COVENTRY MESSAGE BOARD

Sky Blues throw away lead again



For the second time in 48 hours an overtime goal saw a Coventry victory downgraded into a draw. The Sky Blues had temporarily climbed out of the relegation zone courtesy of stand-in skipper Marcus Tudgay’s 100th career goal and a debut strike by Stuart Beavon.

But Bolton substitute Max Clayton’s late leveller pushed them down below Bury and Chesterfield and left Russell Slade looking for his first goal.Russell gave instant debuts to New Year recruits Nathan Clarke, Stuart Beavon and on-loan Callum Reilly – two gaps created by Chris McCann’s move Stateside and Jordan Willis’s tight hamstring while Ben Stevenson dropped to the bench.

Clarke quickly had the home fans on his side with a thumping headed clearance as, despite the lack of preparation, the Sky Blues made an enterprising start but while the first quarter of the game was full of hustle and bustle it was sadly deficient in the pass-completion department. It was 22 minutes before either side conjured up an opportunity – Henry curling his free-kick well over after Turnbull had felled Madine on the rugby grid’s 22-metre line – and 33 before there was any hint of a breakthrough, Osede’s angled side-foot sliding just wide of the far post.

That fright seemed to focus Sky Blue minds, however, Beavon spinning on the 18-yard line to pull a shot narrowly wide, and the game took a dramatic twist in the 37th minute. City looked in danger of an after-you disaster as Burge and Clarke converged on a through-ball from opposite directions. But Clarke showed immaculate composure to clear the danger and spark a counter-attack which saw Beavon cross from the right and Reid steer a far-post header back into the six-yard box for Tudgay to nod into an unprotected net.

Trotter fired a first-time shot wide early in the second half but the game continued in the same untidy pattern until Bolton levelled out of the blue in the 65th minute when Haynes was pulled up for a push on Madine as the former City striker chased a nothing ball in the penalty area. There was contact but hardly enough to send a man of Madine’s build crashing and certainly nothing compared to some of the setpiece wrestling that had been allowed to pass unpunished at both ends. But referee Boyeson made the call, booking Haynes for good measure, and newly-arrived substitute Zach Clough – scorer of the only goal in City’s defeat at the Macron Stadium in November, calmly sent Burge the wrong way from the spot. It was a body-blow for City and a huge test of their character – but it took them barely two minutes to produce the perfect response. And if Haynes was feeling any responsibility he more than compensated, leaving three Bolton players in his wake in a brilliant dash down the left flank before slipping the ball inside to Beavon who calmly picked his bottom-corner spot.

George Thomas, whose high-energy contribution was one of the highlights of the City afternoon, had the ball in the net five minutes from time after a superb move involving substitutes Gael Bigirimana and Ruben Lameiras but the linesman’s flag was up as the young striker collected Tudgay’s final pass.

Another counter-attack produced a three-on-two advantage before Lameiras was tackled as he tried to turn inside. And the first of four added minutes provided a bitter twist for the Sky Blues as Clough’s total miscue turned into a perfect pass to Andy Taylor whose cross found Max Clayton for a decisive finish past Burge.

Attendance: 10,339 (1,721 away)