Match Reports

The Sky Blues slumped to their first home defeat of the season, thanks to a late debut goal from Pilgrims substitute Cherno Samba, and can have little to complain about following another fairly poor performance.

From Plymouth it was a textbook example of how to play away from home - defend well, have a reliable goalkeeper, and try to nick a goal at some stage.

Coventry-born keeper Luke McCormick was in action early on, saving well from Stephen Hughes who now hasn't scored for so long it's ridiculous.

We had started brightly, with Stern John going close, and then Tony Capaldi almost scoring an own goal for the visitors, but at the other end, Andy Marshall was let off the hook when Reuben Reid missed an open goal.

Plymouth's defending restricted us to a few chances, and their own attacking play was superior to ours.

Late in the half, McCormick made the save of the game to deny Stern John, and it was level at the interval - we still hadn't conceded a first-half goal this season - but far from comfortable.

Plymouth started the second half well, and Akoz Buzsaky blasted just over the bar, while our own attack lacked something, as the Plymouth defence restricted us to long-range efforts.

One such opportunity was a Colin Cameron free-kick, but the former Wolves man wasn't able to net his first goal for the club on a rare starting appearance, as McCormick pulled another quality save out of the bag.

It's true that Kevin Kyle was winning the ball in the air, but doing little with it, and our overall approach seemed to be to lump it forward to him rather too much, with wide men Jay Tabb and Chris Birchall missing out.

Mid-way through the half, Micky Adams decided to concentrate on the hoof approach, bringing on Dele Adebola to add further height to Kyle in the attack.

But chances remained limited, and it was to be a header from the Plymouth substitute that broke the deadlock inside the final ten minutes, as we failed to defend a cross allowing Samba to score.

The closest we came to equalising was from a very late free-kick, that was predictably squandered, and Plymouth might even have doubled their advantage before the final whistle.

It's a disappointing result, given our usually dominant home form, and our first home defeat to Plymouth for almost 50 years. Hopefully we can learn from them how to get the tactics right away from home and apply it ourselves in the future.

A wonder-goal from Clinton Morrison, scored in the middle of a scrappy game, meant that we went home pointless from yet another away game.

And the truth is that our passing was so poor, we probably didn't deserve anything from the game, which was dominated by fouls and infringements, and a notable lack of chances, particularly on our part.

Micky Adams tactics were strange, giving former Palace forward Leon McKenzie his first start, but dropping Stern John - the only player who has scored more than one goal this season - and not bringing him on until fairly late.

But we made the brighter start, with McKenzie and Jay Tabb both shooting just wide in the early exchanges, while Kevin Kyle had a header saved.

Palace forced several corners, but Andy Marshall was catching very competantly, and he also made a fine save from Morrison.

The referee was constantly blowing for free-kicks, but we really should've had a man advantage after Matt Lawrence's shocking foul on Tabb, only for a mere yellow to be shown.

Elliott Ward headed just wide from a Stephen Hughes free-kick, and at the other end centre-half Leon Cort saw his header saved well by Marshall. The battle of the Ward Brothers between Elliott and Darren seemed to have the net effect that the two were fairly gentle with each other at set pieces, compared to the other players on the pitch who were constantly comitting minor fouls.

At half-time it was 0-0, and we still hadn't conceded a first-half league goal this season.

Hughes came close to ending his long, long goal drought with a free-kick at the start of the second half, before Palace scored out of absolutely nothing.

Morrison picked up a cross on the edge of the area, facing half away from goal, and hit an unstoppable first-time volley in off the post, with Andy Marshall a mere spectator.

We had a chance to hit back immediately, but McKenzie's effort was saved, and then things went from bad to worse.

Palace should've scored a second when Marshall came out of his area and couldn't pick up the ball from Morrison, but the cross to Michael Hughes was delayed, and he blasted over as Marshall was scrambling back onto his line.

Three changes were made, but soon afterwards David McNamee's second yellow saw us down to ten men. There were then chances for Scowcroft and Kuqi, as Palace looked to build on their lead.

Towards the end of the game, Marcus Hall made a long run from deep, and played a one-two with sub Dele Adebola, but the left-back's long wait for a goal will continue, as his shot hit the outside of the post.

We couldn't find a way to pressurise Palace in the lengthy period of stoppage time, and once again come away with nothing.

The visiting supporters deserved better, having paid an astonishing 30 quid for a restricted view in a decrepit stand. Unfortunately our players didn't deliver.

A revitalised Sky Blues battled hard to record a narrow victory over Leeds for the first time in a decade, continuing our very impressive home form against a very out-of-sorts opposition.

Several changes were made from the midweek defeat at Ipswich, including a first start for Summer signing Jay Tabb, and the diminuitive left-winger was hugely impressive, becoming an immediate favourite with the Ricoh crowd.

We created a whole load of early chances. First Chris Birchall had a shot deflect behind for a corner, then Kevin Kyle went close with two headers, the crosses coming in from Birchall and Tabb on the flanks causing all sorts of problems for Leeds.

But the visitors nearly scored on the break, completely against the run of play, although David Healey's header past Andy Marshall rebounded off the crossbar and was cleared.

Leeds keeper Tony Warner made save from Tabb after a mazy run from Stern John, before the roles were reversed with Tabb crossing for John to score a tap-in.

The finish was simple, but it was a flowing team move that led to the goal, with the passing of a high standard.

The remainder of the first half was uneventful, and having got the goal we looked fairly relaxed against a Leeds side that have only scored twice from open play all season.

Early in the second half, Marshall was required to make a save for the first time, saving from former Ipswich teammate Ian Westlake.

Leeds weren't as dirty as they have been historically, but Butler really should've been sent off for a second yellow that was never forthcoming after fouling Stephen Hughes.

