Coventry City 2 Wycombe Wanderers 1

[dutchman]

Sky Blues reach Wembley in the Checkatrade Trophy final



Coventry City’s biggest crowd of the season saw the Sky Blues book a day out at Wembley 30 years on from the greatest day in their history.

And a fair percentage of them finished on the pitch – not in one of the protests which has soured the club’s reputation in recent months but in celebration tinged by relief after an unbearably tense finale. City seemed to be in cruise control as fine goals from Stuart Beavon and George Thomas gave them a fully-deserved lead inside 20 minutes.

But folk-hero Adebayi Akinfenwa hauled Wanderers back into contention and City had to weather a second-half siege before finally squeezing over the finish line Despite the club’s turn-up-early pleas, the match was delayed for 15 minutes because of box-office queues. The 11,672 who eventually took their seats fell way short of the 31,000 who crammed into the stadium for the 2013 Johnstone’s Paint Trophy semi-final - but with the Wembley factor trumping the anti-Sisu animosity and the option of watching the tie on Sky it eclipsed the 10,296 who turned up against Shrewsbury in the early days of a thus-far calamitous League One campaign.

And City responded to the pumped-up atmosphere. They looked the sharper side from the start and duly broke through in the 11th minute – Reilly bundling his way through on the right and slipping over a low cross for Beavon to swivel and clip his shot across Blackman and inside the far post. The Sky Blues choir was momentarily silenced as Charles-Cook spilled a cross under intense pressure to spark a desperate scramble in the box – City claiming a foul on the keeper while Wanderers appealed for a penalty.

But the Que Sera chorus erupted two minutes later as City doubled their lead with a superb strike – Reid drilling a fierce diagonal from left to right and Thomas chesting down the ball to smash past Blackman. City were producing some of their most fluent form of the season, despite the bobbly pitch, while Wanderers’ Plan A seemed to be contriving opportunities for Thompson to launch those throws into the area. But the League Two outfit squandered a golden opportunity to level two minutes before the interval as O’Nein’s left-wing cross skimmed off Rose’s head and dropped to Weston but he blazed wildly over from well inside the six-yard box.

Wycombe boss Gareth Ainsworth responded by unleashing The Beast for the second half while Jodi Jones replaced Beavon who had looked less than fully mobile before the interval. And it was the visitors who were straight out of the traps, Weston curling a shot wide before teeing up Saunders for a close-range effort straight at Charles-Cook – and in the 55th minute their not so secret weapon struck. Fresh from a 70-yard dash down the wing, Jones conceded a needless free-kick in the centre-circle and when Harriman’s spooned delivery dropped nicely for Akinfenwa the big man belted it past Charles-Cook on the half-volley.

The momentum had swung completely, City’s defence looking increasingly jittery as Wycombe piled forward, and Slade responded by sending on Jack Finch, the only spare defender at his disposal, to slot in ahead of the back four. Despite the reinforcements it was desperate stuff – nothing pretty or sophisticated, just a stream of balls pumped towards Akinfenwa as the Sky Blues searched in vain for their first-half flow. The fans in Singers Corner were queuing up for a pitch invasion when Mr England stunned them by declaring six minutes of overtime.

But City survived and, much to the groundsmen’s alarm, thousands of their supporters charged on to the battered turf at the final whistle. This time, surely, few would begrudge them their incursion. City’s victims come from a lower division but they’re only six steps down the league pyramid and, let’s not forget, pushed Spurs all the way in a seven-goal FA Cup thriller at White Hart Lane.In a miserable season, this was one of the good days. Wembley here we come!

Attendance: 11,672 (764 away)