STANLEY SPOIL RICOH REVELRY
MARK Robins was left feeling for the Coventry faithful after his players were unable to reward their devotion with three points against Accrington Stanley.
A Jordan Clark double spoiled Coventry City’s big day, bringing a seven-game winning run at the Ricoh Arena to an abrupt end in front of a bumper crowd of 28,343, the biggest in the division since it was rebranded as League Two.
The Accrington midfielder netted his first after just five minutes, much to the disappointment of an expectant home support, boosted by thousands of free tickets given out to local schoolchildren.
He added a second with a calm finish on the hour mark and Robins said: “They’re more streetwise than any other team in the division, so to teach the players about that in a short space of time was difficult. They’ve managed to outman us again and get their noses in front, which kills the crowd.
“Our decision-making wasn’t great. We didn’t cause them enough problems and we have to move on quickly from the game.
“It’s really disappointing because I’ve been asking fans to come through the turnstiles. They’ve done that in big numbers and we’ve not managed to get the desired outcome.”
Robins’ side struggled to get going during a tepid first half, and fell behind to Clark’s closerange strike.
A sweeping pass released Callum Johnson down the left, who pulled the ball back for Clark to finish from six yards out.
A bobbly pitch made for a scrappy match, with several attacks breaking down. But Accrington continued to apply the pressure, with leading goalscorer Billy Kee heading over from a dangerous Johnson corner.
It wasn’t until 26 minutes had gone that Coventry had their first chance of note, as Aaron Chapman failed to gather a deep cross from Jordan MaguireDrew and Marc McNulty’s effort was blocked. The striker hit the side-netting with a low shot from outside the area shortly before half-time.
Stanley again started with intent after the break, Kee hitting the bar with a fiercely-struck 30-yard freekick within a minute. The away side always looked the more likely to score and finally got their second when Clark was played in by Kayden Jackson and slid the ball past an advancing Liam O’Brien.
“I’m delighted with the win,” said Accrington manager John Coleman. “I wasn’t so keen on our first half but we were much better in the second.
“We kept the ball better and played further up the field, making it harder for them.
“We’ll worry about where we are in May because it’s a long hard slog ahead. We just want to concentrate on our own business.”