Geoff Horsfield then had several chances in quick succession, with a header saved, and a shot trickling wide after a one-on-one with Marshall.

But having weathered the storm, we began creating chances ourselves again, with Tabb trying a long-range effort, and Leon McKenzie looking pretty lively when he came on.

The £1 million striker had a shot saved by Warner, and at the other end Healey blasted over the bar, but the score was destined to stay at 1-0, and the points going our way.

Defeat could well signal the end of Kevin Blackwell's reign as Leeds manager, but for us it's a great result. We haven't beaten Leeds for a long time, and teams in poor form have tended to do well against us in recent years.

If we can win games like this consistently, where we may have only drawn last season, a promotion push is not beyond us.

Bogey side Ipswich netted a late winner at Portman Road just when it looked like Elliott Ward's first goal for us had secured a point at least from a dramatic and entertaining encounter that could've gone either way (although this fixture is never a Coventry win).

Fielding an unchanged side, we started well, and Kevin Kyle headed a Marcus Hall cross just wide in the opening exchanges.

Ipswich's Gavin Williams then missed a sitter, firing wide when it looked easier to score following some hesitant defending.

History repeated itself shortly afterwards when Alan Lee also managed to poke his shot narrowly wide of the post following good work from Mark Noble.

After a couple of let-offs, we grew in confidence, with Kyle looking dangerous, and he came close with a header following a Stephen Hughes free-kick.

As the half wore on there were further chances for both sides, with Sylvain Legwinski shooting wide from long-range, Andy Marshall saving a header from Noble, and Kyle heading over from a corner.

It looked like there were goals to come, but the balance was delicate with the score goalless at half-time.

We had been second best before the break, and the half-time team-talk seemed to have pointed this out, as the Sky Blues attacked with far greater aplomb - Stern John coming desperately close to scoring from Kevin Thornton's low cross.

But just as we were posing the greater attacking threat, Ipswich took the lead on the counter-attack, with Jon Macken crossing for Noble to finish neatly from close range.

We continued to play well, forcing a series of corners, but the home side always looked to catch us on the break, with Noble almost adding a quick-fire second.

It was high time Leon McKenzie made his Sky Blues debut, and the former Norwich City man was roundly booed by the Tractor Boys when he touched the ball.

With three men now playing upfront we created more chances, and Price saved twice from McKenzie, whose arrival lifted the team. Hughes hit a free-kick against the top-left corner of the post, and only desperate defending denied Kevin Kyle in a goalmouth scramble - an equaliser seemed certain to arrive imminently.

And so it did, from an unlikely source. With several players still up front following a set-piece, the ball was played into McKenzie, who played it across the face of goal as the keeper came off his line. At the far post the on-rushing Elliott Ward had a simple finish.

1-1 and we now looked the more likely winners. Surely the script was written for McKenzie to give us a memorable victory? Further attack-minded substitutions saw us going for the jugular, only to be hit on the break.

Ipswich substitute Billy Clarke found himself in lots of space on a counter-attack, and hit a long-range shot that Marshall should've dealt with rather better than he did.

There was still time for an equaliser, with McKenzie foiled late on, and sub Don Hutchison seeing his shot deflect wide.

And deep into stoppage time, with the crowd anxious, Andy Marshall came up for a late corner against his former club - but the dramatic dream ending never materialised, as the goalkeeper headed wide.

Losing to Ipswich is not surprising in the least, and there were positives to be taken from the game. But these are the sorts of fixtures we should be drawing, if not winning, if we are to challenge for the top six.

The Sky Blues third win of the season was unexpectedly substantial, as first goals for the club for Chris Birchall and Kevin Kyle helped us to beat a Norwich side who came into the fixture in second place.

Having scored only three in our first five league games, we doubled that tally and finally found our stride with a result that could kick-start our season, flattering though it was, as Norwich had long spells of dominance and were unlucky not to score their first away goals of the season.

Stern John was the victim early on of a horrible tackle from Jason Shackell. John was lucky not to go off injured, and Shackell very fortune to stay on the pitch with just a booking.

Our first goal came when Birchall found himself with lots of space some 25 yards from goal, and the right-winger took a couple of touches before hitting thundering half-volley low and into the back of the net.

Full-backs Andy Whing and Marcus Hall were getting forward at every opportunity, and when Whing was brought down inside the area it looked like cast-iron penalty. Instead the defender was booked for diving, which is not something that happens every day.

We continued to dominate the half, with Birchall's play especially good, and a few minutes before the interval he set up Kevin Thornton who in turn put John through on goal, but the ball got caught under the strikers feet. Robert Earnshaw then pulled a shot wide for the visitors.

1-0 at half-time meant that it was our first league game this season not to have been goalless at the break!

Early in the second half the ineffective Darren Huckerby had been offside one too many times, and was subbed, meaning he couldn't score against us this time.

But the visitors were much improved, and there was still a former Coventry player on the pitch - Youssef Safri, whose long-range shot deflected off Elliott Ward and almost beat Andy Marshall.

Lee Croft then had two chances for Norwich, and Earnshaw also went close, but their finishing was poor, and mid-way through the half we scored our second against the run of play.

A long, high cross from Stephen Hughes found Kevin Kyle running into the box, and the big target man did exactly what he was bought for, heading over the Norwich keeper to make it 2-0.

And within minutes the game was wrapped up, with a Stern John shot that took a cruel deflection through a crowded penalty area from 12 yards, after an impressive mazey run that saw the forward beat several defenders.

Norwich pretty much gave up, but there was still time for Marshall to make the save of the game from Paul McVeigh, stopping from point-blank range to keep our sheet clean for the third league game in a row.

Few could've anticipated a 3-0 win from this fixture, and the Ricoh is looking like a fortress once more.