Stoke were boosted before the match with the return of Marcus Hall, who made the starting line-up against his former club and Sebastian Svard and Gifton Noel-Williams who both made the bench. Fans were excited at seeing Kris Commons start a match for the first time in quite some time and he didn’t disappoint.
Winds were swirling around the Britannia and it became obvious the match was never going to be a classic and it lived up to expectations with a dull 90 minutes of football between two sides that have made such progress in recent months.
The first flashpoint of the game came after just 90 seconds when a Scott Shearer kick out of goal caught the wind and travelled right up to Stoke’s penalty area. The ball bounced high and as Ed De Goey jumped to claim it, Gary McSheffrey charged in knocking the city ‘keeper to the floor. The challenge looked clumsy at best but the Sky Blues striker only received a booking.
De Goey was out cold on the pitch and had to be stretchered off after five minutes of treatment. Neil Cutler- who has only just recovered from injury himself- was brought on to replace him.
Bjarni Gudjonsson has been given a warm welcome from the home fans on his first trip back and he looked as if he had a point to prove as he was getting invloved in most of Coventry’s good play. However, an innocuous challenge just before the half-hour mark left Gudjonsson limping and he was withdrawn a few minutes later.
There was little in the way of goalmouth action for either side so it was no surprise that the first chance of the match came through a set piece. A short free kick about 25 yards out was laid on for Kris Commons who unleashed a ferocious shot past the Coventry wall to leave Scott Shearer with no chance.
Coventry had a free kick themselves in a dangerous position but Neil Cutler was equal to Graham Barrett’s shot. The rest of the half passed away uneventfully and Stoke would feel fortunate but thankful to be going into the break a goal up.
Coventry had most of the possession in the first half without really threatening whilst Stoke were pumping long balls forward to Ade Akinbiyi and Carl Asaba hoping for a bit of magic that never came. However, the wind- that had hampered what should have been a good game of football- dropped during the interval and fans were hoping for a more eventful second half.
Just three minutes in, Coventry were unlucky not to score when Stephen Warnock hit the post with a firm shot from around 30 yards out. That seemed to signal the end of Coventry’s good play and after this, Gerry Taggart and Wayne Thomas never looked in danger of letting anyone through.
At the other end, Stoke were still struggling to create opportunities with Gifton Noel- Williams being sorely missed alongside Akinbiyi. A couple of free-kicks resulted in Karl Henry shots, one of which was saved well by Shearer, the other which just flew over the angle of the goal.
Coventry were deploying an offside trap against the pace of Akinbiyi and it was working with Akinbiyi getting through only once. Unfortunately, a poor touch sent him wide and he could only shoot into the side netting.
To be fair to Coventry, they were still in control of much of the play and will point to their tally of eight corners to Stoke’s three to claim they deserved a draw. However, Stoke’s defence remained firm and comfortably kept the Sky Blues attack at bay even during the inevitable last ten minute barrage.
This was Coventry’s third defeat in a row and they must now have to fight it out with the likes of Stoke for mid table positions. The Potters claim they have not given up hope of the play-offs but they remain eight points off sixth place and with a difficult run in, it looks unlikely for this year at least.
Tony Pulis always claimed that he would feel safe once the side had reached the 54-point mark. Now this is achieved, he may start to experiment with his line-up to decide who must stay and who must move on in the Summer. He will certainly have been pleased with the performances of Henry and Commons. They both had good games and will have given Pulis some welcome selection headaches between now and the end of the season.