Match Reports

The largest crowd to attend a league game at the Ricoh so far were in for a disappointment, as the visitors edged a close game, handing us our second defeat in three home games.

All the pre-match talk was of the return of Gary McSheffrey to the club where he made his name, but it was Birmingham's on-loan Arsenal youngster Nicklas Bentdner who looked the most impressive player, and who scored the decisive goal.

Sheff got a mostly good reception from the Sky Blue Army, but was playing in a wide position, which presented him with few scoring opportunities.

Colin Cameron set up fellow Scot Kevin Kyle for an early chance, but the forward has yet to really make his mark for the club, and blasted over the bar.

We were playing well, with Micky Doyle attempting a couple of long-range efforts and Stern John also going close, before the visitors took the lead, somewhat against the run of play.

On the counter attack, Taylor crossed for Bentdner to head in from 12 yards out, and Andy Marshall looked to have made a scrambling save, but the ball trickled through his fingers and ended up in the back of the net.

We were dominating possession, but completely failing to test the Brum keeper when we attempted a shot on goal, and John missed another couple of chances during the closing stages of the half, while Birmingham always looked dangerous on the break, with Bentdner classy and lively with the ball at his feet.

Going into the half-time break at 0-1, we were still very much in the game, however.

We made a very positive start to the second half, as Cameron's cross found the head of Leon McKenzie, but agonisingly his header hit the woodwork, and his long wait for a first goal must continue.

Micky Doyle and sub Don Hutchison had attempts from distance, but they continued to miss the target, and we were giving Birmingham more space to play on the break.

Andy Marshall had to make a save from Cameron Jerome, and a couple of minutes later, the same player missed something of a sitter from a one-on-one situation.

Bendtner had another good chance himself, as we began to run out of ideas. Close to the death, a Marcus Hall free-kick found Stern, but he headed wide - such was the story of the night.

This was a close game, and in most areas we more than matched the visitors, and kept McSheffrey quiet (or possibly he wasn't trying too hard). However, our finishing was atrocious, with almost all of our attempts on goal off-target.

There are lessons to be learned from this game, and the Ricoh Arena is not looking quite the fortress it was last season.

Supersub Wayne Andrews netted the fastest debut goal in Sky Blues history to secure all three points at Barnsley in a classic smash and grab raid.

The ironic turn of events immediately followed the least popular substitution decision of the season, and left Micky Adams critical of the supporters, but the result is what matters, and history has been made in amazing fashion with our first victory in Barnsley for almost 60 years.

With three forwards on the pitch - unusual for an away game - we made a bright start, and it wasn't long before we created our first chances, with Colin Cameron crossing for Kevin Kyle to head narrowly wide, and then Dele Adebola shooting over from a difficult position.

There were further chances for Cameron and for Leon McKenzie, who was once again looking very lively going forward, while the home side went close through Marc Richards.

Mid-way through the half, on-loan left-back Clive Clarke had to make way for the man he replaced, Marcus Hall - who fortunately was fit enough to be on the bench, though clearly not 100%.

Andy Marshall twice made good stops from Paul Hayes and Sam Togwell, before Richard Duffy made an overlapping run, and the right-back found himself in an unlikely one-on-one with the Barnsley keeper, but there was no strikers finish, and his shot was saved.

Barnsley had a couple more chances, but Robert Page in particular was rock-like at the back, twice clearing the danger from crucial situations.

We had been slightly the better side going into the break, and as in so many games this season, the halftime score was goalless.

The second period began quietly, and Adams began to make his substitutions. McKenzie made some menacing forward runs, and one in particular saw his blocked shot fall to sub Jay Tabb who agonisingly curled over, with the keeper stranded.

Both sides were going for the victory now, and when Marshall could only get his fingertips to a shot from McIndoe, it seemed to be going into the back of the net, only for Elliott Ward to make a dramatic goalline clearance.

It was heading for 0-0, and although we had turned in a good team performance, no one player had stood out, and the front men Adebola and Kyle had not made enough of an impact.

When the livelier McKenzie was withdrawn, fans chanted 'you don't know what you're doing' towards Micky Adams, as Wayne Andrews - not known for his prolific goalscoring record - came on for his Sky Blues debut.

