Cheltenham Town 1 - 6 Coventry City

[dutchman]

[dutchman]

Marc McNulty hits a hat-trick as Sky Blues go goal crazy



Coventry City took a huge step towards securing their place in the play-offs after taking the full three points in sensational style with six goals on their first trip to Cheltenham Town.

The Sky Blues got the job done early, taking a 4-0 lead into the break at Whaddon Road with two from Marc McNulty and a goal each for Tom Bayliss and Jordan Shipley.

A superb overhead kick from Max Biamou and a brilliant strike from McNulty to complete his hat-trick put City on 74 points with a game to go on a day when Mansfield – the only side who can catch them – beat Yeovil to ensure Coventry still need a point from their final game of the season agaisnt Morecambe next week.

Bayliss got the party started after 11 minutes with a terrific finish from a Shipley cross before McNulty scored a brilliant glancing header from a Jack Grimmer cross to double the lead just short of the half hour mark.

The striker then had a hand in the third in the 37th minute when he dummied a Max Biamou cross from the right, leaving it for Shipley to ram home at the far post, before bagging his second of the day when he raced clean through from a Jordan Willis ball over the top and slotted past the exposed Scott Flinders in the Robins’ goal.

It could have been more in the opening 45 as Bayliss fired wide after wriggling his way through four players into the box as Mark Robins’s men dominated their midtable opponents.

Shipley was denied by a good save as City looked to increase their lead in an increasingly feisty encounter after the break before the home side pulled one back from the penalty spot.

Goalkeeper Lee Burge conceded the spot-kick, taking out Mo Eisa just inside the box before the Robins’ leading scorer tucked it away with a clinical finish from 12 yards to make it 4-1.

But City upped the gears again with Biamou flinging himself at a Jack Grimmer cross to send an overhead kick in from the edge of the six-yard box before McNulty wrapped things up with a superb angled strike from just inside the box to make it 6-1 with 13 minutes still left on the clock.