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Under 16 Sky Blues Team Match Reports Tamworth Ladies 0 - 11 Coventry City Sky Blues After the long lay off over Christmas Sky Blues started the run in with a comfortable victory over 9 player Tamworth. With Solihull Borough not playing the Sky Blues took advantage of their game in hand to knock the Birmingham side off top spot. To be fair to Tamworth they battled well throughout and although well beaten, played the game in great spirit. Tamworth will find it very difficult to pick up points with only 9 players in a very strong league. The Sky Blues missed a few chances before Laura Dunlop hit a purple patch and knocked in three quick goals. The pick of which was the second when she smashed the ball home from the edge of the box. Claire "Tinks" Hume was causing major problems for Tamworth down the left and Sarah Egan threatened down the right and it was only a matter of time before Tinks knocked in a fine pass from Mia Charnley. Mia then got in on the act to score her first ever goal finishing well from 12 yards after the goalkeeper juggled the ball over the line. The second half was again dominated by the Sky Blues and further goals were inevitable. Sarah Egan ran wild in the first twenty minutes of the second half and put away two goals. Megan Towey smashed one in from outside the box and further goals were added by Kat Watkin and Sian Jenkinson. Next week the Sky Blues take on Walsall in the semi-final of the internal cup and need to be on top form to make the final. Goal Scorers: Mia Charnley(1), Claire Hulme(1), Sarah Egan(2), Sam Pattinson(1), Laura Dunlop(3), Megan Towey(1), Sian Jenkinson(1), Kat Watkins(1) Team: Katey Rowell, Mia Charnley, Sam Smythe, Jessica Flint, Lauren Middleton, Sanj Jaspal, Stacey Rowley, Claire Hulme, Sarah Egan, Sam Pattinson, Laura Dunlop, Megan Towey, Sian Jenkinson, Kat Watkins Coventry City Sky Blues 2 - 1 Leafield Athletic Sky Blues put in a very gritty performance today to overturn the 3-1 result from the first game of the season. Unbeaten Leafield must have been confident of stretching their unbeaten run but the Sky Blue Girls came out fighting and from the start took the game to the Birmingham outfit. Early play swung both ways and both keepers were kept busy, Kate Rowells continuing her fantastic season with great anticipation clearing well from the dangerous no.7.Kate George and Kat Watkin linked well and kept the Leafield defence busy whilst strong tackling from Sam Smythe, Megan Towey, Lauren Mochrie and Lauren Middleton restricted the attempts of the visitors. On 20 Minutes Sky Blues got a free kick 25 yards out on the right, Claire hume launched a Bekhamesque free kick left footed into the top corner, what a goal. Sky Blues defended well but Sam Smythe failed to stop the Leafield M-o-M no.7 from lifting the ball over the stranded Katey Rowell just before half time. Sky Blues lost their keeper and centre half at the interval and had to re-shuffle the pack. Despite this set back the Sky Blues started the second half much brighter although most of the play was concentrated in the middle of the park. Stacey Rowley and Sanj Jaspal got into gear and started to dictate the play and the introduction of Sian Jenkinson and Sam Pattinson seemed to have the desired effect and City should have taken the lead when missing two chances in quick succession. The Sky Blues now started to bite in the tackles and Leafield struggled to match the competitive edge to City's game. After an hour of play Sam Pattinson beat three players before shooting at the keeper who dropped the ball only to find Birthday girl Sian Jenkinson on hand to score from 6 yards. A well deserved goal which should have been added to with Laura Dunlop, Sam Pattinson and Jessie Wilson all missing simple chances. Mia Charnley, Jessie Flint and Lauren Mochrie all worked hard to keep the counter attacking of Leafield at bay and when they did break through Lauren Middleton and Sam Smythe kept the chances to a minimum. Stand in keeper Claire Hume had very little to cope with in the second half. A great result and a solid performance from the Sky Blues, well done to all the girls including the Leafield team who took defeat with grace. It is going to take a very good side to stop one of these teams winning the league this year. Leamington Lions 2 - 4 Coventry City Sky Blues The Sky Blues continued their winning streak at Leamington today with a comfortable 4-2 scoreline. With last weeks cup match at Wryley called off the Sky Blues looked to enhance their league position against ever improving Leamington. The Sky Blues took control of the game