Chesterfield 1 Coventry City 1

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James Maddison rescues point for Sky Blues



James Maddison was the Sky Blues hero for the second time in three days at the Proact Stadium.

Fresh from his Boxing Day winner against Port Vale, the Cov Kid midfielder produced a magnificent free-kick to rescue a point when City seemed set to go down against a Chesterfield side on a run of seven consecutive defeats.

The Sky Blues made six changes from the Boxing Day line-up against Port Vale, Ryan Haynes replacing the presumably injured Aaron Martin in the back four while the fit-again John Fleck resumed his midfield partnership alongside Romain Vincelot.

And Tony Mowbray made full use of his attacking strength in depth with a completely fresh front four – Jim O’Brien, James Maddison and Ryan Kent upgraded from Saturday’s substitute roles while Marc-Antoine Fotune led the line with top scorer Adam Armstrong on the bench for the first time since his arrival from Newcastle.

City had the bulk of the early possession without creating too much up front. Home keeper Lee had no trouble dealing with an undercooked O’Brien effort while Maddison miscued his first-time shot from Fortune’s clever lay-off and O’ Brien cleared the bar by several yards when he tried his luck again.

New Chesterfield boss had to revamp his first line-up 20 minutes into the game when Cov Kid Ian Evatt was stretchered off after two lengthy spells on treatment, Sky Blues old boy Richard Wood switching from left-back to centre-half. And the game resumed with a City corner that almost produced the breakthrough as Sam Ricketts glanced his header just wide from Kent’s delivery.

Chesterfield conjured up their first attempt just past the half-hour when Morsy dragged his 20-yarder wide after a good spell of possession along the left edge of the area.

They went considerably closer six minutes later as Hird headed narrowly over from O’Shea’s corner,And they made the bteakthrouh in the 38th minute as Chris Stokes was pulled up for handball and O’Shea whipped in a curling free-kick from the left and Nolan’s glancing header flew over Reice-Charles-Cook and into the far top corner.

Coventry looked momentarily stunned but Fleck had the 2,600 visiting fans cheering again with two fierce 25-yarders in injury time, the first tipped over by a full-stretch Tommy Lee and the second hacked away after the keeper had parried.

The game threatened to boil over in the 54th minute when Maddison won a soft free-kick from Morsy five yards outside the box. While Paul Tierney marked the spot with his vanishing spray Morsy and Novak both took the opportunity to manhandle the City midfielder as he collected the ball but after consultation with his assistants the referee quite rightly booked Morsy but, unaccountably, also dished out a yellow to Maddison.

When the dust had settled, Maddison slammed the free-kick into the wall and five minutes later he cleared the bar when he tried his luck from 20 yards.

Despite the comically misleading statistics on the BBC website, the Sky Blues were now dominating possession but Mowbray moved to shake up is attack by sending on Armstrong and Jacob Murphy for Fortune.

Armstrong announced his arrival by cutting in from the right to fire a left-footed shot past the far post and City were unlucky not to level two minutes later when Ryan Haynes’ sidefoot volley was headed clear by Wood with Lee looking beaten.

City nearly suffered a self-inflicted wound, however, when Sylvan Ebanks-Blake clipped the bar after Fleck’s misplaced pass had wrong-footed his back four.

Mowbray then sent on Marcus Tudgay for Phillips – Stokes blocking an Ebanks-Blake shot as Chesterfield exploited the temporarily vacant right-back slot – but the Sky Blues boss was then banished to the stand after a heated touchline exchange with the referee.

It all looked very grim for the Sky Blues but two minutes from time Maddison won a free-kick five yards outside the area and cashed in with an immaculate right-foot curler into the corner of the net.

The game was temporarily halted as some City supporters ran on to the pitch i n celebration but hopes of a dramatic winner disappeared as Armstrong was unable to get enough meat behind his low shot.

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Coventry City FC fan arrested after altercation with Chesterfield FC goalkeeper



A Coventry City FC fan was arrested after an altercation with Chesterfield FC’s goalkeeper during Monday’s clash between the two teams.

Video footage has emerged which appears to show the supporter on the pitch with his arm around Chesterfield keeper Tommy Lee before the player throws the man to the ground.

Fintan Carey, 18, from Humber Avenue, Coventry, has now been charged with pitch invasion and has been bailed to appear at Northern Derbyshire Magistrates' Court in Chesterfield on January 22.

A spokesman for Derbyshire Police said: "Carey was allegedly one of more than 100 people who encroached on the pitch before the final whistle blew. He was the only person arrested.

"We are not aware of a complaint against the goalkeeper."

The incident occurred as the Sky Blues scored a late equaliser against the League One strugglers via James Maddison's free-kick.

Video footage seems to show about 20 supporters invaded the pitch and the restart of the game was delayed for about two minutes while stewards dealt with the incident involving the goalkeeper.

A police investigation is now underway and it is not yet clear if the Chesterfield goalkeeper will face any action from the Football Association or his club.

But Coventry City FC could now face disciplinary action from the FA for the behaviour of a handful of their supporters.

More than 2,600 Sky Blues fans attended the game yesterday and, aside from a few ejections for drunkenness, police said the majority had behaved well.

The club issued a statement appealing for fans to stay off the field of play in the future.

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Tony Mowbray handed one game touchline ban after accepting misconduct charge



Coventry City FC boss Tony Mowbray will serve a one-match touchline ban with immediate effect, it has been confirmed.

The ban comes into effect for this weekend's trip to Crewe Alexandra, after Mowbray admitted an FA charge of misconduct following this weekend's 1-1 draw with Chesterfield at the Proact Stadium.

As well as the touchline ban, which will see Mogga sit in the director's box at Gresty Road, the manager also accepted the standard penalty for the offence - a £1,000 fine.

A statement on the Coventry City FC website said: "It was alleged that in or around the 79th minute of the fixture his language and/or behaviour towards a Match Official was improper and/or abusive and/or insulting."

It is understood first-team coach Jamie Clapham and goalkeeping coach Steve Ogrizovic will be in the dugout for the Sky Blues trip to lowly Crewe.

After he was banished to the stands at the weekend, Mowbray admitted: “I was frustrated. There was a substitution being made and Marcus wasn’t in his position when they took the free-kick and nearly scored a goal.

“I think it’s wrong, that’s all, and I told him that. He didn’t like my tone and sent me to the stand but I’m a passionate man. I don’t know if anything will come from it but that doesn’t matter to me – what’s important is the football team.

“We’ve got 22 matches left and we want to try and stay unbeaten. That’s a big ask but I’ll be happy if we dig in on difficult days and show the sort of character we showed today.”