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FA Cup third round
Birmingham City 3-2 Coventry City
COVENTRY City's FA Cup dreams were over for another season after letting a two-goal lead slip against West Midland rivals Birmingham City at St Andrews on Saturday.
Manager Aidy Boothroyd made two changes to the side that lost 2-1 to the Queens Park Rangers last Sunday. Clive Platt replaced Freddy Eastwood in attack and youngster Conor Thomas was given his first-team debut in place of the departed Michael Doyle.
Alex McLeish made no fewer than nine changes to the team that reached the Carling Cup semi-final in mid-week and his replacements almost put the home side ahead in the opening ten minutes.
David Bentley, who was positioned on the left-hand side of midfield, delivered a telling cross which was met by the head of Nikola Zigic, but he guided the ball just wide and then Keiren Westwood was forced to produce a fine save to deny veteran Kevin Phillips eight minutes later.
Boothroyd's side were cheered on by a strong travelling support and their vocal efforts were rewarded in the 11th minute when Marlon King took advantage some poor Birmingham defending to fire the Sky Blues into the lead.
The visitors continued to press and it was no surprise to see them double their advantage in the 26th minute. Richard Wood headed home a Gary McSheffrey corner to send the Coventry support into a state of ecstacy.
Birmingham didn't show any signs of Premiership quality until David Bentley, on loan from Tottenham until the end of the season, struck a wonderful 35-yard screamer into the back of the net which gave Westwood no chance to pull the hosts back to within one goal at half-time.
The match turned into a real cup-tie after the re-start, with both sides committing players forward, leaving gaps in the centre of the park.
Jean Beausejour wasted a glorious opportunity to pull the home side level when he headed wide after some good play by Alexander Hleb, but Stuart Parnaby made no mistake when he slotted home Hleb's cut-back for the equaliser.
With momentum firmly in their favour, McLiesh's side pushed forward in search of a winner and it eventually came thanks to the oldest player on the park, Midlands journeyman Kevin Phillips.
The former Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and now Birmingham striker used all of his experience to pull away from his marker Stephen O'Halloran following a corner, take the ball under control with one touch and then fire the Carling Cup finalists into the lead with his second.
Despite Aron Gunnarsson coming close with a late header, the Sky Blues struggled to create any real clear-cut chances and must wait another year to attempt to emulate their heroic 1987 FA Cup success.
Attendance: 16, 669 (5,604 Sky Blue Army)
Team: Westwood (c), O’Halloran, Keogh, Wood, Cranie, McSheffrey, Baker, Thomas (Cameron 80), Gunnarsson, King, Platt (Eastwood 80)
Man of the match: Keiren Westwood - Was surprisingly given the captaincy on what could have been his last game for the Sky Blues and he didn’t disappoint, making several top-class saves to keep Birmingham at bay.
http://www.coventryobserver.co.uk/ccfc-sportstory-33705.html