But the first action after coming on was for Andrews to go up for an attacking throw-in, which fell straight to his feet, and he fired past everyone else on the pitch to open the scoring in highly dramatic fashion.

Never has a goal been scored so quickly by a substitute on his debut, and Andrew impact on the game would turn out to be decisive.

Barnsley could have snatched a stoppage time equaliser, but Marshall made a fantastic save from Nardiello to ensure we went home with all three points.

It was a poor quality game at the Ricoh, with attendance well down due to SKY's TV Coverage and the evening kick-off, but City did just enough to claim the three points.

An unfamiliar lineup saw last-minute loan signings Richard Duffy and Clive Clarke in the full-back positions, and Leon McKenzie playing on the left wing.

And it was McKenzie who looked liveliest early on, crossing for Colin Cameron to shoot wide, and then setting up Stern John who missed a sitter, blasting over the bar, although he would redeem himself later on.

As usual, we were guilty of giving the ball away too much, and lumping it forward to Kevin Kyle, but Colchester were also having problems, as their tackles were earning yellow cards, and their players were picking up injuries.

It was a poor half of football, with defences mostly on top, and the new loan signings were quietly acquitting themselves well, although Jamie Cureton was given way too much space to fire in a shot from the edge of the area, which Andy Marshall could only push to one side. Fortunately Elliott Ward dealt with it before a Colchester player could get to the rebound.

Stern John had earlier missed a good chance, and strangely, was taking a lot of the free-kicks (fairly badly) but in first-half stoppage time he gave us the lead. A punt upfield from Marshall was played through by Cameron, and John fired in a very route-one goal from the edge of the penalty area.

We barely deserved the lead at the interval, but the goal was just what John needed to revitalise his game, and the top scorer was impressive after the break.

Our passing and possession was generally better, and Colchester's Iwelumo and Cureton were getting caught offside.

Ward went close with a header from a corner, but the score remained 1-0 until the 69th minute when Micky Doyle bagged his first goal in 18 months.

It came from another ball downfield from Marshall, which fell to Stern John once again. This time the striker turned provider, and noticing that Doyle was making a lengthy run right through the middle into an advanced position, he played the ball into the Irish midfielders path for a crisp, clinical finish from 12 yards.

With our usual defence, 2-0 would have been enough, but the introduction of new players tonight meant that it was a nervous conclusion to the game.

McKenzie should've sealed it with a header from a corner, but that first goal just continues to elude him, and with five minutes to go, our defence was breached.

For the third time, the goal started with a kick from Marshall - this time it was one by the visitors, and played forward to sub Jamie Guy, who curled a low shot through the legs of Elliott Ward, past the fingertips of Marshall, and in off the far post.

There were panicky moments shortly after, with a long goalmouth scramble that finally ended with Robert Page clearing the ball, and Adams then elected to make the time-wasting substitutions.

At the end, we were playing scared, and keeping the ball by the corner flag, but the final whistle eventually came, and with it the relief of notching up a narrow victory.

The injury-hit Sky Blues played well in a strange system at Molineux but came away with nothing after an unfortunate own goal delivered the points to the home side.

Early on, Colin Cameron took a free-kick against his former club, and Matt Heath went agonisingly close with the header from this set-piece.

But things went wrong, when David McNamee, playing at left-back because of an injury to Marcus Hall, picked up a knock of his own, and had to come off, leaving us with no proper full-backs on the pitch.

Jay Tabb is a much more attacking player, and after coming on as sub he nearly made an immediate impact, with a long-range shot that went narrowly wide.

But it was Wolves who took the lead against the run of play, as Elliott Ward deflected Olofinjana's shot into his own net from close range. Ironically, if the impressive defender had not been back in the six yard box, it would've gone harmlessly wide, but it wasn't really Ward's fault.

We continued to play well, with Tabb again going close from distance, and Stephen Hughes forcing a save from Matt Murray, but we went in a goal down at the break.

Andy Marshall really didn't have a proper save to make during the game, and the pattern of not testing goalkeepers continued in the second half, with Jemal Johnson blasting a couple of chances over for the home side. Former City striker Jay Bothroyd was quiet, and was withdrawn early in the half to our relief.

