ROBINS HAPPY WITH A POINT
COVENTRY City remain on course for the play-offs after a battling draw at mid-table Newport County, which manager Mark Robins hailed as “a really good point” for his Sky Blues.
Coventry last played a competitive match in Newport in December 1961, winning 2-1 two days before Christmas in the year of the Bay of Pigs.
And the Sky Blues manager was delighted with the way his players stood up to some heavy bombardment on a quagmire of a pitch at a sodden Rodney Parade.
The hosts looked set to record their first Football League double over Coventry since the 1953-54 season when defender Mickey Demetriou finished off a flowing move five minutes before the break.
And the visitors had goalkeeper Lee Burge to thank for a brilliant point-blank save to prevent Padraig Amond doubling Newport’s advantage.
Substitutes Kyel Reid and Biamou then combined to take advantage of a mistake from home defender Ben White and Biamou fired in to level on 79 minutes.
“I think it’s a really good point,” said Robins, whose side remain sixth in the table ahead of Monday’s home clash with Yeovil Town.
“We knew coming down here that they have a way of playing that puts you under pressure.
“They make you graft. They put the ball in the box at every opportunity and it’s how you cope with it.
“I think that mostly we’ve done OK. We conceded a poor goal and then there was a save from Burgey that was out of this world.
“We were under the cosh a little bit but we made some changes and we had a bit more life about us.
“When your opponent is not allowing you to play at your best [you have to ensure you] don’t lose the game and we’ve done that.”
Newport manager Mike Flynn was frustrated not to seal a first home win since January.
“It’s very frustrating,” said the Exiles boss. “I thought we were the better team and we deserved to win.
“I thought we were excelMax lent against the form team in the division. They found it very difficult against us.
“The goalkeeper made a world class save and they didn’t look like scoring in the second half but an individual error cost us again.
“We’ve got to cut them out because there’s too many.
“Since the Spurs [FA Cup] game we’ve conceded a lot of poor goals.
“I told Ben he might be able to try to trap the ball with his studs up on a nice academy pitch or a Premier League pitch but you can’t do it at Rodney Parade.” Flynn’s men remain 12th ahead of their trip to relegation-threatened Chesterfield on Monday afternoon.
While Coventry are sixth, two points clear of eighth place.
NEWPORT: (3-4-1-2): Day 7, White 6, O’Brien 6, Demetriou 7, Pipe 6, Dolan 7, Tozer 6, Butler 6, Willmott 7 (Sheehan 74 5), Hayes 6 (Nouble 46 6), Amond 8 Subs not used: Bittner, Reid, Collins, Jackson, McCoulsky
COVENTRY: (4-4-2): Burge 8, Grimmer 6, McDonald 6, Hyam 7, Haynes 6, Vincenti 6 (Biamou 77 7), Doyle 6, Bayliss 5, Shipley 7 (Reid 65 6), McNulty 6 (Ponticelli 70 5), Clarke-Harris 6 Subs not used: Stokes, Davies, O’Brien, Barrett