By AD
November 23 2010

At the end of September City were sitting pretty in mid-table and my punt at betting on the opposition had reaped a £35 profit. But by the end of October the Sky Blues had got to fourth! Surely I must have lost money, but if Cov can keep in the play-off places, surely it’s worthwhile?

Hull City (A) – Drew 0-0

ODDS: Hull win 11/10, Draw 5/2

MATCH RETURN: £1.25 up

CUMULATIVE RETURN: £35.98 up

MOOD: OK. As soon as the media picked up on the stat that Coventry were the only team in the Championship to have scored in every game so far, it was obvious they wouldn’t trouble the net in this fixture. Thankfully they managed to not let any in either during a drab affair. The draw was a fair result and meant I didn’t really lose or gain anything and a point against a team who’ve just dropped out of the Premier League with some quality players can’t be seen as a bad result.

Ipswich Town (A) - Win 2-1

ODDS: Ipswich win 8/11, Draw 5/2

MATCH RETURN: £10.00 down

CUMULATIVE RETURN: £25.98 up

MOOD: Happy. Ipswich are another team City seem to struggle at, so to come away with a deserved three points is fantastic, even if it does mean losing a tenner.

Cardiff City (H) – Lost 2-1

ODDS: Cardiff win 7/5, Draw 12/5

MATCH RETURN: £15.50 up

CUMULATIVE RETURN: £41.48 up

MOOD: Annoyed. Cardiff have some excellent players and will be one of the teams to beat this year and I wasn’t expecting a win. But a dogged performance worthy of a draw resulted in nothing. The effect the late winner must have had on morale, from getting a decent result against a good team to getting nothing could be devastating and I’d have accepted losing the £15 for the point.

Barsnley (H) – Lost 3-0

ODDS: Barnsley win 3/1, Draw 5/2

MATCH RETURN: £10.00 down

CUMULATIVE RETURN: £31.48 up

MOOD: Happy. Barnsley are a good team for the Sky Blues usually, and the perfect opportunity to get the disappointment of Cardiff out of the system. That proved the case with a dominant 3-0 win, which could have been more, and was well worth lining the bookies pockets for.

Sheffield United (A) – Won 1-0

ODDS: Sheffield win 13/10, Draw 12/5

MATCH RETURN: £10.00 down

CUMULATIVE RETURN: £21.48 up

MOOD: Happy. In what appears to be becoming a trend this season, City managed another win at a hoodoo ground. They probably didn’t deserve it, giving a typical smash-and-grab performance, but the win elevated the Sky Blues into the play-offs, a place I didn’t think we’d be close to at all, so well worth the loss.

Over a quarter of the way into the season, the Sky Blues are fourth, look a team hard to beat and yet I’m still £20 up!