early on and could have had two or three goals by the time Kat Watkin smashed the opener from just inside the box. Great work by Claire Hulme on the left before slipping the ball to Kat for her to finish in style. The Sky Blues only downside at this point was the inability to finish the game off and instead of coming off at half time with the game sown up they let Leamington back in with a breakaway goal. The second half started with two quick Sky Blue goals. Katey George finished well when smashing a left footer in off the post and minutes later Laura Dunlop stole the ball from the keeper to make it 3-1. Coventry were now camped in the Lions half of the pitch and more goals seemed inevitable. The Lions had other ideas and from a rare attacking move they pinched a second goal, one thing Leamington don't do, is give in. At this stage 3-2 looked a closer result than it should and Sian Jenkinsons shot from 18 yards that found the corner of the net gave the scoreline a more realistic feel. A blatant penalty was turned down by the referee in the dying minutes but the game was now over as a competition. The Sky Blues move on to a very tough December with games against Leafield, Walsall and Wryley in the cup. TEAM: Katey Rowell, Lauren Mochrie, Sam Smythe, Megan Towey, Lauren Middleton, Sanj Jaspal, Stacey Rowley, Claire Hulme, Jessica Flint, Kate George, Kat Watkins, Mia Charnley, Sian Jenkinson, Laura Dunlop. Coventry City Sky Blues 3 - 1 Leamington Lions A fantastic day for playing football with the sun shining and clear blue skies. Sky Blues started slowly playing nice football in patches but not making the most of goal scoring opportunities. Leamington on the other hand looked much improved from the early season encounter with the Sky Blues and proved to be a handful on the break particularly the No.9. With the Sky Blues enjoying more possession chances came and went before Megan Towey hit the post from twenty five yards out. Soon after Sam Pattinson finished off a right wing cross slotting the ball home from just inside the box. Leamington never stopped fighting and had one or two chances themselves and they came very close to scoring when hitting the post near to half time. Changes were made at half time with the 3-5-2 formation not exactly working. A traditional 4-4-2 improved the shape of the side and the Sky Blues dominated much of the start of the second half. Stacey Rowley kept up her goal scoring run by adding the second and the pressure on the Leamington team finally paid off when Kat Watkin scored the best goal of the game when smashing the ball into the roof of the net from 12 yards out. Leamington to their credit never gave in and scored a well taken goal with ten minutes to go to make the score 3-1. A big improvement from Leamington but the Sky Blues need to get back to the form that smashed Villa and Solihull a few weeks ago. Another big game next week when the Sky Blues take on Wryley from the Premier division, the performance will need to be better. TEAM: Katey Rowell, Mia Charnley, Lauren Middleton, Sam Smythe, Sian Jenkinson, Sanj Jaspal, Stacey Rowley, Jessica Wilson, Claire Hulme, Sam Pattinson, Megan Towey, Kate George, Kat Watkins, Lauren Mochrie, Solihull Borough 4 - 5 Coventry City Sky Blues Right from the start it was clear that City would miss Kate George who scored 4 against Solihull two weeks ago. The fact that Sanj Jaspal could only make the second half meant that two of our more influential players didn't make the line up. However, the Sky Blues made it to the semi finals of the league shield with a gritty performance here today. Under pressure from the kick off The Sky Blues were restricted to breakaways, and to be fair, the breakaways looked dangerous. The first goal came from one such instance. A looping cross from Sam Pattinson at the third attempt found the head of Stacey Rowley who out jumped the keeper to find the back of the net. This was a rare moment of joy for the Sky Blues in the first half as continuous pressure from Solihull meant that Megan Towey, Lauren Middleton and Sam Smyth had to be on top form to keep out the impressive front duo of the borough. It was not the best of performances by the Sky Blues defence but every time Solihull got through they could not beat the magnificent Katey Rowell who stopped everything. On the stroke of half time Solihull equalised, finally breaking the Sky Blues defence. The second half started better for the Sky Blues and they enjoyed a little more possession. The manager moved Sam Pattinson up front and within minutes the reward was a goal for the ever lively Sam, When finishing neatly from just inside the box. The