STORM CLOUDS TO SKY BLUES
Big Daddy Gael’s baby boomer lightens gloom for Coventry after torrid season
GAEL BIGIRIMANA turned Daddy Cool to fire Coventry to Wembley glory.
Bigirimana didn’t know last week if he would be playing as he was waiting for the birth of his first child.
But new daughter Eden arrived on Saturday morning and the 23-year-old midfielder made it a weekend he will never forget.
At the heart of the action from the first minute to the last, Bigirimana swept home Coventry’s opener after Stuart Beavon’s 12th-minute volley had been blocked.
After Oxford, the first club to lose this final in successive seasons, had been denied a first half penalty when Rob Hall was bundled over by Ryan Haynes, George Thomas made it 2-0 with a goal to light up Wembley. The 20-year-old striker collected a Kyel Reid cross, controlled it instantly, and struck a sweet half-volley home from 20 yards.
Substitute Liam Sercombe pulled one back when his shot found its way through three pairs of legs, but Oxford were denied a late equaliser by Lee Burge’s injury-time reaction save from Josh Ruffels, with Bigirimana hacking Phil Edwards’ follow-up off the line. Bigirimana said: “I’ve got a beautiful baby girl, which is amazing, and this is the icing on the cake. Hopefully this will be a game-changer for this club.”
No matter how euphoric the Wembley celebrations, they can only add a modicum of sweetness to the bitter taste that playing in League Two for the first time since 1959 will bring next season.
Coventry are 13 points adrift of safety at the bottom of League One.
“They no longer have a ground to call their own and, even while they winning a Wembley cup final, their 43,000 fans raised a chorus of “We want Sisu out” in protest at the owners they loathe.
Coventry boss Mark Robins, the club’s fourth manager this season, said: “This means everything to the supporters. It’s 30 years since they’ve been to Wembley and won and it was really important to us to show the world that we are still alive and kicking.
“We had two chances and not many more than that. And I was dreading extra time, but Lee Burge making that save for us at the end was terrific.
“It’s then that you start to think your name is on the cup.”
For opposite number Michael Appleton, there was only a familiar feeling of hurt.
The Oxford boss said: “The feeling is one of intense frustration after working as hard as we did to get to the final.
“Coventry had a hunger and desire to keep the ball out of the net more than we did. They made sure they were hard to beat and weren’t going to concede.”