Byline: BRIAN GLANVILLE
Coventry City .......0 Everton .............1
ONCE UPON a time, they used to play the Charity Shield on a midweek autumn afternoon, on the ground of one of the two competing clubs. Now, it has been transferred to Wembley as the curtain-raiser to the season, and the old Empire Stadium still appears to work its spell.
No fewer than 88,000 people watched this entertaining, if only sporadically distinguished, game, in which Everton, having much the better of the first half, scored the solitary goal, but wilted a little after the interval.
The sun shone, and off we went again. Neither team was at at full complement. For Coventry, such splendidly surprising winners of the FA Cup, the massive presence of Regis was absent from the centre of attack.
Those who remember his formidable display here against Tottenham will know what that signified. Next Saturday, he is meant to be at Wembley again with the Football League side against the Rest of the World. All this after such long neglect at representative level.
In his place we saw a striker who could scarcely have presented a greater physical and technical contrast: litte, blond, explosive Speedie, just transferred from Chelsea after all those months of dispute and sterility. Ironically, Speedie found himself lining up beside Houchen, the very man whose place he threatens.
Houchen, with a sudden, ferocious shot, on the turn, just over the bar, served notice that he will not be easily displaced. And why should he be, when he has come out of years of obscurity to score so many important goals in so many important games?
Everton, the League champions, have no new players of renown, but they do have a new manager. Colin Harvey, once a member of that marvellous midfield with Alan Ball and Howard Kendall has moved up a notch to replace Kendall himself. An admirably neat little player in his time and a greatly respected coach, he has well earned his opportunity.
Lacking Gary Stevens, Everton put Harper, their utility man, at right-back, and that lively attacker Heath in the midfield, where Snodin was missing. Harper showed his versatility after 20 minutes, receiving a short corner on the right and delivering an elegant cross to which Sharp resourcefully got his head, the ball flying just outside the far upright.
Though Bennett, so lithe, quick and clever, was often a handful for Everton's defence, it grew increasingly clear that there was little understanding between Speedie and Houchen, and that Everton were vastly the more mature, purposeful and incisive team.
Just before half-time, they proved it with a goal, though was through a horribly untypical error by Peake. A delightful ball from Heath allowed Steven to cross from the right. Peake monumentally missed it and there was Clarke, with all the time in the world to shoot into a yawning goal.
Shortly after half-time, however, both Coventry and Speedie emphatically woke up. Speedie, indeed, showed that his name is as appropriate as one knew it to be. Few players in the League could have made something out of nothing as he did when, receiving the ball from Pickering on the left, his sudden acceleration left Everton's defenders static, and only a providential save by Mimms kept the shot out.
Later, Pickering himself deserved to score with a superb bicycle kick which just cleared the bar. By then, Coventry had had to put on Sedgeley to replace McGrath, hurt by Watson's reckless tackle, while Everton substituted Sheedy with Pointon.
If either of those excellent attempts by Coventry had gone in, who knows what might have followed? Certainly some of the steam appeared to have gone out of Everton, though now they dragged themselves gradually back into the game.
Seven minutes from the end, a delightful one-two between Clarke and Heath sent Clarke through. Orgizovic throwing himself to hold the ball. You wonder whether Everton will persist this season with Clarke and Heath, the two quick little men, up front, or whether they will pair one of them with the larger and aerially more dangerous Sharp. Very much, come to think of it, the problem Coventry now must face.
Another reflection is that Mimms is horribly unlucky to be playing in the shadow of so fine a goalkeeper as Southall, still recovering from a knee operation. Every time Mimms plays at Wembley, and this is the third, he looks one of the best young goalkeepers in the country.
Sharp, meanwhile, staked his solid claim when, lunging impressively to beat Kilcline, he was thwarted only by another excellent save from the huge Ogrizovic.
Weather: fine. Ground: firm.
Goal: Clarke (44min)
Coventry City (4-3-3): Ogrizovic; Phillips, Kilcline, Peake, Downs; McGrath (sub: Sedgeley, 56min). Gynn (sub: Burrows, 86min), Pickering: Bennett, Speedie, Houchen.
Everton (4-4-2); Mimms: Harper, Watson, Ratcliffe, Power; Steven, Heath, Reid; Sheedy (sub: Pointon, 46min), Clarke, Sharp.
Referee: R Lewis (Great Bookham).
SCOTTISH champions Rangers opened the season by reaching the final of their own tournament at Ibrox yesterday with a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad of Spain. Fleck's 33rd-minute goal was sufficient to put Rangers in todayhs final against three-times Brazilian champions Porte Alegre, who beat Ajax of Amsterdam 2-1. Copyright (C) The Sunday Times, 1987