rest of the second half continued the same as the first with City desperatley defending the slender lead. After missing numerous chances and another string of superb saves by Katey Rowell, Solihull made it 2-2. Extra time was a lot more even and both sides could have won the game but the dreaded penalties loomed ever closer. Kat Watkin and Jessie Wilson netted for the Sky Blues and Katey Rowell saved three of the five Solihull shots. Sudden Death, Solihull's shot was saved by Katey, Sam Pattinson tried to chip the 6 foot tall keeper and failed, Katey Rowells saved again and it was now down to Lauren Middleton. Midge blasted the ball straight at the keeper who desperately tried to scramble the ball clear of the line but failed. The Sky Blues won by a matter of inches and they had Katey Rowells to thank for the performance of the season. They say you need a little luck to win a cup, well the Sky Blues used an awful lot of luck to make it to the semi's, let's hope there is no more needed. A welcome return from injury for Mia Charnley and Laura Dunlop. Solihull Borough 2 - 6 Coventry City Sky Blues Super Sky Blues reversed an early season defeat here at Solihull, and boy, did they do it in style. The Sky Blues replaced Solihull at the top of the table with a performance which matched in character, last weeks defeat of Aston Villa. Again, the victory was set up by the mid field performances of Stacey Rowley and Sanj Jaspal, committed to every tackle they just never let the Solihull central trio get a look in. Lauren Mochrie moved into the middle giving City a 3-5-2 formation which created the space for Claire Hume and Jessica Flint to operate the flanks. On a very small pitch the Sky Blues found few openings in the first 10 minutes and could have fell behind but the Solihull striker strayed 3 yards off-side when finishing. Kate George opened the scoring after 15 minutes and it was quickly followed up with a second from Kat Watkin who finished with great composure. Solihull scored minutes later following a free kick that the Sky Blues seemed to fall asleep for, however they soon made amends when Kate George made the most of a keeping error scoring her second from close range. To cap off a great first half both Kat Watkin and then Kate George made the most of Solihull mistakes to make the score 1-5 and a great deal of credit goes to the two strikers for their awareness. The second half was more evenly balanced and the Sky Blues made 4 changes to the line up. Kate George grabbed her 4th when falling in the box before magically wrong footing the unfortunate keeper and sending the ball into the opposite corner of the net. Solihull grabbed a consolation goal when a poor bounce fooled Katey Rowell in goal just as it looked like Solihull had nothing left to give. Special praise to the Sky Blues back trio of Sam Smyth, Lauren Middleton and in particular Megan Towey who had an "IMMENSE" game. The Solihull centre forward never got a chance all game thanks to Megan's strength in the tackle playing the man for man superbly. Sky Blues now top the table and relish the rest of the pack chasing them. Well done girls. TEAM: Kate George, Lauren Mochrie, Sam Smythe, Megan Towey, Lauren Middleton, Jessica Flint, Sanj Jaspal, Stacey Rowley, Claire Hulme, Kate George, Kat Watkins, Jessica Wilson, Sam Pattinson, Sian Jenkinson Aston Villa Reserves 0 - 5 Coventry City Sky Blues Coventry City Sky Blues finally came of age today and put in a performance of pure grit, determination and class. From the very first tackle to the last the Sky Blues won every loose ball and restricted Villa to up and under tactics to try and claw there way back into the game. After 10 minutes or so Sky Blues won a free kick 25 yards out on the left. Lauren Middleton stepped up and fired Beckham like into the top corner. Villa couldn't find an answer and City continued to dominate with Sanj Jaspal (ex Villa) and Stacey Rowley winning the mid field battle. After 35 minutes Lauren Mochrie sent in a superb back post cross and Claire Hume controlled the ball before firing in from close range. Just before the interval Sanj Jaspal broke free and as she pulled the trigger the referees whistle for half time saved Villa from a 3-0 deficit. After a half time roasting Villa threatened early in the second half using the increased wind to play the long ball game. The Sky Blues defence marshalled by the impeccable Kate George withstood the early pressure and Claire Hume became the outlet on the left wing. Time after time she carried the ball past the Villa right back and fired in some fantastic crosses. City Scored from one of Claire's corners as