By CovSid67
April 23 2006

26,672 watched this fairly entertaining local derby - a crowd swelled by a huge number of 'complimentary tickets' given away in at least one section of the ground. What they witnessed was the recent tactics change that has helped Leicester pull away from the relegation zone - by kicking the opposition to bits - and bad luck in front of goal by Coventry's players.

Stearman scored a goal against the run of play in the eighth minute, though unless they decided to stay silent when they scored, the threatened influx of away fans in the home sections never happened.

Coventry equalised two minutes later with a fine finish from Stern John, and looked to have taken the lead soon after that as John headed home Wise's free kick. As so often happened on this Bank Holiday afternoon, the linesman's flag was up....

Scowcroft's spectacular over-head kick cleared a potential Leicester effort off the line after 13 minutes, after Fulop had superbly parried one of the few shots on goal managed by the away side.

And, as could have been predicted by most, Wise was booked in the 14th minute, for accidentally catching Johansson with an elbow.

With 33 minutes gone, a fine Wise interception saw him head towards the Leicester goal, but his shot went disappointingly wide (Very wide!).

A superb pass from John released McSheffrey on the left, and his dangerous ball into the area was cleared. It was then Duffy's turn to torment the Leicester defence, but Scowcroft failed to hit a shot first time, and the chance was wasted.

Coventry were guilty of wasting another chance a minute later, and at times the moving of the ball wider and wider and wider 'til they ran out of pitch was more in keeping with trying to score a try in rugby rather than aiming for goal as they should have been doing.

A poor clearance from Shaw allowed Leicester a free sighting of goal (Though the decision not to raise his flag by the linesman looked very wrong), but Fulop was equal to the shot. From the corner, a pathetic header from Stearman ended up going out for a throw-in.

Kisnorbo was booked for a nasty challenge just before half-time, while Fryatt was booked within a minute of the re-start (With it becoming clear straight away that part of Kelly's team-talk wasn't to calm down on the fouling side of Leicester's game).

A Coventry corner saw Leicester fans give Wise a fair amount of stick, and he seemed to enjoy it as much as the positive support he got from Coventry City supporters!

A ridiculous dive by a Leicester player (Which was ignored by the referee - though should have resulted in a booking) was followed by two poor challenges in a matter of seconds, on Wise and Duffy. This kept the Coventry phyiso busy, with Duffy being replaced soon after by Andrew Whing. And it wasn't long before Leicester's hackers added him to their "victims list"....

Kisnorbo was red carded for a disgraceful challenge on the Coventry right-back - a decision that surprised many Coventry supporters, as, after some of the challenges witnessed, it looked as if the away side were free to get away with anything. It really was a terrible challenge, and while Adams' stated Whing had stud marks in his shin, the way Kisnorbo followed through, I'm presuming he also had some on his chin....

Shocking control from Adebola in the penalty area cost Coventry what looked an easy chance to score (Maybe thoughts that he could have been playing in the Premiership had Sheffield United signed him were affecting him?), while a Whing overhead kick minutes later was cleared off the Leicester goal-line - though the flag had already gone up for another invisible infringement.

Leicester made a 'let's hold onto what we've got' substitution after 70 minutes, with Hume replaced by somebody whose shirt didn't look ten sizes to big for him, Elvis Hammond (Who came off the bench and was given the job of wasting time in the hopes the away side could hold out for a draw), while midfielder Steven Hughes replaced Walsall reject Fryatt.

Coventry then made a double substitution, with McSheffrey again replaced (Why does he always get subbed?! Moving him up front with Adebola coming off is a far better option!), and Adebola also being substituted, to be replaced by Thornton and Hutchison.

Hutchison received a kick in the face off Gerrbrand, though the failure to show a yellow card was defended by some Coventry fans! With the ball at head height, and two players competing for it, this could only be seen as dangerous play.

A double chance to take the lead was missed on 75 minutes, with efforts from John and Wise somehow cleared off the Leicester line, while a late Wise effort hit the Leicester bar. And with that, Leicester were able to esacpe off down the M69 with a point they barely deserved.

The foul count for this match was said to be 21-23, with the away side the dirtier of the two - though if this tally includes decisions wrongly given against Adebola (Who surely doesn't have a single referee on his Christmas card list), 10-34 would seem more accurate, as once again the ball being anywhere near him was deemed to be a foul.