Coleshill Town Bench Talk
Saturday 1 March 2003

Welcome to everyone for this afternoon’s fixture here at Tally Ho! Our fortunes in the league since the turn of the year have been nothing short of disastrous and there is a need for a rapid improvement.

Our recent 3-2 defeats against Nuneaton Griff and Alvechurch were both the consequence of very slack defending and each match was certainly a game of two halves.

Ten days ago we went in 2-0 up at half-time v Nuneaton Griff with goals from Dave Harnett and Dave Blake despite a lack lustre performance. Unfortunately we then threw it all away with a very poor display in the second period that saw us concede three goals and it could have been several more.

Last Saturday saw us start the match very poorly and concede two early goals at Alvechurch. We started to improve a bit after that and got back into the game on the half hour when Mark Bellingham was felled inside the box by a dangerous tackle from their goalkeeper. Mark tucked away the penalty and I will not comment further but suffice to say the goalkeeper remained on the pitch despite clearly being the last man by a good distance. We then shot ourselves further in the foot with another poorly defended goal.

The second period saw us come out a different team and take the game to Alvechurch throughout. We pulled a goal back after 15 minutes when Niku Sira passed the ball into the corner of the net from 12 yards out. A very cool finish. Unfortunately, we just did not have quite enough about us to grab an equaliser even though our play probably deserved it. A very pleasing aspect from the game was to see the first 90 minutes of the season from Ian Millward who added much needed bite to the midfield.

Tuesday night saw us draw 2-2 with Handsworth Continental Star in quite an exciting encounter. Andy Reece, Mike Mason and Dave Harnett returned but Lyndon Price missed out through a back injury he picked up on Saturday. I lost Mickey Hart on the day of the game and once again it was all change.

We took the lead after 15 minutes when Ian Millward floated a ball to the far post, which was headed home by Dave Harnett. Continental Star equalised 5 minutes later when they headed home at the near post from a corner. They had the better of the half with Tony Workman making a series of excellent saves.

We changed a few things around at half-time and the extra body in midfield enabled us to get back in the game. As the half progressed with chances few and far between it looked like we were heading for a draw until with 15 minutes remaining, Paul Shaw failed to clear his lines and we found ourselves a goal down. I threw caution to the wind and put on an extra couple of attackers in the shape of Dave Blake and Mark Delaney. For once it worked as we desperately pressed for the equalizer. In the third minute of added time Mark Delaney flighted in a pacey corner, which Dave Blake brilliantly headed into the back of the net.

The pleasing aspect was that we fought back and did not let our heads go down. We have to treat each game as though it is a cup final as we desperately scrap for sufficient points to remain in this Division. Whilst we have only drawn 2 and lost 6 of our 8 league games this year five of those defeats have been by a single goal. We have shot ourselves in the foot on a considerable number of occasions by gifting goals to the opposition by bad individual errors. We have to cut those out if we are going to give ourselves a fighting chance.

Things are starting to look up and the recent return of the cruciate injury duo Ian Millward and Mark Bellingham has certainly made a difference. With each passing game they should make a greater impact as they slowly find their touch and form. Darren Carmell had a shoulder operation Tuesday and Neil Tiller a knee operation on Friday. Neil is out for the season and I am hoping that Darren is only out for 2-3 weeks. Lee Wharmby had his cruciate operation two weeks ago and is starting the long rehab path to recovery.

I hope you enjoy the game and can make it along to Cheslyn Hay next Saturday for a vital relegation encounter.