Stacey Rowley ripped the back of the net with a superb header. Another Hume corner pushed home by Sanj Jaspal was disallowed as the ball went out of play before coming back in. Claire Hume directed another corner in to Stacey Rowley who bundled the ball over the line for her second goal. City were now ripping Villa to pieces and Kat Watkins stole the ball from a Villa defender and smashed her shot onto the foot of the post where the ever alert Sam Pattinson netted the rebound. Sky Blues kept their calm in the last ten minutes when the Villa tackles went flying in. In past games the Sky Blues have failed to come to terms with the more physical side of the game but today's result and more importantly the performance has proved that when the girls compete they will be a match for anyone in this league. Megan Towey, Lauren Mochrie, Kate George and Stacey Rowley all played out of position and adapted perfectly all having impressive games. Sam, Midge, Flinty, Tinks, Laura, Sian, Kat, Sam, Mia and Jess all plyed extremey well. The standards have been set, the girls have come of age, well done a superb team effort. I'm Luvin it !! TEAM: Kate George, Lauren Mochrie, Sam Smythe, Megan Towey, Lauren Middleton, Jessica Flint, Sanj Jaspal, Stacey Rowley, Claire Hulme, Sian Jenkinson, Laura Dunlop, Mia Charnley, Sam Pattinson, Kat Watkins Read the Villa report on this game by clicking here. Coventry City Sky Blues 6 - 1 Balsall and Berkswell Sky Blues entertained a number of ex Coventry ladies today and certainly made them feel at home with a lack lustre first half performance. It looked as though the Sky Blues had been to Mocha's 50th last night rather than attending tonight's knees up. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ANNE (50). The Sky Blues kept faith with last weeks winning team but they looked sadly dis-jointed as the mid-field failed to get any worthwhile movements going. When the ball finally ended up near goal they couldn't find their way past the Balsall M-O-M goalkeeper. Kate George continues to improve with another hard working display but Jessie Wilsons glorious 20 yard strike was one of only a few bright moments and Sam Pattinsons 2nd in two games gave the Sky Blues a first half lead that was a bit harsh on the Balsall girls. The Sky Blues started the second half with five changes and a completely new mid-field. Within five minutes you could see the difference as the Sky Blues were now first to every ball and swarmed over the Balsall defence. Laura Dunlop finished off a neat move for her first of many Sky Blue goals and Sarah Egan thumped home after picking up a loose ball and driving through the Balsall back line. Laura pinched a second and Sian Jenkinson had a shot rebound off the post before Sarah Egan scored a goal almost identical to her first. Balsall scored a consolation goal in the dying minutes from a well taken corner, the only time they managed to test the Sky Blues keeper Kate Rowells. Good defensive displays by Mia, Sam, Midge and Stacey ensures a Cup run and places are now really up for grabs for the Villa game. Well done to Balsall for playing the game in good spirit. Thank you to Paul for agreeing to ref the game at short notice. Leamington Lions 2 - 6 Coventry City Sky Blues Four key players missing for the Sky Blues meant a completely new mid-field for this game. The Sky Blues however, took the changes in their stride and dominated much of the first half. Kate and Jessie took control of the centre of the field enabling some good football. An early injury for Tinks gave the opportunity for Sam Pattinson to show her skills on the left. Within 10 minutes Sam scored the first and laid on the second for "Mochers" who tapped the ball over the line. Sky Blues then fell asleep for 10 minutes allowing Leamington back in the game. A great headed goal followed by poor defending left the game at 2-2 at half time. 4-0 would have been more appropriate. A half time roasting for the girls seemed to do the trick and after constant pressure Kat Watkin slammed in a quick double to restore the lead. Megan missed an open goal before she finally found her shooting boots smacking the bar before following up to score the first of two goals in the last 10 minutes. Sam Pattinson continued to impress opening up the Leamington defence time after time. On the rare occasions Leamington threatened Midge and the back four looked too solid and the Lions rarely troubled the impressive Kate Rowells. Mia Charnley never put a foot wrong on her return from injury and picked up the M-O-M award. Overall a good return to form and a sweet result for Laura who joined the Sky Blues from Leamington pre-season. TEAM: Katey Rowell, Mia Charnley, Sam Smythe, Lauren Middleton, Stacey Rowley, Lauren Mochrie, Jessica Wilson, Kate George, Claire Hulme, Megan Towey, Laura Dunlop, Sam Pattinson, Kat Watkins.
