Barnet 0 - 0 Coventry City

[dutchman]

[dutchman]

Sky Blues claim eighth clean sheet of the season



Coventry City maintained their impressive unbeaten League Two run with a low key point in their first ever meeting with Barnet.

The Sky Blues went into the game on the back of three straight wins but couldn’t extend that to four in front of a Sky Sports cameras in today’s early kick-off.

Mark Robins’s men struggled to impose themselves in a disappointing first half display, limited to just two off-target attempts on goal, and although they were far livelier after the break they couldn’t find a way through a strong and well-organised Bees back four, managing to test the keeper on just one occasion from the boot of Liam Kelly.

But Coventry stayed solid themselves to remain the meanest defence in the division with an outstanding eighth clean sheet while almost 1,400 of the travelling Sky Blue Army out-sang the home contingent throughout.

Robins made just one change to his side that beat Crewe last week, with Marc McNulty coming in to replace Duckens Nazon who is away on international duty with Haiti.

The striker played in the No.10 role behind the more physical Max Biamou who led the line and got his head on the end of an early free-kick from Jodi Jones, sending it just wide in game the Frenchman was being closely monitored by big centre-half Ricardo Santos.

It was a scrappy first half with neither side giving much away and both looking the more likely to break the deadlock from a set-piece as both enjoyed free-kicks and corners, Bees’ centre-back Charlie Clough winning the ball from a Mauro Vilhete centre that was snatched to safety by Lee Burge.

Neither side could get a grip on possession and City struggled to get the ball to Jones, their biggest attacking threat, who was being doubled up on by full-back Harry Taylor and wide man Ruben Bover.

Michael Doyle was in the thick of the midfield battleground and looking to play diagonal balls out to free Devon Kelly-Evans on the right and Jones on the left, but the home side were tight and organised at the back and gave very little away until the latter hit City’s second attempt at goal just after the half hour mark, sending a shot wide of the far post with the outside of his boot.

But that was all the Sky Blues could muster as the half petered out with neither keeper having been tested and even City’s impressive travelling contingent going quiet ahead of the break.

City were guilty of playing some wasteful long balls out of defence that went straight to the opposition, and even the skipper hit a rare stray pass to invite pressure on his own side early in the second 45 that started as the first had ended with very little to get excited about until Jones finally beat his man and sent a shot fizzing across the face of goal.

Chris Stokes then fed the ball to Kelly-Evans’s feet and the forward turned smartly and hit a low 25-yard drive straight at the keeper as the visitors began to start asking a few more question. McNulty raced down the right and pulled the ball back at the by-line by Kelly-Evans and Biamou stretched but could connect with it.

McNulty then dribbled into the box and squared it into a pack of players when he should really have had a shot himself before Biamou got a clean header to a cross but sent it straight into the keeper’s arms as Coventry suddenly came to life.

A Biamou flick-on saw McNulty squeeze into the box but see his shot deflected before Jones dribbled into the area and lifted the ball disappointingly over the bar.

The Bees were playing largely on the counter attack and again relying on set-pieces until a double change pepped them up with Simeon Akinola providing a fresh outlet on the right and taking the sting out of City’s momentum.

Kelly-Evans worked hard but was struggling to impose himself against a fairly big and physical opposition, and was replaced by Jordan Shipley with just under 15 minutes to go.

Biamou fired wide before Robins made another change, sending on teenager Jordan Pontcielli for McNulty to make his league debut for the club, before Liam Kelly tested the keeper for the first time all game with a rasping 25-yarder that Craig Ross palmed away for the first of two corners in the dying minutes.

Biamou had two efforts cleared off the line in a frantic end to the game that had been there for the taking had City got their act together earlier.

Attendance: 4,041 (1,390 away).