20,249 people saw this match, which ended in a defeat for Coventry that leaves the bottom three looming ever closer....

An early chance for Doyle saw his scuffed effort roll apologetically wide of the Stoke goal, with another Doyle effort on 22 minutes just missing the post again (Less apologetically this time!). In-between those efforts, referee Uriah Rennie proved to be far to lenient as far as handing out cards was concerned, allowing nasty challenges on Dann and Hughes to go unpunished.

Perenial diver Shola Ameobi was replaced after 25 minutes (While Griffin was replaced by Shawcross after 40 minutes).

It was noticeable that on the odd occasion Stoke managed to get into the Coventry half of the pitch and won a corner, Coventry City left three players up on the half-way line (Reduced to two later in the match) - something I don't remember seeing in my 40 years of watching the team play!

Just before the half-hour mark a 'playground scramble' should have resulted in a Coventry goal, but they failed to convert a few excellent chances. But, they were given the chance to score when they were awarded a penalty when Dickingson up-ended Thornton. Ward once again scored from the spot, then celebrated in front of the Stoke supporters. Not big, not clever, and it resulted in a few muppets getting excited, before police and stewards moved in.

Coventry should have increased their lead when a quick free-kick left Tabb free on the corner of the Stoke penalty area, but his pass to Kevin Thornton saw Nash push the ball over the bar for a corner. Tabb also set up Hughes on the stroke of half-time, but his weak effort failed to trouble the Stoke goal.

Schmichael's kit was almost as pristine as he walked off at half-time as it had been at the kick-off, such was the lack of action in the Coventry penalty area. That was to change in the second half, as, having done so well playing the ball along the ground in the first half, for reasons best known only to whoever made the decision, Coventry 's team of short-people opted to try and take Stoke on in the air.

An early Mifsud surge saw him run into a defender rather than try to go round him, and with that effort went any hopes of three points for Coventry. Soon after, Schmichael was forced to dive low to his right to parry away one Stoke effort, which was followed by the conceding of an absolutely pointless penalty. Fuller was going nowhere when Hughes brought him down (Still not signed that contract? Withdraw it, RR), and allowed Stoke to level the scores.

The useless kick-off routine that has failed us for so long was used for the second time this game, and unsurprisingly saw possession conceded straight away. Again (It has never worked - for Cliff Richards sake, try something different!).

In a rare second-half Coventry attack, Thornton played a neat one-two with Best before shooting just wide, and minutes later had another effort, that clearly struck a defenders hand. Uriah Rennie waved away half-hearted appeals.

On the hour, a dangerous cross from the Stoke left fizzed across the Coventry goal-mouth, and it was quite clearly a case of 'when' Stoke would score again, not 'if'.

Dann was booked for a challenge far less dangerous than those that Stoke had gotten away with in the first half, and there were ironic jeers when a Stoke player finally saw yellow! Doyle was also booked as Stoke's overly physical players moaned when the opposition tried to fight fire with fire (For a big side, they also fall over and moan a lot!).

Coventry changed to a 4-4-2 system for the last twenty minutes, but the fairly flowing football of the first half had long since been replaced by 'rabbit in the headlights' football, so the system played was irrelevant!

Leon Best spooned an excellent chance over the bar from only yards out, and seconds later, it was 2-1 to the visitors. Liam Lawrence, who it had been written would probably not be fit to play, and who had come on as a substitute in the 67th minutes, scored what turned out to be the winning goal ten minutes later (With the player he replaced, Pearson, appearing to throw his dummy out of his pram on the sidelines!).

Despite only being one-goal behind, there was a fair sized surge towards the exits in the home sections on 80 minutes, perhaps showing just how little faith Coventry supporters have in their side....

Mifsud and Best were replaced by Hines and Simpson, and, while the formers pace might worry tiring defenders, it wasn't exactly a change that would strike fear and trembling into Stoke's defence! And so it proved.

We have three games left to save ourselves from the drop, and somehow, in that time, we need to remind certain players what their job actually involves. Thornton and Tabb clearly faded, as two of their midfield partners (Hughes and Doyle) failed to show up, leaving them to do the majority of the work, while Mifsud was again worse than useless - surely it's time to drop him, and unleash Hines on the opposition? He might not be known enough to concern the opposition, he surely has to be a better option than Mis-fire?

Team: Schmeichal, Osbourne, Fox, Ward, Dann, Mifsud (Hines 83), Hughes, Tabb, Doyle, Thornton, Best (Simpson 83). SNU: Marshall, Hall, Gray.

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