Coventry City Sky Blues 0 - 1 Solihull Borough Sky Blues settled down much quicker today with a number of changes made to toughen up the defence and midfield. A welcome return from Midge along with strong performances from Stacey, Megan and Jess reduced Solihull to one chance in the first half. Unfortunately despite reminders from the referee the Sky Blues fell asleep from a quick free kick to enable the Solihull centre forward to strike the ball home. At half time Sky Blues reverted to 3-5-2 to snuff out the taller and more physical Solihull midfield, Sanj Jaspal was back to her best and Kate George worked herself to a standstill. Kate Rowell in goal had another fine match and Sky Blues did at times play some good football. Although chances at both ends were few and far between at least the girls competed better at a physical level not allowing Solihull to dictate the game and allow them time to play. The Sky Blues may need that additional twelve months to come to terms with "bullyboy" tactics as they are all surprised at the over exuberance of some of the players they are meeting at the moment. It may be a long and tough season ahead but we are learning quickly that when we compete we have a lot to offer. Leafield Athletic 3 - 1 Coventry City Sky Blues The Sky Blues were brought back down to earth in the first 10 minutes of the game. The pitch at Leafield was absolutely superb, no excuses then for not being able to play football. The Sky Blues failed to come to terms with the wind that ran straight down the pitch and despite two great saves from Kate Rowell they fell behind to a well taken strike. Five minutes later the Sky Blues went two down when failing to clear and Kate Rowell could only parry into the roof of the net. The Coventry girls finally responded and started to create a few chances for Laura Dunlop and Kat Watkins. Laura had two great efforts go just wide and Sarah Egan started to get involved after a slow start and got in some good crosses from the right wing. Mia Charnley had not shaken her knee injury off and was replaced by Stacy Rowley This gave the back four a more stable look as the Leafield number 7 was causing problems. Coventry matched Leafield from this point on and closed the gap with ten minutes to go through a Sian Jenkinson tap in after good work again from Laura. All out attack left holes in the Sky Blue defence but good work by Sam, Stacey and Megan kept the leafield team out until almost the last kick when they sealed the game. When Coventry learn how to start quicker they will be a team to be reckoned with, they cannot afford to give teams a 2 goal start. GOAL SCORERS: Sian Jenkinson(1) TEAM: Katey Rowell, Sam Smythe, Mia Charnley, Kate George, Sam Pattinson, Jessica Flint, Sanj Jaspal, Sarah Egan, Kat Watkins, Laura Dunlop, Claire Hulme, Lauren Mochrie, Sian Jenkinson Coventry City Sky Blues 5 - 0 Tamworth CCLFC Sky Blues got off to a great start to their 2004-05 season with a comfortable win over 9 player Tamworth. Despite a valiant "back to the wall" display by Tamworth in the first half which kept the Sky Blues out, tiredness and lack of numbers eventually proved too much on the day. Sky Blues eventually took the lead early in the second half from a Kat Watkins shot from inside the area. The strike was a much needed boost and showed the composure of the forward who had only been on since half time. The Tamworth defence, and in particular the goalkeeper, showed enormous resilience but could not stop the Sky Blues gathering momentum after the first had gone in. Minutes later Sarah Egan finished off a fine move and smashed the back of the net. Jes Wilson hit the post from 20 yards before Jessie Flint scored her first ever league goal in front of a huge crowd. After creating numerous chances the Sky Blues added a fourth from Sarah Egan who went on to be named player of the match. Megan Towey added the fifth shortly after she had back heeled a fantastic effort just wide. A great team performance which was matched only by the "Shoe Shine Shuffle" from Flinty and Sarah. There was not enough spaces to add Stacey Rowley or Jessie Wilson to the team sheet. Well done to all 16 girls. GOAL SCORERS: Megan Towey(1), Jessica Flint(1), Sarah Egan(2), Kat Watkins(1) TEAM: Katey Rowell, Sam Smythe, Megan Towey, Kate George, Claire Hulme, Jessica Flint, Sanj Jaspal, Sarah Egan, Lauren Mochrie, Sian Jenkinson, Laura Dunlop, Mia Charnley, Sam Pattinson, Kat Watkins |