A look at a previous visit to Coventry in the FA Cup.

Saints fancied their chances a little in the 90/91 FA Cup, after the emergence of Chris Nicholl's exciting side the previous season, in the League this term was proving to be a damp squid, but in the Cups it was felt Saints might just be a side to provide a few shocks, in the League cup Saints had just been eliminated at the quarter final stage in controversial fashion 3-2 at old Trafford in a replay so they were more determined as they headed to the Midlands for this 4th round tie on 26th January

Even back then the FA Cup usually saw the odd change or two, Saints were missing Le tissier through injury and Neil Ruddock and Glenn Cockerill were also out in a line up that saw Sergei Gotsmanov make his Fa Cup debut.

Flowers

Dodd, Moore Osman, Adams

Wallace Case Horne McLoughlin

Gotsmanov Shearer

Although in many respects this formation was 4-4-2 when defending and 4-3-3 when on the offensive

The gate which included a couple of thousand Saints fans was 14,013 which to put in perspective was four thousand more than had witnessed the League game a few months earlier, a game that Saints lost 2-1.

The game tooed and froed in the first halff, the home side having the early pressure and Saints gradually getting on top, however just as Saints fans thought they might get a real grip on the gam, Coventry scored, Tim Flowers failed to gather a Brian Kilcline header and under pressure allowed it to dribble across the line to make it 1-0 at the break.

The Sky Blues had the upper hand now and came out determined to finish the tie off, putting Saints under much pressure, put like the first half, just as one side thought they had theother on the wrack, they got caught out, Gotsmanov put Shearer through and as he went round Steve Ogrizovic in the home goal, the keeper brought him down for a penalty, no automatic sendings off in those days so Ogrizovic was free to try to save the resulting spot kick, without Le Tissier to despatch it, Shearer himself took the kick and made no mistake.

Coventry pushed in the late stages and Saints had Tim Flowers, atoning for his earlier headers to thank for keeping them in the game, with three minutes to go however Saints had a blatant penalty appeal turned down as Rod Wallace was clearly impeded in the area, Saints fans screamed for a kick, Coventry fans groaned as they waited for the inevitable, but the ref waved play on  and the draw was confirmed a few minutes later.

Overall Saints were happy with a replay and the chance to get them back to the Dell a few days later when Saints purt in a workmanlike performance in a nondescript match where goals from Case and Rod Wallace put Saints through to a 5th round meeting with Nottingham Forest.

17,001 watched the replay, around 1,600 more than would see the league meeting a couple of months later, given that ticket prices weent reduced back in those days for FA Cup games, it perhaps highlights that it wasnt all that long ago that the FA Cup was seen as as important as the league, sadly a year later the course of football with regards to the FA Cup would change drastically.         

Photo: Action Images via Reuters

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