Coventry v Blackburn 28/09/96 3.00Coventry (0) 0 Blackburn (0) 0 FT Bottom-placed Blackburn dug in to earn their second away point in a week in the relegation zone battle with Coventry at a windswept Highfield Road. Ray Harford's side followed up the sharing of the spoils against Everton last weekend with another battling performance to frustrate Coventry in a game which seldom rose above the mediocre. The few clear cut chances that were on offer mostly went Coventry's way with John Salako the most likely home player to break the deadlock. But Blackburn managed to survive and the final whistle was greeted with cries of ``what a load of rubbish'' from the home fans as their side once again under-achieved. Both sides appeared short of confidence, befitting their lowly status, although Lars Bohinen did his best to generate some purpose into Blackburn's play on the few occasions they ventured forward with any conviction. But on this evidence it is going to be a long hard winter for both clubs. All the meaningful action in the first half came in the final l5 minutes as Coventry stepped up a gear with Salako and Noel Whelan becoming more prominent in attack. The first worthwhile save came in the 32nd minute when Whelan found Salako on the edge of the penalty area and his low drive was saved to his left by Tim Flowers. Salako then picked out the onrushing Paul Telfer with a fine cross and his powerful header was parried by Flowers who was relieved to grab the ball at the second attempt. A mis-hit shot from Coventry skipper Gary McAllister then found its way to Whelan 15 yards out but, although turning sharply, he was only able to direct his shot wide. Blackburn put together their best move of the first half in the 42nd minute when Bohinen threaded a pass through to George Donis in space but his powerful effort was well off target. It was Coventry who ended the half on a high note when Whelan's skill and determination took him past two defenders and his centre picked out Dion Dublin but he could only direct his header over the bar. Blackburn made a lively start to the second period and Jason Wilcox skated past David Burrows into the penalty area and forced Steve Ogrizovic to palm his shot over the bar. But Coventry still did most of the running and Dublin went in bravely on a low cross from Paul Telfer to send a header a foot wide of the near post. Salako looked the most likely to settle the issue in Coventry's favour and one piece of trickery took him into a good goal-scoring position 15 yards out but his left-footed drive flew straight at Flowers. Then Gary Croft came to Blackburn's rescue 10 minutes from time when he cleared Liam Daish's header from a McAllister centre off the line. 
Coventry: (4-4-2) Ogrizovic, Borrows, Hall, Burrows, Daish, Richardson, Telfer, McAllister, Whelan, Dublin, Salako. Subs not used: Filan, Jess, Shaw, Ducros, Genaux. Blackburn: (4-4-2) Flowers, Coleman (Ripley, 78), Hendry, Marker, Croft, Sherwood, Gallacher (Fenton, 41), Bohinen, Sutton, Donis, Wilcox (McKinlay, 84). Subs not used: Given, Broomes. Attendance: 17,032. Referee: J Winter (Stockton-on-Tees). |
