Match Reports

Injury-hit City ended 2007 on a high with a hard-fought victory over bogey side Ipswich Town for the first time in 13 years.

Even though the Tractor Boys had the worst away record in the division, without a win on the road since March, it was touch and go for most of the 90 minutes, but Iain Dowie, Ray Ranson and pretty much every Sky Blues fan will just be happy for a home win, the way things have been going lately.

We made a very bright start and Michael Mifsud broke clear of the defence as early as the second minute, but when faced with a one-on-one situation with the keeper he inexplicably blasted too high and failed to hit the target.

The visiting defence looked slow and lumbering, and we were able to get goalside again for the opening goal. Dele Adebola outmuscled De Vos and sprinted forward, with Mifsud making a run through the centre.

Dele could have taken the shot himself, but instead played the ball to Mifsud who saw his shot saved from point-blank range by the Ipswich keeper, but Julian Gray was on hand to knock in the rebound - his first goal since the opening day of the season.

But we couldn't build upon the opening goal, and for the remainder of the first half were fairly poor.

Andy Marshall made a couple of saves, and then Ben Turner was lucky to avoid conceding a penalty with a clumsy challenge.

But Ipswich didn't really threaten until their equaliser came shortly before the interval. A long-range effort out of nothing from David Wright was pushed onto the crossbar by Marshall, but came out in front of goal, and on-rushing winger Danny Haynes was judged to be onside, and the goal counted as he headed into the empty net.

Shortly afterwards, Mifsud tried his luck from long-range, but shot well over. We were level at half-time, but it had not been a good performance, and much better was needed after the interval.

Things seemed to be going from bad to worst, as scorer Gray limped off at half-time, and then off went Jay Tabb, worsening our injury crisis, and paving the way for a rare apperance by Kevin Thornton and even the first outing of the season for Liam Davis.

The second half began slowly, but came to life with a rare moment of quality, courtesy of the substitutes. Thornton found Davis who curled in an excellent early cross from the left to Adebola.

Big Dele showed a deft touch to poke the ball past the keeper to make it 2-1 and restore our lead.

This spurred us on to a good spell. Arjan De Zeeuw almost grabbed a rare goal with a header that was cleared off the line, and a probing cross from Thornton went agonisingly across the face of goal.

Tommy Miller was harshly sent off for a second yellow, and while Counago occasionally looked dangerous upfront for Ipswich, it was our day, and we looked the more likely to add to the scoreline.

Even so, we indulged in a bit of time-wasting in the final few minutes, and wrapped up three very welcome points to see out 2007 on a positive note.

Iain Dowie's former club came back to haunt him, as a fairly solid performance saw us go away empty-handed, in no small part to Micky Doyle's failure from the penalty spot.

We made a host of changes following the big defeat at Blackpool, but it made little difference to our (in)ability to keep clean sheets or score goals, while Palace continued their good form in the league and 100% record at the Ricoh Arena.

On his return to the side, Andy Marshall had to make an important early double save from the lively Sean Scannell and then former Sky Blue Jamie Scowcroft.

But the Palace keeper Speroni was also doing well in between the sticks, saving impressively from Leon Best's header, and Doyle's 25-yard thunderbolt.

The early injury to David McNamee had unsettled us, but we went into half-time as the better side, with Speroni saving from Michael Mifsud shortly before the interval.

After the break, the visitors took the lead, somewhat against the run of play. Clinton Morrison seemed to be offside when Watson's free-kick fell to him, but the poacher's goal was allowed to stand.

We responded well, with Arjan De Zeeuw and Jay Tabb going close, but our best opportunity came shortly before the hour mark when Best's ball into the Palace area was handled by Tom Soares.

Doyle had successfully scored our two previous penalties here this season, but this time Speroni dived the right way and did very well to save the spot kick, before claiming the rebound before anyone could get to it.

The penalty miss dented our confidence, while Mifsud was having something of an off-day upfront. We huffed and puffed for the remainder of the game, but it just wasn't going in for us. Speroni made another excedllent save from a Stephen Hughes piledriver.

Towards the end of the game we conceded another goal against the run of play. Sub Paul Ifil had only just come on, but was able to walk through the defence, shrug off the tired Ben Turner and finish simply from close range.

In the final minutes we tried to rescue a consolation, but this proved impossible as we slumped to our fifth home defeat of the season, and it's only half-way through.

The worst performance of the season by a considerable distance probably made Blackpool's Christmas, but it was a miserable trip to the seaside for the visiting fans.

What fun. Walking through an absolute mudbath to stand in the open air, on a structurally unsafe terrace that was literally falling apart, to get cold and wet, just to watch this debacle! The fans deserved better for this, but were rewarded with a truly terrible result.

