Chesterfield 1 - 0 Coventry City

Sky Blues go bottom of League One



Coventry City were dragged to the bottom of the table by a desperately disappointing defeat at the Proact Stadium.

Results elsewhere meant that a draw would have been of precious little use to Russell Slade’s men.

But after a couple of small steps forward with promising draws against high-riding opposition they have now taken a giant stride backwards – four points adrift of safety on a run of ten league matches without a win.

The game reeked of relegation-zone anxiety from the start and it was no surprise that the closest shave of the first quarter stemmed from an unforced error as Foley’s back-pass played Burge into trouble.

The keeper had to dummy his way past O’Shea on the six-yard line and then crash-tackle Dennis to clear the danger – outfield skills which would no doubt have gained Pep Guardiola’s approval but must have stretched Russell Slade’s nerves.

It took 16 minutes for City’s attack to summon up some dangerous footwork, Thomas shooting at Fulton after a neat one-two with Reilly.

Chesterfield almost broke the deadlock on the half-hour, Evatt heading just over from Dennis’s free-kick after Rose had been pulled up, absurdly, for a foul on Nolan.

City’s closest shave, five minutes before the interval, was a freakish attempt as Thomas jerked out a back-heel at Foley’s driven diagonal and saw the ball trundle just wide of the post.

If the half-time scores from Bury, Shrewsbury and Oldham filtered through to the Proact dressing rooms they didn’t have the desired effect as the match resumed in the same energetic but aimless vein.

Reid finally produced some quality ten minutes in, leaving three defenders in his wake in a fine left-win break and crossing low for Thomas. His first-time shot bounced into Tudgay’s path but the veteran striker was flagged offside as he rolled the ball past Fulton.

But the game – already interrupted while Haynes received treatment – was then halted for seven minutes as home centre-back Tom Anderson received treatment following a clash of heads in the City area.

Chesterfield were still reorganising their defence when Haynes cut through for a left-foot shot that was too close to Fulton and Thomas pulled his shot wide after a flowing attack led by Reid and Tudgay.

It was Chesterfield, however, who made one count in the 77th minute, Donohue rolling a square ball to Gardner who let rip from over 20 yards and saw the ball fly into the top corner.

Straight from the re-start Beavon forced a low save from Fulton but with City forced to leave more room at the back Gardner had a couple of opportunities to suggest that hie earlier accuracy wasn’t the norm while substitute Ariyibi squandered a gilt-edged heading chance from Evans’s cross.