The miss was no worse than that of Hassan Kachloul who somehow got the ball lost under his body

General — July 28, 2010 at 6:46

The miss was no worse than that of Hassan Kachloul who somehow got the ball lost under his body from Marian Pahars’ centre with a goal seeming inevitable.
There was not a paper’s width between the teams. He had a vigorous header cleared by Dean Richards who promptly joined a Southampton counter attack and struck the crossbar with an out-stretched foot as he encroached into the Coventry goal area. Southampton needed to remain alert to Robbie Keane’s pace and Hadji’s shooting from any distance Keane began a sequence of near goals. Starting yesterday’s game without David Burrows, Marc Edworthy, Marcus Hall and Richard Shaw gave no cause for optimism, though Southampton were hardly less denuded being without Trom Soltvedt, Mark Hughes and Claus Lundekvam.
Coventry overcame their problems the quicker with Mustapha Hadji – one of three Moroccans on the pitch – having a dipping, well directed shot handed on to the crossbar by Paul Jones.

This was certainly one of those.

Southampton had dealt their confidence another blow by losing 4-0 to Aston Villa in the Worthington Cup. That followed a defeat at Leeds which ended with the manager David Jones making an enraged verbal attack on the referee – usually the first sign of deferring responsibility. He knew Southampton had not played all that badly in either match but were in danger of entertaining defeatist thoughts – not surprisingly after winning only one of their previous nine League matches, a record that cannot be blamed on referees.
Coventry’s unbeaten run of seven games had gone the week before and they were still hampered by away form, which was something they needed to correct quickly if those somewhat over-the-rainbow thoughts of a place in Europe were to turn to reality. Coventry’s long wait for their first away win of the season and Southampton’s stumbling form continued at the Dell yesterday, but there are days when goalless draws and unfulfilled ambitions seem less important than value for money This was certainly one of those. Coventry’s long wait for their first away win of the season and Southampton’s stumbling form continued at the Dell yesterday, but there are days when goalless draws and unfulfilled ambitions seem less important than value for money. There were 25 arrests before and during the match and fighting continued after the match when supporters clashed with police in south-east London.
Meanwhile, Bristol Rovers’ Jason Roberts scored twice, his first goals in nine games, as they won 3-0 at Brentford.
Form was turned on its head in the Nationwide Conference where the top side, Nuneaton, trailed 3-0 at home to the bottom club, Forest Green, goals coming from the former England winger Tony Daley and a pair by Dennis Bailey, who as a Queen’s Park Ranger scored a hat-trick at Old Trafford Nuneaton recovered but still lost 3-2 and dropped to third..

After the break Dave Challinor made it 2-0, Eidur Gudjohnsen pulled one back and then Rovers’ Gareth Roberts was sent off after a second booking, Tranmere’s sixth dismissal of the season. Bob Taylor made it 2-2 as the pendulum swung in the home side’s favour, but Scott Taylor confirmed Rovers’ fighting form with the winning goal 11 minutes from time.
And Blackburn’s traditional improvement under the stewardship of the caretaker manager Tony Parkes continued with a point from their 0-0 draw at Port Vale.
In the Second Division, the expected trouble between supporters of Millwall and Cardiff City at the New Den duly materialised after Neil Harris had scored twice to make it nine goals in seven games The 2-0 win lifted the Lions to sixth. Or maybe the Crewe manager was lulling them into a false sense of security before his side beat them 2-0. The Londoners’ promotion challenge had faltered in recent weeks – beaten by Manchester City and Blackburn, letting slip a two-goal lead over Port Vale, all at home – but after falling behind to a Steve Chettle shot following a Barnsley corner, Charlton had the better of the exchanges and deserved the equaliser courtesy of Keith Jones’ half-volley.
Tranmere and Bolton both reached the last eight of the Worthington Cup in midweek and when they met at the Reebok Stadium, Rovers’ Andy Parkinson latched on to Alan Morgan’s 18th-minute pass and drove it in to emphasise Rovers’ first-half domination. When the centre-back Steve Macauley joined the attack 22 minutes later he was on the spot to volley in Shaun Smith’s free-kick.
At the top of the division, Charlton (third) and Barnsley (fourth) drew 1-1 at Oakwell. After 12 minutes Paul Tait, late of Northwich Victoria, picked up the ball on the edge of Palace’s penalty area beat two defenders and lobbed Fraser Digby. Four minutes later Michael Carrick equalised, a glancing header from Bobby Howe’s cross.