This story appeared in the Echo on 20 October (http://tinyurl.co.uk/tf1y) and two days later the same journalist put his name to an article that claimed “Nobody is saying a word about the Tesco link publicly, but it is accepted privately, in Ninian Park and County Hall, that the Bluebirds now have their stadium.” Around the same time billboards were put up at the Leckwith Athletics Stadium stating that retail space was available at a development to be built on that side, so, after months when the whole process appeared to have stalled, things seemed to be on the move and, with the 31 December deadline by which the club and the developers had to come up with a workable business plan for the new ground scheme, fast approaching, it was imperative that this was, indeed, the case..
Back on the pitch the team entertained Crewe Alexandra that weekend and a thumping win only served to add to the feeling that an unlikely promotion challenge may be on the cards. Crewe have always had the reputation of being a footballing team who let the opposition play and this philosophy probably played into the hands of a City team that had struggled to win midfield battles in home matches so far - whereas time and space tended to be at a premium for City midfield players usually, here they were allowed a bit more room and made the opposition pay for that with a vengeance.
However, the first half gave little clue of the massacre to come - City had been dominant from the start and fully deserved the lead Michael Ricketts gave them in the eighteenth minute, but they took their foot off the gas after that and centre back Stephen Foster levelled things up with a header from a free kick thirteen minutes later.
An injured Glenn Loovens had to be replaced at half time by Neil Cox, but, far from disrupting the team, this was the signal for them to hit Crewe with a devastating spell of attacking which saw them score five times in the first thirty minutes of the second half! Three minutes after the break, good work by Jerome freed Ricketts whose precise cross was nicely headed home by Ledley to restore City's lead, but shortly afterwards in what was probably the decisive moment of the match, Crewe's Mark Rivers was through on a one on one with Neil Alexander and the keeper responded with an excellent save.
There was no way back for Crewe after that - within a couple of minutes Kevin Cooper had scored his first City goal with a calm finish from Koumas' pass and then we saw two goals in a minute as Purse knocked in a penalty after substitute Lee had been fouled and Jerome rather luckily scored after Whitley's pass sent him clear. With City well in front, Jason Koumas was able to go through his repertoire of party tricks and he completed the scoring in the seventy fourth minute when he ran from the halfway line before hitting a beautiful left foot shot across keeper Roberts and into the roof of the net.
City's 6-1 win was their best since beating Exeter by the same score on New Years Day 2001and took their tally to twenty six goals scored in fourteen league matches - with Jerome scoring goals for fun, Koumas running into his best form and players in other areas making scoring contributions, the side looked full of goals, isn't it typical of football therefore that City failed to find the net at all in their next four matches!
City's big win probably helped add a few more to the gate for the League Cup tie with Leicester four days later (whilst an attendance of 8,727 wasn't great, it was a good bit more than I was anticipating beforehand), but they were to see a pretty depressing spectacle which turned out to be very similar in quality to the game played between the sides six weeks earlier except this time the roles were reversed. It was Leicester who got the early goal from a corner this time when Johansson got to the ball before Margetson's attempted punch to nod home after eleven minutes. After that the visitors had few problems hanging on to their lead until City finally woke up in the dying minutes but then found keeper Henderson in great form as he made four marvellous saves to deny them.
There was a feeling that defeat was by no means a disaster for City and this seemed to be confirmed when they returned from Bramall Lane with an excellent point. Neil Warnock's side were well clear at the top of the table at this time having won all seven of their home league games, but City gave at least as good as they got as they laid down another marker which said it would be matters at the top of the table rather than the bottom that would be concerning them for the rest of the season. A solid defensive display founded on excellent contributions from centre backs Purse and Loovens kept the home side at bay with few problems throughout and it was City who came closest to winning the game in the dying minutes as keeper Kenny was forced into a sharp save from a Koumas free kick and then, deep in injury time, referee Foy missed a blatant hand ball in his own penalty box by home midfielder Alan Quinn.
Again City had good reason to feel cheated by a late mistake from the officials, but it was still a marvellous point for an outfit described as “a vibrant young team” in one of national newspapers report on the match. All of this helped to create a situation which would have seemed incredible at the start of the season in that City probably travelled to Norwich three days later as favourites to win the game!
Norwich had been amongst everyone's favourites for promotion at the start of the campaign, but they had been having a dreadful time of it with just sixteen points gained from the same number of games. Their 1-0 home defeat by struggling Sheffield Wednesday was their third on the trot and there was a definite feeling amongst home supporters and the media that manager Nigel Worthington needed a win against City to stay in his job. However, I couldn't help remembering that we have an absolutely awful record at Carrow Road and found it hard to be as optimistic about the outcome as others on here.
As it turned out, I was right to fear the worst, but only because of an outrageous piece of luck on the home team's behalf after seventy seven minutes. Up until then, Norwich, with Peter Thorne an unused substitute on the night, had edged matters without ever threatening the City goal too seriously - it looked like a nailed on 0-0 draw until Darren Purse's goal line clearance rebounded off the back of the head of the prostrate Neil Alexander and rolled gently into the net.
City had barely created a chance all night, but a 1-0 defeat was harsh on the team and Neil Alexander in particular - the keeper had been playing as well as at any time in his City career and probably ended the campaign as our most consistent player week in week out over the season.
On the face of it, a home match, rescheduled for a Sunday because of a rugby international, against a struggling Coventry team with a very dodgy defensive record seemed to offer an ideal opportunity to City to get back amongst the goals. However, in his after match press conference, Coventry manager Mickey Adams admitted he had been “scared stiff” after watching City hammer Crewe and had altered his tactics accordingly.
So it was that City, with Lee in for virus victim Ricketts, found themselves faced with a five man visiting defence with a set of midfield players not prepared to push forward too much in front of them. City's defence was to have one it's quietest afternoons of the season, but Coventry's tactics ensured a lack of goalmouth action throughout - Jerome wasted a half chance in the opening seconds and Koumas came close from a free kick, but that was about it for the first half. After the break, City at least managed to work keeper Fulop a few times, but there was an inevitability about proceedings which said that the team were not going to break their goal drought in this match and they found themselves having to settle for a point - an outcome which was very much a case of two points dropped rather then one gained