Coventry City 2 - 2 Doncaster Rovers

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Mowbray's side twice let the lead slip against the Yorkshire side at the Ricoh Arena



Twice in front, the Sky Blues’ lead at the top of the table was trimmed to a single point as Rovers fought back for a Ricoh share.

And it was almost a complete disaster for Tony Mowbray’s men as Nathan Tyson hit the bar in injury time.

With John Fleck’s tight hamstring passing muster, Tony Mowbray reverted to the side that thrashed Gillingham last weekend, Jim O’Brien and Ryan Kent starting after their stints on the bench at Bradford.

City made an enterprising start, Fleck twice trying his luck from 20 yards, although it was Rovers who created the first genuine opportunity as Tyson headed over from Alcock’s deep cross.

And with Darren Ferguson standing in his technical area – sometimes near enough on the touchline – in his suit despite the relentless rain, Doncaster made it clear they weren’t prepared to let City dictate the pace of the game.

After Charles-Cook had to stretch to get a fingertip to Middleton’s fierce drive the Sky Blues needed three attempts to get the ball clear from the subsequent corner and it was slightly against the run of play when City they the breakthrough just shy of the half-hour.

O’Brien battled well to win possession and tee up Ricketts for a miscued 25-yard shot that hit a defender and Armstrong pounced on the loose ball to swivel and steer his shot into the bottom corner.

City were indebted to Vincelot four minutes later, the Frenchman diving in to block Alcock’s shot as Rovers broke from a corner. But City promptly produced an even better counter-attack, Armstrong surprisingly over-cooking his chip when Kent picked him out on the edge of the box with an inspired through-ball.

Ferguson led the Rovers’ demand for a penalty when Grant tumbled under pressure from Vincelot but rookie referee Lee Swabey wasn’t impressed. And City launched the second half with a fresh sense of urgency, Armstrong producing a superb run through the middle before laying off to Murphy who fired into the side-netting.

Three minutes later, however, the visitors pulled level. City’s defence were wrong-footed as the ball skidded past Fleck in the middle of the City half and although Charles-Cook got down to parry Williams’s shot, Tyson swept home the rebound.

City were momentarily stunned but they regained their lead five minutes later. O’Brien was denied by Stuckmann after a slick one-two with Armstrong but Rovers could only half-clear the corner and Fleck picked up the ball 25 yards out and smacked in a grass-cutter shot via the foot of the right-hand post.

That prompted City’s best spell of the match and three excellent chances in as many minutes – Armstrong swivelling brilliantly but shooting fractionally wide, Grant blocking Murphy’s shot and O’Brien also inches off target.

But having shown total commitment to charge down a Middleton piledriver, Fleck was punished for a rare error when Tyson pounced on his loose pass and slotted past the hopelessly exposed keeper.

Kent curled a left-footer just past the top angle but Rovers weren’t content to sit on their point and Williams passed up two good chances, glancing a header well wide of the far post before totally miscuing five yards out.

And although City pushed forward for the rest of the half – Rovers racking up the yellow cards as they clung on – Tyson almost snatched it in the second minute of overtime when he swivelled 20 yards out and clipped the bar with a delightful chip.

Attendance: 11,885 (477 away)

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Chris Stokes: Coventry full-back says style of play will not change



Coventry City defender Chris Stokes says the League One leaders will not change the way they play, despite throwing away the lead twice against Doncaster Rovers.

The Sky Blues had to settle for a point in a 2-2 draw after giving possession away in their own half.

"The way we play, that's sometimes going to happen - we do try and play from the back," Stokes said.

"As long as it doesn't happen all the time, the manager can accept that."

Despite the disappointment of letting two points slip away, the result preserved City's unbeaten league home record and extended their run without defeat to 11 games.

"We're doing really well and we need to push on in the second half of the season," Stokes told BBC Coventry and Warwickshire.

"We've played the majority of the teams now and we know what's coming, and the longer we're at the top the more teams are going to respect us."

Coventry have not been beaten at home since losing to Crewe Alexandra in the penultimate game of last season and Stokes says visiting sides do their best to stifle the Sky Blues' style of play.

"Teams find it tough coming here," he said, "They sit back and respect what we've done at home.

"Our front four is frightening with the pace they've got and when teams do sit back we need to find a way of breaking them down."