By CovSid67
September 18 2006

The quality results at the Arena continue, with a fine win versus Norwich, while our away results continue to disappoint too, as our Ipswich hoodoo continues. Thirteen games without a win aginst them now.... A disappointing crowd of 20,006 (23,500 were expected) watched Coventry City make light work of high-flying Norwich.

A fair few Norwich coaches turned up late, while those supporters that managed to arrive before kick-off amused themselves by singing about former hero Leon MacKenzie (Who was ineligable to play against his former employers thanks to a clause in his contract).

Sadly there was no start for the newly signed Lee Camp in the Norwich goal, with his last two visits to play against us has seen him concede six goals each time! For Coventry City, Whing was recalled, and Thornton started in place of Cameron.

Norwich started the day in second place (Thanks only to their home form - sound familiar?!), with Coventry City just below mid-table.

Jason Shackell's hack at Stern John should have resulted in a red card within the opening minutes of the match, but the referee opted for a yellow card instead.

Chris Birchall had an effort saved on eight minutes, then opened the scoring for the home side just after 10 minutes, with a fine strike from outside the penalty area.

Etuhu and Robinson for Norwich, and Page for Coventry City, were all booked in an eight minute spell, while Andy Whing was booked for a dive in the Norwich penalty area on the half-hour mark (A slightly harsh decision).

A neat Kevin Thornton pass almost put Stern John through on 37 minutes, though a last-ditch challenge denied him a shot at goal.

Podgy looking Coventry City summer target Lee Croft was booked for hacking at Marcus Hall on the stroke of half-time.

With a mere four minutes of the second half played, Norwich boss Nigel Worthington replaced the ineffective Darren Huckerby. It was later revealed this was due to a groin injury, and not because he was rubbish.

With just over an hour gone, the home side made it 2-0. Kyle and John linked up well, with the latter putting a superb cross in for the former to power home a header. The ex-Sunderland man looked very emotional as he rushed towards the home supporters! (With one photo in the 'Daily Star' seemingly showing him in tears!).

A long kick down-field by Marshall was chased after and won by Stern John, and his effort was just wide of the left-hand Norwich post. Sometimes route one can be attractive and effective!

Five minutes later, excellent footwork from Stern John saw him dance through half-a-dozen Norwich players, before hitting his shot (Including slight deflection) past Gallacher in the Norwich goal.

Soon after, Cameron and Hutchison replaced Thornton and Kyle, and 10 minutes later Isaac Osbourne replaced Stern John.

Another solid defensive display kept a dangerous Norwich side quiet almost throughout, with the Coventry City goal rarely coming under threat, though the Canaries did manage a few efforts in the closing minutes, with one shot being cleared off the line. As if to show how solid the display, it was only after discussing the match in the pub that I realised Earnshaw had actually played for the entire 90 minutes!

As an extra perk for the day, it was particularly noticeable how see-through the Norwich away strip (White) was, worn by a fair few good-looking Norwich supporting females! Not a webbed foot between them either....

For the second match of the Coventry City versus Carrot Crunchers double-header, against Ipswich at Portman Road, the same away-day failings were on show.

Coventry City were well worth a point, but slack defending turned a deserved draw into nil points and defeat. For Ipswich, this was their third win on the trot (Having lost their opening three fixtures for the season).

A couple of hundred Coventry fans made the long midweek journey, and were overcharged to the tune of £26 for the dis-pleasure too.

Mark Noble opened the scoring five minutes into the second half, with Micky Adams answer to this set-back seeing new signing Leon McKenzie replacing Andy Whing.

Kevin Thornton, who put in another decent display, hit the bar from a free-kick after 69 minutes, and two minutes later Elliot Ward scored his first goal for the club to equalise (After an assist from new-boy Leon McKenzie).

Hutchison replaced Thornton with just under 10 minutes left, and a draw looked on the cards.

But, minutes after the change, a mistake by Stephen Hughes saw Billy Clarke copy Jason Dozzell by scoring for Ipswich minutes after leaving school.