Sky Blues show Fleet of foot
SKY BLUES 2 FLEETWOOD TOWN 1
COVENTRY City rekindled their play-off ambitions with a battling 2-1 win against Fleetwood – a freakish Amadou Bakayoko effort and a goal-of-the-season contender from Jordy Hiwula as they weathered an aerial bombardment from Joey Barton’s men.
Teenager Morgan Williams was handed his league debut in place of the crocked Jordan Willis while David Meyler made an unscheduled second start when Liam Kelly was caught up in a traffic jam.
Fleetwood started strongly, Lee Burge forced to make two excellent catches under severe pressure, but the Sky Blues grabbed a bizarre breakthrough in the sixth minute.
Lewie Coyle pushed a seemingly routine backless towards Alex Cairns but Bakayoko dashed in on the blind side to slide-tackle the keeper as he tried to kick clear and the blocked ball ricocheted just inside the post.
Tom Davies was inches away from conceding an own-goal equaliser and Ched Evans headed Ashley Nadeson’s precision cross over the bar from the six-yard line as Fleetwood pushed forward towards their tiny knot of long-distance supporters in the south-west corner.
Town were particularly dangerous when they curled corners towards their big centre-halves and the tactic paid dividends in the 33rd minute when Paddy Madden’s shot was deflected against the bar and Evans nodded home from virtually on the goal-line.
City looked deflated by the setback and were clinging on three minutes before the interval when Jordy Hiwula seized the initiative with a brilliant left-flank run, setting off from just inside the Fleetwood half and leaving three defenders in his wake as he cut inside to unleash a right-foot shot which beat Cairns for sheer power.
City carried that momentum into the second half and were unlucky when Thomas and Bayliss combined splendidly to create a clear path for Bakayoko but the ball jammed under the striker’s feet as he shaped to sprint clear.
City in turn survived a major scare when Jordan Shipley’s longrange back-pass sold Burge horribly short but Madden couldn’t quite cash in – and moments late the home keeper showed his mettle when he dashed out to block at Evans’s feet.
Fleetwood continued to accumulate corners at an alarming rate but the Sky Blues also had their attacking moments, Bakayoko heading narrowly wide from substitute Junior Brown’s cross before Cairns clutched Jordan Shipley’s wellstruck angled shot.
And with Jack Grimmer filling in at centre-half for the final stages,
City secured maximum points when Burge made a flying injury-time save from Ashley Hunter.
Liam Kelly has revealed the reason why he missed out on City’s the starting line-up against Fleetwood Town.
The Sky Blues skipper has been replaced by Meyler in the heart of the midfield, having only arrived at the Ricoh Arena at half-time after being stuck in traffic for four hours.
The 29-year-old said: “I have been stuck on the M1 in traffic for four hours after a bad accident. I was coming from Milton Keynes and had to ring the gaffer to let him know there was no way I could make it.”
The midfielder had been presumed injured ahead of the game but was completely fit.