By CovSid67
January 27 2009

Well, Coventry City won the Coventry-Torquay-Blackpool round robin tournament (Is there a trophy?!), but in reality deserved very little from either game. That said, I'll happily take the three points gained, and a place in the fifth round of the F.A. Cup!

Blackpool brought new loan signings DJ Campbell (Surely worth considering for our own squad?) and Roy O'Donovan, a former Coventry Youth player, into the side, while 'Cov Kid' Ian Evatt also started, 'Cov Kid', and one-time Coventry target Danny Nardiello was on the bench, while former players Claus Jorgensen and Steven McPhee were missing through injury!

The first half display versus Blackpool, after an averagely decent start, was abysmal. Following what was obviously a half-time rollocking from Chris Coleman, a five minute burst straight after the break saw DJ Campbell's opener equalised by Beuzelin (Scoring his first goal for the club), while Mifsud's second goal of the season, unselfishly set-up by Morrison, was enough to win the match (And increase his value by another five pounds).

Curtis Wynter's second appearance in a Sky Blue shirt was one of the positives from this match, with his quality pass to Morrison helping set up the second goal, while his goal-line clearance also helped. Blackpool did manage to put the ball in the net twice more, but thankfully the linesmans flag came to the home sides' rescue.

Manager Chris Coleman was honest in his assessment, stating: 'I wasn't pleased with our performance today because we weren't very good at all', while Clinton Morrison's opinion was: 'That was one of the worst games we have played this season'. And they were both spot on!

As for the cup fixture against Torquay, while you would expect the non-league side to be fighting that little bit harder, and looking to cause an upset, the reality is Coventry's class should have seen them through comfortably. It just didn't happen.

Torquay created enough chances to not only cause an upset, but to cause a major embarrassment. Fox was unlucky to see his first half effort cleared from the line, while Eastwood should have done better with a header from a Morrison cross, but that was about it for Coventry City.

You can't help wondering if the players read that Coventry City had somehow failed to win any of their last six away fixtures against Torquay, and were overly concerned at making it seven!

Elliott Ward, only on the pitch due to an injury to Gunnarsson, was Coventry's saviour, as his header - completely against the run of play - three minutes from time punished the home side for their profligacy in front of goal. One or two of their players will be having nightmares about the ones that got away....

With matches against Cardiff - who will be looking to cement their place in the Top 6 - and Derby - under new management and looking to impress - to come in the next week, a severe improvement is needed, or an influx of better quality players. 

TEAM (v Blackpool): Westwood, Wynter, Fox, Gunnarsson, Turner, Tabb, Doyle, Beuzelin, Mifsud (McKenzie 72), Eastwood (Simpson 78), Morrison. SNU: Marshall, Walker, Thornton.

TEAM (v Torquay): Westwood, Hall, Fox, Gunnarsson (Ward 44), Turner, Mifsud, Doyle, Beuzelin (Thornton 63), McKenzie, Eastwood, Morrison. SNU: Marshall, Wynter, Dann, Fraser, Walker.