THE MOWDOG'S POETRY, WILDLIFE & NON-LEAGUE FOOTBALL...: COVENTRY COLLIERY 2-0 COVENTRIANSFCCOVENTRIANS: THE WORDS, THE IMAGES, THE CAPTIONS, THE LINK TO 23 MINUTES OF VIDEO ACTION + COVERAGE OF THE PRESENTATIONS...

Coventry Colliery 2-0 CoventriansFCCoventrians…

(Benevolent Cup Final…)

The Mowdog’s thoughts…

This was a hard fought tie, which was in the balance until a late second Colliery goal made sure that the hosts subsequently claimed the trophy in front of a good natured crowd at Hawkesmill…

Despite attacking with relish, not many decent goalscoring opportunities were created in truth, although visiting ‘keeper Tom Gillatt was hard pressed at times from crosses.

He did make a smart early save from Jacob Kelly however, then scrambled the ball clear from the hovering Charlie Martin after the break. The defensive prowess of Brandon Fielder, Sam Veasey and Charlie Bendall were pretty solid throughout for the guests, whilst a few other goal attempts by Colliery flew well off target.

Visiting striker Travis Lane was a real danger and might have scored with a first-period header, which rose too high but his overall contribution was really good. His skipper Jamie Bird controlled things, being responsible for the set-pieces and Lewis Chester was industrious in the attack.

Colliery also defended well, skipper Ant Allen being well supported by Tayler Dodds, Shane Brassington and the effective Ben Roberts. Liam Cawley’s presence was a bonus for the hosts, whilst Macauley Stothard and Ahmed Maye were busy in the trenches.

Kelly and Dave Freeman had to work hard against the Coventrians’ defence and to be fair, few chances came their way.

However, in Charlie Martin, voted the game’s MVP, Colliery had a dangerous player on offense, who netted the opening goal and made a number of incisive runs, especially after the interval.

The goals…

A smart right-flank centre by Stothard dropped perfectly at the far post for the unmarked Martin to smack past the helpless Gillatt for the opening goal, before the break…

MARTIN SCORES FOR 1-0...

Late in the match, a long, high kick forward by Colliery saw the ball bounce just a yard outside the visitors’ penalty-box and Gillatt had made the decision to advance. Unfortunately for him, Martin raced across towards the spot and jumped, so that Gillatt’s fist missed its punch, allowing home replacement James Ward to take possession, move left by Veasey and stroke a low, slow 16 yarder towards the right post. Gillatt was rushing back but his weight was leaning right, wrong-footing him and the ball trickled past his skidding left boot into the corner of his net…

WARD SHOOTS...

...& THE BALL CREEPS IN...

The final words…

Congratulations to Colliery and commiserations to Coventrians and the Connollys, who are always welcoming and friendly towards my presence at their games…

Colliery’s staff members were hugely welcoming too, as they always are and I laughed when I took a team photo after the presentations had finished and some of the players began to chant:

“MOWDOG, MOWDOG, MOWDOG…”

Hilarious…

The images + captions...

McANDREWS PLEADS INNOCENCE AS McCLOSKEY SNIFFS THE TURF...

TRAVIS LANE IGNORES THE CELEBRATION AS COLLIERY GO 2-0 AHEAD...

CHARLIE MARTIN, THE GAME'S MVP...

McCLOSKEY & ANTONIO DON'T QUITE GET THE IDEA OF HANDS-ON-HIPS...

A WILLIAMS-DUPAL TWIN LIES HURT...

AFTER THE DRIZZLE, THE SUNSET...

AN OVERHEAD ATTEMPT BY COVENTRIANS ENDED UP WITH IN-FORM HOME GOALIE CHARLIE STRANKS SAVING COMFORTABLY BUT ANOTHER COVENTRIANS PLAYER TOOK A BOOT TO THE HEAD.
THE REF ORIGINALLY THOUGHT THERE MIGHT BE A PENALTY DECISION TO BE MADE BUT HE WAS QUICKLY ASSURED THAT THE FLYING BOOT CAME FROM A COVENTRIANS COLLEAGUE...