By CCFC Sid
September 28 2003

Two CCFC goals within the opening 10 minutes had supporters wondering if our (almost) nine month wait for a D1 home win was finally over. And thankfully, it was! The volume levels were up for most of this match, and it’s been a good while since I heard so many CCFC players acknowledged by the crowd – long may it continue! Also, as I’ve been requesting for a good while now, McAllister shared the set-piece duties around, and those that were allowed a chance, showed that they are more than worthy of another go (or two) in the future....

CCFC supporters got right behind the team (Being two-nil up within 10 minutes probably helped!), and the team responded by playing some good quality football at times, and some exceptional football at other times!

Suffo opened the scroring after four minutes, and Barrett disproved the theory that he cannot score goals by notching his second CCFC goal in competitive matches this season - and how! His rasping drive left De Goey nothing more than a spectator, and left Stokes’ players looking round in disbelief.

There were plenty of chances for CCFC to add to the score-line, with Adebola heading over when he should have at least hit the target, and Suffo went over in the penalty area after getting past the last Stoke defender. Penalty appeals were ignored, though I doubt Suffo would want to fall over instead of test the keeper when in such a position.

In first half injury time, a cracking Suffo shot went just wide of the post, and a Konjic effort was deflected for a corner, and despite being two-nil up, it was hard not to remember that CCFC managed to lose despite the same advantage when they played Ipswich at Highfield Road.

Asaba’s goal on the stroke of half-time did little to quell those fears (Contrary to what iccoventry says, this was on the left hand side of CCFC’s defence!), with Shearer having come a long way off his line to narrow the angle, but Asaba finished well.

CCFC reject Paul Williams was replaced at half-time, but this failed to stop CCFC as an attacking force, as chance after chance was created in the second half - and it’s at this point where this match report becomes less of a report, and more of a list!

Adebola nipped in front of a defender on 49 minutes, and saw his effort saved low to De Goey’s right, and Whing had a rasping shot tipped round the post on 50 minutes. A Staunton free-kick was saved by De Goey on 51 minutes, and a Barrett effort again found the target on 53 minutes, but was saved again.

Adebola opened his D1 account for the season after 57 minutes, with a great shot on the turn beating Ed De Goey. It was difficult to tell who was the most ecstatic out of Adebola or his CCFC team-mates, as he became buried under a pile of them – though with the big man prone to injury, this was perhaps not the wisest thing to do!

Morrell replaced McAllister on 61 minutes, and once again his work-rate was exceptional, as he chased anything within a 30 yard radius of wherever he was. His goal on 74 minutes was well deserved, heading home after great work from Adebola, and a quality cross from Doyle.

In between those two CCFC goals, Barrett saw an effort go just wide after 60 minutes, and a Safri free-kick came back off the bar with De Goey well beaten, after 65 minutes. Unfortunately for CCFC, the bounce didn’t fall kindly, and the ball was cleared. A fortunate rebound fell to Morrell on 66 minutes, and his cross-come-shot went agonisingly across the goal-mouth, with nobody able to stab the ball home.

A powerful Mo Konjic, `Hot Shot Hamish’ style run on 69 minutes, was stopped by a cynical foul by old-boy John Eustace. This deservedly earned him a yellow card, with Barrett also receiving one for the `handbags at 10 paces’ that followed. From the resulting Safri free-kick, Suffo rose highest, but headed his effort over the bar.

Stoke managed to pull a goal back with a header from defender Thomas from a corner on 77 minutes, and this was greeted by polite rather than ecstatic applause from the Stoke fans, who obviously believed a result was beyond them. Had Iwelumo’s effort minutes later stood, CCFC fans could have endured a nerve-wracking final few minutes, but thankfully it was chalked off for being offside.

A 35-yard Staunton run and shot after 87 minutes almost added to the scoring for CCFC, but his effort fell wide of the post, and, after four minutes of injury time, CCFC had won their first three points of the season – with all four players signed with goal-scoring in mind getting their name on the score sheet. As I said at the start: `Who Needs Ravanelli’?!