Thracian Posted 13 October 2009 Posted 13 October 2009 A simple Stephen Clemence penalty, given for an innocuous handball, was enough to win the Westerby Cup Winners Cup final for Leicester City in front of 500 fans at Barwell this evening. The calm second half strike, clinically directed inside goalkeeper Liam Castle's right post represented light at the end of a seemingly endless tunnel for the City midfielder who had the added satisfaction of completing a full 90 minutes on his way back to first team fitness. City should have wrapped the game up in the first half when they squandered a series of mostly pressured one-against-the-goalkeeper chances but once they did score, Barwell subjected them to an uncomfortable time but simply failed to take one of a bagful of reasonably clear opportunities. The penalty, some 18 minutes into the second half came when City number nine Elliott Chamberlain directed a lowish cross into the Barwell box and onto the hand of a defender. It was City's second penalty appeal of the move and offered Clemence the perfect chance to enjoy the pleasant side of football's fortunes once again. In the first half Yussuf was first to squander two excellent chances, Clemence had a free-kick deflected for a corner, Yussuf pulled a great ball back for Chamberlain to completely mishit an effort from 10 yards in front of the home keeper and finally Gradel blasted a trademark bending free kick onto a post where the rebound brought an excellent tip over by Castle from Chamberlain. But once half-time arrived, apart from one Gradel turn and snapshot over the bar and the Clemence penalty that was about it from an often disjointed City thereafter. It was over to Barwell and how wasteful they were in failing to equalise. Their lanky striker Andrew Cunnington was aggravator-in-chief amongst the City defence. He'd threatened first half with an excellent chance on the far post with a header that he got well on top of but just failed to keep on target and continued to cause havoc among City's backline for the rest of the game. Kevin Charley opened the second half with a snapshot on the turn which flew just wide with City goalkeeper Carl Pentney scrambling across his goal in some discomfort. And after the City goal Cunnington hit a shot so far down it bounced on the ground and ricocheted wide with right winger Jamie Towers even closer with a header from eight yards which somehow missed the target. Liam McDonald was next to threaten with a misdirected volley and that, together with more timely saves and some astute positioning from Pentley saw City through to a victory that was no more than functional. In fact they looked a disjointed side with too many individuals wanting too many touches, not enough shouting, not enough passing and moving for each other and none of those points being helped by an uneven surface and a pedantic referee. Individually it was a day to forget. Gradel looked lively and dangerous enough first half but was far more subdued in a more defensive role second half. Clemence scored his penalty but failed to control the centre of midfield with any noticeable authority although, being fair, his main aim did seem to be pacing his way through a full session and he achieved that. Yussuf could take some satisfaction from a lively and even dangerous performance at times. Astrit Adjarevic showed some touches of class, including a couple of Beckhamesque long-range passes but he rarely showed the urgency and potency necessary to really hurt the opposition. Pentney was arguably City's man of the match for keeping a virtually flawless clean sheet thanks to his safe handling and being in the right place at the right time but, really, the match went Leicester's way because Barwell failed to get their best chances on target. Oh yes and a left-back called Andre Blackman made an appearance as a trialist and, despite what probably seemed like strange company, showed himself to be fast with good recovery powers. He looked willing and capable of getting forward and collected enough to pass the ball quickly and simply. I've no idea how long his trial will last, and he certainly needed to be more vocal, but he did look to have some potential. City: Pentney 7.5 (Competent performance in what was quite a busy game for him) Luke O'Neill 6.5 (Started solidly enough although he could have driven himself to overlap on occasions. Moved to central defence in the second half and gave away a silly free-kick then might have been booked for kicking the ball away - two unnecessary and potentially costly errors). Boulger 6 (Coped reasonably well against a particularly tall and awkward opponent until being subbed second half, presumably through injury). Parkes 6 (Some typically dogged defending). Blackman 6.5 (Promising. Not flawless but definitely quick and capable). Gradel 6.5 (Arguably top man first half but hardly seen later). Clemence 6 (Match-winning goal but generally anonymous). Adjarevic 6 (Rather lanquid in style but quite well involved and displayed a bit of vision at times). Chamberlain 6.5 (His cross produced the penalty from which we won the game and brought reward for what was an industrious performance). Yussuf 6.5 (Missed a couple of excellent chances but his pace and strength did unsettle Barwell's defence at times). Schlupp 6 (Some excellent runs on the left but sometimes ran into blind alleys and failed to deliver an end product. Guilty of not playing the simple ball at times to a supporting colleague). Substitute: Ben Milnes 6 (One cool clearance at the near post sorted a tricky situation and was his usual busy self).
Dan Posted 13 October 2009 Posted 13 October 2009 Thrac, in the 2nd half were you just to the right of the dugout? I've heard you have a beard and I was standing next to a bloke with a beard Btw, no way on this planet was there 500 there, 200 absolute maximum.
Thracian Posted 13 October 2009 Author Posted 13 October 2009 Thrac, in the 2nd half were you just to the right of the dugout? I've heard you have a beard and I was standing next to a bloke with a beard Btw, no way on this planet was there 500 there, 200 absolute maximum. The official attendance was 502. And there was no-one standing next to me. I was in the seats near the top of the stand to the left of the players entrance/exit next to the Academy group and in front of the Press seats.
Dan Posted 13 October 2009 Posted 13 October 2009 The official attendance was 502. And there was no-one standing next to me. I was in the seats near the top of the stand to the left of the players entrance/exit next to the Academy group and in front of the Press seats. 502, your kidding me, there looked no more than 200. + OK, I just had a feeling it might of been, did you seen Puncheon?
Head Honcho Posted 13 October 2009 Posted 13 October 2009 502, your kidding me, there looked no more than 200.+ OK, I just had a feeling it might of been, did you seen Puncheon? Was he sat next to Judy?
CosbehFox Posted 13 October 2009 Posted 13 October 2009 Blackman. Bristol City signed him in the Summer from Pompey but then released him on October 1st. Hmmm....strange.
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