Right from the start, the Seasiders threatened. Andy Morrell was a predatory danger upfront, while striker partner Ben Burgess frequently got the better of our defence, with Elliott Ward and Ben Turner too slow and plodding for comfort.

The referee kept blowing for fouls and offsides in the early stages, and from a free-kick, the home side hit the post, with Dimi Konstantopoulos stranded.

Only woeful finishing and a couple of saves from Dimi kept the score at 0-0 in the opening exchanges, but we almost snatched the lead against the run of play as Kevin Kyle headed just wide from a corner.

But Blackpool's pressure paid off when they won a penalty for a needless foul on attacking defender Kaspars Gorkss by David McNamee.

Dimi was routed to the spot as Wes Hoolahan made it 1-0, and it was no more than they deserved.

While the Sky Blue fans tried jovially to keep warm as the weather turned colder and the sun began to set, emergency repairs had to be made to the temporary stand, which proved a distraction from the action on the pitch - namely Kevin Kyle allegedly elbowing Shaun Barker off the ball.

Whatever happened, an instant red card was produced, and we were down to ten men with barely half an hour played.

We could easily have gone down to nine when McNamee comitted an horrendous foul, but this time the ref showed leniancy and showed only a yellow.

But at half-time we looked unlikely to find much of a way back into the game.

The second half saw us rally briefly, with a couple of chances for the quiet Michael Mifsud, and some decent passing for the first time in the game, but we still looked very shaky at the back, and the midfield was largely invisible.

We had a penalty and red-card appeal turned down, and either could have been an opportunity to even things up. As it was we capitulated after the second goal went in.

Nippy midfielder Michael Flynn got the better of the defence after a long ball forward, and show composure to curl a low shot past Konstantopoulos from the one-on-one.

Thus began the exit of visiting supporters who had seen enough, but it got worse still. Latvian defender Gorkss hadn't put a foot wrong, and he rose to head in their third from a corner.

(Dowie: this is the kind of hardworking defender we need to be signing in the transfer window!)

Late on, they added the fourth, with another one-on-one situation exposing the limitations of our own defence.

And it's not like this heavy defeat is a one-off. We've already been beaten by a big scoreline on several occasions this season, and this is something that has to be sorted out in the New Year.

Fortunately the Christmas programme gives us some quick-fire opportunities to bounce back, but you wouldn't necessarily bet on that happening given the way we play at times. Whatever happened to the side that did so well at West Brom, Stoke, Barnsley and other away games?

The first game of an exciting new era failed to live up to the hype, with the Sky Blues held at home by an inconsistent Southampton side who hadn't previously drawn an away game this season.

Before kick-off the mood was optimistic, with the ceremonial handover of power from former Chairman and Negotiator-in-Chief Joe Elliott to the new man at the helm, Ray Ranson. But the stands were largely empty, and the crowd will go down as a disappointing one given the circumstances.

Our first half performance was solid, but the visitors seemed to have pooped the party very early on, when Stern John put the ball in the back of the net after Dimi Konstantopoulos saved from Bradley Wright-Phillips. Fortunately the flag was up for offside, but it was a very marginal decision.

City then took charge, with Micky Doyle shooting just wide, and Michael Hughes forcing a save from Kelvin Davis with a deflected effort.

Leon McKenzie was playing well down the left flank, and he had a header saved, before the decisive attack that led to the opening goal.

It was a dramatic few moments, as a cross from Doyle wasn't cleared, and Michael Mifsud saw his shot blocked, and then McKenzie's effort from the rebound was saved by the keeper, but the visitors still couldn't clear the danger, and finally the ball was headed over the line from very close range by Jay Tabb.

Amazingly we had not scored in the first half at the Ricoh in a league encounter for over eight months, and there was a claim for offside over the goal, but it was allowed to stand.

For the rest of the first half we largely dominated, with Mifsud and McKenzie both going close, and Southampton's only response an effort from Wright-Phillips that was blocked by Ben Turner.

We perhaps should have added another before the interval, with Leon Best shooting just over the bar against his former club, but the visiting defence was generally holding firm.

After the break we failed to maintain the impetus, and within 15 minutes of the restart Saints were level.

Wright-Phillips was unmarked to head a cross from veteran Jason Euell past Dimi, and it was 1-1. And disappointingly, the visitors now looked the stronger.

Stern John had a chance to score against us, but missed the target under pressure from David McNamee, and hearts were in mouths when Wright-Phillips broke through into a one-on-one, but Konstantopoulos made himself big, and the final shot trickled narrowly wide of the post - much to our relief.

Late in the game we rallied briefly, with Doyle hitting the woodwork with a free-kick, but there was to be no fairytale ending to the game, and 1-1 will ultimately be seen as a fair reflection of the game.

