Jim's column 17.10.2015

Another great result at Fleetwood last week cemented City's place in the top six of League One. With Steven Pressley's appointment as Fleetwood's manager ahead of the game I was fearing the 'new manager bounce' but City finished the stronger side and snatched a deserved winner in the final minute courtesy of ex-player Richard Wood. The last former City player to score for us was Jon Stead against Bristol City in 2011-12 in the defeat at Ashton Gate that virtually condemned us to relegation.

City left it late at Fleetwood and it was the second time this season that a goal at the death has won them the points, the other being in the 3-2 home win over Crewe. In contrast City haven't so far gone down to a late defeat this term, something that has been very familiar in the last few years.

Keith Rogers who sits behind me in the East Stand and has been a City fan for around 50 years, has asked me if we have ever scored a winner so late in the game. Wood's goal was timed as the 90^th minute and there are several examples of the team scoring in added time. At Crawley last season, James Maddison scored in the 91^st minute, and in 2011-12 both Leon Clarke and James Bailey netted winners in the 94^th minutes against Preston (JPT) and Oldham respectively.

Keith's question reminded me that it would be worthwhile updating my stats on late goals. The table below shows the number of goals scored and conceded after the 80^th minute in games.

Goals scored after 80 minutes (all games)

	By City	By Opponents
2009-10 (Coleman)	11	7
2010-11 (Bothroyd/Thorn)	6	8
2011-12 (Thorn)	6	17
2012-13 (Thorn/Robins/Pressley)	18	11
2013-14 (Pressley)	21	15
2014-15 (Pressley/Mowbray)	13	9
2015-16 (Mowbray)	3	0

The statistics disprove the theory that City concede more late goals than they score. It was certainly the case in the Championship and those goals hastened relegation, but since 2012 the Sky Blues have the upper hand, including this season where City have yet to concede a late goal. Another interesting fact is that of the 13 late goals scored last season eight of them were winning goals.

On the question of statistics, Craig Evans asked whether 22 points from the first 11 games of a season is a record. Craig, it is the best haul of points from 11 since a win was upgraded from two to three points in 1981. If three points had been awarded prior to 1981 then only two seasons better this term's figure. In 1963-64 the team would have won 23 points from 11 and in 1937-38 Harry Storer's team would also have reached 23 points. It's a good omen; in 1964 City won the Third Division title and in 1938 they finished fourth in the old Second Division. 

Two weeks ago I asked for help recognising former City player Horace Matthews from an old team picture of AWA Baginton taken in 1942-43. Regular reader Ron Dickinson contacted me to say that he was pretty certain that Horace is second from the left in the back row. Ron writes: 'The team captain was Bill Beaufoy, in the centre of the front row, behind the big trophy. Beaufoy was a leading player in junior soccer in the war and possibly played a few games for City's reserves.'

                                              AWA Baginton 1942-43

'Probably the best known member of the team was Bob Ward (front row, second from the right, behind the smaller trophy), who also went on to play for Coventry City and was later trainer at Bedworth Town and Lockheed Leamington. Bob was a jovial person yet regarded as a bit of a 'hardman'. I remember seeing him play at Villa Park in the mid week FA Cup game at Villa Park in 1946. It was an early afternoon kick off (no floodlights in those days) and the coach driver made a detour to pick up three of us from school at lunch time to take us to Villa. The City finished with ten men and the newspaper headline the next day referred to them as the "10 commandos". The player sent off was Bob'.

Ron is correct. The first FA Cup competition after the war was played before the Football League commenced and the FA decided to make all ties up to the semi-final, two legged. City were drawn against Villa and beat them 2-1 at Highfield Road on Saturday 5^th January. The second leg, four days later, is the game that Ron remembers and Villa won 2-0 to make it 3-2 on aggregate.

Still on the subject of Horace Matthews, Bobby Gould kindly sent me a picture of the full Coventry City staff from 1965 with Horace's son John, who later became such a success in Ireland, pictured third from left in the third row.