Leon McKenzie is still in search of his first goal for us, and he actually forced a save from Murray, albeit a fairly routine one, while Dele Adebola did little upfront, as our best chances fell to midfield players from long-range, with Jay Tabb the brightest player on the pitch.

Kevin Kyle and then Stern John were thrown on in the latter stages, as we pushed everybody forward, but this left more space at the back, and substitute Leon Clarke had a couple of chances for Wolves, even forcing Marshall to punch the ball clear on one rare occasion.

The closest we came to equalising during our final big push was through former Sky Blues defender Gary Breen, who almost scored the second own goal of the game when he sliced a clearance just over the crossbar.

But there was to be no happy ending, as this even game ended 1-0 in favour of the home side.

Our most entertaining game of the season so far took us take all the points from an encounter that had almost everything - plenty of goals, disputed penalty decisions, and a star performance from Leon McKenzie who did everything but score his first City goal.

Roots Hall must be a contender for the worst ground in the division this season, but our memories will be happy ones after this victory, which leaves Southend struggling near the foot of the table.

With several players resting during the International break, there was a new look to our starting XI, and a 5-3-2 formation that Micky Adams has deployed in away games in the past, because of the counter-attacking potential.

Southend had the first good chance of the game, and Mark Gower should've done better, but instead his shot was relatively comfortable for Andy Marshall to save.

At the other end, McKenzie had a header saved, and the Shrimpers keeper did well to collect the ball from the ensuing goalmouth scramble.

But there was to be controversy when Matt Heath was adjudged to have committed a foul on Luke Guttridge when defending a cross. Given Heath's huge size advantage, it was completely unnecessary, as he seemed to win the ball with ease, and the penalty decision sorely angered the visiting fans.

Southend's star striker Freddy Eastwood stepped up and converted the penalty, which Marshall did well to block, but the power of it saw the ball squirm under his body, just when it looked like it had been saved.

It was the first time in the league that we had conceded a first-half goal all season, and Southend had another chance through Eastwood shortly afterwards, but he shot over.

We haven't scored many away goals, and in particular, Stephen Hughes has been on a long, long personal drought, but shortly before half-time, the skipper unleashed a low shot from 25 yards which took a deflection and went in, to give us the equaliser and cheer up the fans ahead of the interval.

Referee Drysdale was still attracting plenty of boos from the Sky Blue Army as the second half kicked-off, but he soon evened things up by awarding us our first penalty of the season.

The hugely impressive McKenzie got away from his marker, stayed onside, and performed all manner of trickery on his way into the area. Just as he was about to pull the trigger, he was taken out by Simon Francis, and unlike the first penalty, this one was a certainty.

The responsibility fell to Colin Cameron who stepped up to blast in his first goal for the club, and give us a 2-1 lead with over 40 minutes still remaining.

It was end-to-end stuff, with McKenzie looking like scoring every time he came forward, and twice testing Flahaven, but Southend also seemed capable of scoring at any moment, as Marshall saved impressively from Maher, and then Spencer Prior headed against the post from a corner.

A third penalty seemed to have been awarded - against us - but after a lengthy consultation between referee and linesman, the decision was overturned to the relief of the visiting fans.

With 15 minutes to go, the home side restored parity, a long diagonal ball found Eastwood advancing clear of the offside trap, and he sprinted forward before switching feet and firing across goal past Marshall from just inside the area.

We came straight back down the other end, and another good run from McKenzie saw his shot blocked for a corner, from which Dele Adebola's effort appeared to have crossed the line, but was apparently kept out by the keeper.

But Adebola did get the last word when McKenzie surged forward and dragged the ball back to Micky Doyle whose shot was blocked, and broke to the big Nigerian striker who smashed the ball home from close range to make it 3-2.

With ten minutes still remaining, absolutely anything could've happened, and there was still a chance for McKenzie to crown his excellent demonstration of counter-attacking play with a goal, but Flahaven produced a save.

It's very rare that we are on the winning end of games like this, and this dramatic seaside victory will be remembered as one of the undoubted highlights of the season.