached by Flahavan before McKenzie could get to the ball, while a decent McKenzie run was spoiled when he reached the byline but pulled the ball back too far. Normally, with Coventry players failing to bother getting into the area, there would have been a queue of players waiting where the ball ended up. But, for some reason, three of them had ventured into the opposition penalty area, and were about 10 yards ahead of the pass.

Minutes later, with Page lying injured just outside the Coventry penalty area, the home side decided against putting the ball out of play (How unsporting!), and broke well through Currie and McKenzie. Their efforts were rewarded with a corner.

With just under half-an-hour gone, a superb block from Whing denied Southend what looked a certain goal.

The chance to go 2-0 up was totally wasted just before the half-hour mark, as Doyle broke from midfield, raced 30 yards, then, with options to his left (Currie and Hall) and right (McKenzie), dallied, and was tackled with ease. To quote Ian Dury: 'What A Waste'....

Before the half-time interval Birchall twice found himself in front of the last Southend defender, but bottled the chance to shoot both times. His first chance saw him send a fine pass to Kyle, whose awful first touch wasted the opportunity.

A couple of mistakes in the Coventry defence almost let Southend in for an equaliser, with Hall's quality block denying the bottom of the table side.

Birchall once again broke out of defence for Coventry, this time following a Southend corner. But, with Currie failing to find a decent position, the chance was once again wasted.

An awful error from Marshall almost gifted Southend an equaliser a minute from half-time, as the ball squirmed from his grasp. He managed to claw the ball off the line as the away fans began celebrating. With their scoring record even worse than ours, I suppose nearly scoring is something worth getting excited about....

The second half started slowly, and it was over five minutes 'til anything worthy of note happened, as McKenzie's stumble into the area was ignored by the referee. If it was an attempt to con, it was most impressive, as from where I was sitting (In the dry!) he looked as if he was trying to stay on his feet rather than fall over.

The SU defence almost gifted the home side a goal, but, with Kyle having stolen a loose pass, Hughes effort was savd by Flahavan. And yet again the miss was to prove costly, as a Southend breakaway saw Gower equalise....

Kyle once again talked his way into the referee's notebook, and was lucky to stay on after seemingly to continue moaning about other decisions later in the match. Pillock.

As if to prove their strength in depth was better than ours, Southend brought on a fairly decent striker by the name of Freddie Eastwood(!). Minutes later he almost gave the away side the lead, forcing Marshall into a fine save.

Adebola replaced Birchall on 70 minutes, while Osbourne replaced Hughes on 73 minutes.

As the rain continued to pour down, the beauty of a big, half-empty ground became apparent to a fair few people, who moved from the dis-comfort of the front dozen rows, to somewhere far drier near the back of the Arena.

Adams made his final substitution after 77 minutes, bringing Tabb on for McKenzie (Who was once again guilty of trying to hard, and being messed around position-wise by Adams).

Southend missed another decent chance to take all three points as a cross from their right was just missed at the far post by an incoming striker (Who also just missed out on damaging himself!).

The home side finally came to life with just over five minutes left, with a fine Currie effort tipped over by Flahavan; a Whing header handled in the area (No penalty given) and Ward's follow-up going out for a corner; a long range effort from Doyle; and a quality solo run and shot by Currie being saved at his near-post by Flahavan.

A superb cross from Whing saw Adebola beaten to the ball, while Kyle missed two decent late efforts: one being a lame air-shot, and the other being a header that he put wide.

Final score: 1-1.

Once again there seemed little by way of team spirit, as was apparent by Page moaning at McKenzie after the former had hit an uncatchable pass to the ex-Norwich player, and Page blasting Whing after a pass from the former (Again!), that was even worse than his attempt to pick out McKenzie, was missed by the youngster.

Kyle's display split opinion again, though in the opinion of the person writing this article, he was awful! (Having read a website article about said player, there is a chance he will be unavailable anyway in the near future!). I was most annoyed at his reluctance to ever go for the 'second ball'....

One internet Message Board says Paul Fletcher is away on holiday. Surely his return will see the end of Mickey Adams reign?