By CCFC Sid
February 29 2004

CCFC made a fairly shaky start to this match, then played some of the better football seen by them at Highfield Road this season - more importantly than that though, they finally won at home!! There were decent performances throughout the side, but Gudjonsson (At the heart of most things constructive!) and Safri were possibly the pick of the team, and the win against Derby (According to Ceefax, this was CCFC's first win of the year! Twice they could have inserted the wrod "home", but never bothered....*) has pushed CCFC into the dizzy heights of the top half of the table too! Nose bleed territory....

Konjic was dropped to the bench, with Davenport and Clarke given the task of stopping the Derby strike threat, which included sometimes former CCFC favourite Noel Whelan (Playing his last match for DC, before a decision on a further contract is made). Whether Konjic was injured, or this was Black looking to the future, we have not yet been told!

Having weathered early Derby pressure, CCFC got into the match, and took the lead after 19 minutes, thanks to Gary McSheffrey. Derby No. 2 Rob Edwards fouled Joachim, and unbelievably escaped a booking (With Gudjonsson shown a yellow card for a far lesser offence two minutes later!), but a decent delivery from the free kick punished Derby anyway. Warnock's original shot was saved by Grant, but he retrieved the ball and crossed for McSheffrey, who smashed the ball home from a few yards out.

Seconds later, a poor Grant clearance almost gave McSheffrey the chance to double the lead, but he managed to retake his place in goal before McSheffrey could latch on to his stray pass, while the Derby defence got back to cover well too.

Osman looked to have won Derby a penalty after going over following a Deloumeaux challenge, but, having paused for what seemed like an age, the referee awarded CCFC a free-kick, and booked Osman for diving! A lot of CCFC fans seemed to believe this was a penalty, but Osman made such a meal of trying to win it that the referee obviously thought he was cheating to seek an advantage.

Joachim doubled CCFC's lead after 31 minutes after another Warnock assist, as yet again the loanee underlined the fact that if Liverpool really don't want him, he MUST become a CCFC player this summer! (And that if the price is right, Joachim must stay too).

CCFC were denied what looked a fairly clear penalty on 37 minutes, as Rob Edwards handled in the Derby penalty area when McSheffrey tried to go past him. This could have proved costly five minutes later, with Gudjonsson superbly clearing a Manal header off the CCFC goal-line with Shearer well beaten. Seconds later a free header for Johnson was wasted, as he chose to aim for the corner flag rather than the back of the CCFC net!

In goal, Scott Shearer hadn't had a lot to do in the first half, but in the second half showed that he is improving on his early season form, making a few quality saves, and earning his third clean sheet in four matches. Around the hour mark he made two saves that must rate somewhere around his finest so far in a CCFC shirt! (With his save from Reich's free kick being top class).

Another player CCFC must make efforts to sign is Peter Clarke - if for no other reason, he seems to be instrumental in reducing the opposition to 10 men! (Not that CCFC usually play better against ten men!). Manel was sent off on 59 minutes for lashing out at the youngster, and, while DC did raise their game for a few minutes after this, CCFC did seem to exploit the extra man for once - though spurned half-a-dozen chances they really should have done better with.

Minutes later Konjic replaced Warnock, and again it has to be presumed that this was due to injury (Surely two assists is enough to keep any player on the pitch?!) - though the look on Warnock's face would suggest otherwise. Warnock is repeatedly withdrawn early, and this could affect his decision to join CCFC if Liverpool should decide to release him - stop it Eric!!

Chance after chance was created in the final quarter of the match, but that age old CCFC problem of not being able to finish teams off came to the fore again. Each time Derby went forward, CCFC simply stole the ball off them, and attacked with pace - but showed little by way of finishing ability! Doyle had a shot well saved by Grant (After being given the freedom of the pitch!), Joachim missed a sitter, and Doyle and Clarke wasted decent chances too.

Whelan was withdrawn by Burley on 80 minutes, and, after typically receiving jeers from those who once supported him, then received a genuine round of applause from the same people(!), and a standing ovation from a large section of the crowd. This would suggest that, if rumours are true that he might be returning to Highfield Road, it would not be greeted with dismay! As for Adebola, who entered the pitch around the same time, it seems his departure would be more than welcomed by most....

Adebola looked as if he was trying to prove to Black it would be a mistake to release him, and was unlucky not to score late on after a fine run - but given the choice of a fit and bothered Whelan, or the former Crystal Palace man....

The only negative to come from the day is that some CCFC fans are now talking about the p*** o***! The next month sees CCFC up against automatic promotion hopefuls WBA, and Wigan, and p*** o** hopefuls Cardiff, Preston, and Reading - maybe then we will have a better idea if we are justified in doing so!

* The `Sun' newspaper(?) last week claimed Suffo scored CCFC's first versus Wimbledon, and Gudjonsson scored the other two - do these people know anything about football? Do they actually watch matches from the bar, or at all? I bet the pay isn't bad though....