We've not been good enough at home this season, and this is an area that will hopefully get better with the new investment coming our way. Roll on January!

Against all odds, the battling Sky Blues stormed to a vengeance victory at West Brom, with a rare win at the Hawthornes that saw more goals scored against the hosts than in all their previous home games this season.

Ian Dowie rang the changes, and the return from suspension of Michael Mifsud who last played in the reverse fixture was always going to be our best hope of returning to winning ways. But his new strike partner Leon Best - freshly back from injury - more than shared the limelight, as the duo ran the Baggies riot and inflicted their first home defeat in the league this season.

The first goal arrived early, and will undoubtedly be a contender for Goal of the Season: Ben Turner's long ball over the top wasn't cleared by Cesar, and fell to the advancing Leon Best on the corner of the area. Keeper Dean Kiely had come off his line, and Best's angled lob was absolutely sublime, as the ball hang in the air for an age before dropping in at the far post.

The goal sent the visiting Sky Blue Army wild, but it wasn't long before it got even better. Leon McKenzie's cross from the left tore the Baggies defence apart utterly, and an unmarked Mifsud was able to score from close range - sweet revenge for his dismissal at the Ricoh.

One would have thought that it was us, not West Brom, who were in the top two, as we continued to dominate, with McKenzie and Jay Tabb going close, and Best a real handful upfront. The home side couldn't string an attack together, and the return of Michael Hughes to the defensive midfield role for which purpose he was signed gave us more steel in the middle than we've had all season.

Late in the half, there were chances for Teixeira and Koren, but nothing to seriously trouble Dimi Konstantopoulos, and at the interval we were in dreamland and deservedly 2-0 up.

Against a side of teh quality of West Brom, there was always going to be a comeback, and it happened in the second half.

Left-back Paul Robinson usually scores against us, but this time he provided a cross for Roman Bednar to head in powerfully and halve the deficit.

And it looked like things really weren't going our way a few minutes later, as a speculative low shot from Chris Brunt crept under Konstantopoulos to make it 2-2. From then on, it looked like our woes would be compounded, with the home side in the ascendancy and set to complete a comeback against us.

But the game took another twist when Paul Robinson's challenge on Mifsud resulted in a second yellow card and therefore his dismissal - much to the delight of the visiting fans.

And against ten men we had a fighting chance - a chance that we thought we'd taken when Mifsud put the ball in the back of the net, only to be disallowed by the offside flag.

Dean Kiely then probably should have been sent off, after coming out of his area and handling, but the referee showed leniancy to the ten men, and wielded only a yellow.

But in the final ten minutes we won it with a pair of late goals, and it was no less than we deserved. First a cross from Tabb found Best, who held firm to rifle in a shot from close range and restore our lead.

And as the home side pushed forward trying to win it, we caught them on the break and Mifsud played a one-two with Best, before wrapping things up with a simple goal.

It would have been hard to predict a 4-2 win for us before the game, and this freak result might not mean much at the end of the season if we have ten points taken from us and get relegated, but as a one-off result, it's a very good one.

Nights like this don't come along too often, and should be savoured when they do.

A punchless City slumped to another home defeat, thanks to yet another specialist defenders goal.

It was an even game against a side unfortunate to have been relegated from the Premiership, and inconsistent at this level, but we failed to make home advantage count, and having announced our intention to go into Administration, the atmosphere was gloomy at best.

United had a couple of early chances through James Beattie, but didn't trouble Dimi Konstantopoulos and overall we had the better of the first half, and were unlucky to be ahead at half-time.

Ellery Cairo, making a rare start, almost scored his first goal for the club with a low shot from the edge of the area, and shortly afterwards hit a long-range wonderstrike on the volley with his back to goal - but Paddy Kenny made a good save to deny a clear goal of the season contender.

Konstantopoulos made routine saves from Armstrong and Beattie, before Dele Adebola broke through into a one-on-one with Kenny, but poked his effort agonisingly wide.

Late in the half there were chances for Jay Tabb and Micky Doyle, but nobody could make the breakthrough.

After the interval the visitors upped their game, and pressed more, while continuing to look comfortable at the back against our toothless forward line.

Shortly after the hour the goal came when James Beattie's cross took a slight deflection off Arjan De Zeeuw in our penalty area, and full-back Armstrong ghosted in at the back post to score a headed goal for the second game running - what wouldn't we give for such an unlikely goalscoring source?

United are strong defensively, and although we went close with a long-range effort from Doyle, and a late chance for sub Wayne Andrews, they looked more likely to score another, with Beattie a constant threat, and defender Cahill almost netting with a late header.

The Blades might be getting their season together now, having ground out the victory here, but we are clearly moving in the opposite direction.

And with the current situation off the pitch, these are worrying times all round.