Town secure a 1-0 win against Coventry City.
Town: Steve Arnold, Ryan Haynes (Josh Emmanuel, 75,) Mat Sadler, Greg Docherty, Fejiri Okenabirhie (Ryan Sears, 87), James Bolton, Aaron Amadi-Holloway (Lenell John-Lewis, 79), Luke Waterfall, Josh Laurent, Ollie Norburn, Anthony Grant.
Subs: Joel Coleman, Josh Emmanuel, Lee Angol, Lenell John-Lewis, Alex Gilliead, Charlie Colkett, Ryan Sears.
Coventry: Lee Burge, Jordan Willis, Liam Kelly, Conor Chaplin, Junior Brown (Zain Westbrooke, 90), Dominic Hyam, Abu Ogogo (Jordy Hiwula, 57), Dujon Sterling, Johnson Clark-Harris, Tom Bayliss, Luke Thomas (Reise Allassani, 88).
Subs: Jack Grimmer, Jordy Hiwula, Reise Allassani, Zain Westrbrooke, Jordan Shipley, Jordon Thompson, Corey Addai.
Referee: Trevor Kettle
Assistants: Alix Pashley and Joe Clarke
Fourth official: Paul Hobday
Attendance: 8083 (1639)
The game came to an end with Town securing all three points after a deserved 1-0 win.
Aaron Amadi-Holloway got the goal for Town shortly after the second-half had resumed and Town battled to protect the lead.
Team News: Sam Ricketts introduced former Coventry City player Ryan Haynes into the starting line up for the afternoon of football. Omar Beckles was withdrawn from the match-day squad.
First Half:
The first 10 minutes of the half didn’t spark any real dangerous chances. Both sides were still looking to test the opposition. Town looked the better team and were retaining most of the possession.
Fejiri Okenabirhie was being a constant pain for the Sky Blues back line. The forward was utilising his pace and had the Coventry back line back tracking. Anthony Grant was also troubling the opposition with forward bursting runs.
Grant came agonisingly close to putting his team in the lead just after the 20-minute mark. The ball fell to Grant on the edge of the box, but saw his half-volleyed effort was well blocked by the Coventry defence.
Luke Waterfall was the next player to have a golden opportunity to put a goal on the score sheet. The defender latched onto a crossed ball and made a solid headed connection. A goal-line clearance was the only thing in the way of Town getting the advantage.
The half came to an end with scores level. Neither team were unable to break down the opposition to take the advantage going into the break.
Second Half:
A mistake from Ollie Norburn early on in the half nearly cost Town a goal. The midfielder picked up the ball in his own box, but Clarke-Harris was hot on his heels and snatched the ball away. Steve Arnold had to make a quick reaction save to deny the visitors a goal.
Just a minute later Town made the breakthrough up the other end of the pitch and grabbed the deserved goal. Greg Docherty floated in a great ball and Amadi-Holloway latched onto the cross at the back post and headed home the opening goal.
The Sky Blues were continually testing Town’s back four after conceding the goal. However, Mat Sadler was doing a good job of keeping his defence organised and calm under pressure.
Coventry did manage to put the ball in the back of the net in the 65th minute with a toe poke but the goal wouldn’t stand as Clarke-Harris was in an offside position.
The Sky Blues were doing well to pull themselves back into the game and were having a number of half-chances. The visitors were still looking to utilise pacey counter-attacks but didn’t look like causing too much danger.
Josh Laurent was given a yellow card with 10 minutes to go after throwing the ball away in frustration at the at the referee’s decision.
Norburn was also booked seconds later for a late challenge on the Sky Blues right-winger.
Town saw the game out and managed to secure all three points against today’s visitors Coventry City.