Polished display puts ladies in Cup hat; FOOTBALL.

COVENTRY CITY Ladies booked their place in the second round of the FA Cup courtesy of a convincing 2-0 win away to Long Eaton United Ladies.

Hazannah Parnell opened the scoring for the Sky Blues with a well taken goal on her debut before Emily Hanson added a second late on.

Manager Paul Cudby handed first starts to Centre of Excellence graduate Stacey Christie and new recruit Parnell as first-team regulars Jade Formaston, Helen Dermody and Natalie Wilcox took a well-earned day off. Parnell justified her selection with a lobbed effort from the edge of the box that caught Long Eaton goalkeeper Cairo Hopewell off guard. The 15th-minute opener came after good work from Nicole Tinto, who expertly picked out her strike partner after a period of sustained Coventry pressure.

Hopewell performed heroics to keep her side in the game while Netty Manca was a virtual spectator in the Sky Blues' goal. For all their possession, Coventry struggled to find a second goal to kill off their plucky hosts.

Leanne McKenna rattled the crossbar with a piledriver from deep before substitute strikers Robyn James and Hanson combined in the 86th minute.

With Tinto and Parnell hobbling, James came off the bench to lay on a perfect square ball for Hanson to take the net off its moorings and ensure that the Sky Blues went into the hat for the second round. "It was a professional performance," said Cudby. "We created a lot more chances in the second half than we'd managed in the first but their keeper had an excellent game and the longer they held the score at 1-0 the more they grew into the game. They're a good team and made it very difficult for us."

The Sky Blues are in cup action again on Saturday as they face Knowle in the second round of the County Cup.

CAPTION(S):

ON TARGET... Emily Hanson.