Coventry City 1 - 2 Scunthorpe United

[dutchman]

[dutchman]

The Sky Blues slump to another loss to managerless Iron at the Ricoh Arena



Coventry City slumped to a third consecutive League One defeat – Adam Armstrong’s second-half penalty scant consolation after two set-piece lapses handed the initiative to the managerless Iron.

Swedish defender Martin Lorentzson made his debut in a Sky Blues selection that saw Adam Armstrong and Jacob Murphy back from the minor knocks that ruled them out at Southend last week while James Maddison reclaimed his starting role from the injured Joe Cole.

Scunthorpe United were unchanged from the side that clipped Colchester 3-0 last time out with Cov Kids Gary McSheffrey and Jordan Clarke on the bench.

The Sky Blues were denied what looked a clear penalty as Mirfin, having lost the ball to Murphy, sent the Norwich youngster sprawling. And relieved Scunthorpe went straight upfield to force a corner that Mirfin turned on for Hopper to crack into the net.

Maddison made space brilliantly on the 18-yard line but pulled his shot fractionally wide but City needed a perfectly-timed Ramage to halt Hooper when Scunthorpe broke quickly while Madden sliced a good chance wide when a misunderstanding between Ramage and Ricketts left him with an open channel down the left.

After an unscheduled delay when linesman Nigel Smith hobbled off and replacement Wayne Barrett went through an elaborate warm-up on the touchline the game clocked up six minutes of first-half overtime.

And that almost signalled further disaster for City as former loan man Williams unleashed a curling shot that clipped the angle of post and bar with Charles-Cook stranded.

Tony Mowbray acted decisively at half-time, replacing Hunt and Bigirimana with O’Brien and Rose, the latter making his debut.

They were so nearly back on terms inside three minutes, Maddison teeing up Armstrong for blast that Daniels turned over the bar and Lorentzson meeting the subsequent corner with a close-range header that hit the turf and bounced over.

Daniels got away with it when he fumbled Murphy’s hopeful 30-yarder as City started to rack up the pressure.

But they found themselves 2-0 drift as Scunthorpe hit them with another setpiece sucker punch in the 62nd minute, Ness curling a softly-conceded corner into the six-yard box where Wallace stooped to tuck his header past Charles-Cook.

Armstrong headed over from O’Brien’s cross and Murphy slashed a wild shot well wide before Scunthorpe unleashed McSheffrey to a warm reception from the bulk of the City fans.

The Sky Blues clawed their way back into the game when Maddison was fouled by Ness Armstrong sent the keeper the wrong way from the spot.

But the home fans’ roar was choked off two minutes later when Vincelot was ordered off after collecting his second booking for a foul on Ness.

City continued to press forward but with another Cov Kid, Jordan Clarke, on the field for the five minutes of overtime Scunthorpe clung on to complete their seasonal double.

Attendance: 11,138 (430 away).