Town beaten 2-0 on the road by Coventry City
- Coventry City 2-0 Huddersfield Town
- Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Kasey Palmer
- Debut for January loan signing Joe Hungbo
Two second half goals from the hosts condemned the Terriers to defeat at the Coventry Building Society Area on Saturday afternoon.
After a goalless first 45 minutes, Town were made to pay for two lapses in concentration during the second period, falling victim to goals from Gustavo Hamer and former loanee Kasey Palmer that both came from the second phase of defending set pieces.
At the other end, Town couldn’t beat goalkeeper Ben Wilson with the few chances we had, with Jordan Rhodes and debutant Joseph Hungbo coming closest.
Head Coach Mark Fotheringham named an unchanged side from the one that was so cruelly denied victory at Hull a fortnight ago, although there were some different names among the substitutes in new recruit Joseph Hungbo and the returning Ollie Turton and Ryan Schofield.
The first halfwas a very even affair, with Town showing their now customary robustness in defence. Coventry’s obvious threat was top scorer Viktor Gyökeres, whose direct running and strength made for a great battle with the likes of Helik and Pearson, whilst Jack Rudoni was causing full back Jonathan Panzo problems at the other end. The on-loan Nottingham Forest defender was booked inside four minutes for a late sliding challenge on Rudoni, putting him on thin ice for the rest of the game.
Clear-cut chances were few and far between for both sides in the opening 45.
Town had some promising attacks, but their two most presentable chances came to nothing. Duane Holmes sent a presentable early free kick sailing way over the Coventry crossbar and a Jordan Rhodes header from Holmes’ cross was easily claimed by goalkeeper Ben Wilson.
At the other end Nicholas Bilokapic – making his second Sky Bet Championship start – was forced into action twice, both on the counter-attack. First the Australian Under-23 international needed to tip over Gyökeres’ left-footed effort after Helik had forced him wide onto his left foot, and then he needed to push Gustavo Hamer’s curling effort wide with two strong hands after more good work from Coventry’s Swedish striker.
Other than that, Mark Robins’ side struggled to play through the midfield screen of Jonathan Hogg and Scott High. When they did, the central defensive trio of Pearson, Helik, and Lees were on hand to clean up.
The Sky Blues did have a few moments of pressure through set pieces delivered into the area, but Town generally defended them well. On the two occasions that Coventry men met the ball first, Jake Bidwell and Luke McNally both headed off target under heavy pressure from defenders.
Unfortunately, the first goal came through the opening chance of the second half. Town cleared an initial free kick delivered into the penalty area, but goalkeeper Wilson’s long clearance towards Hamer saw the combative midfielder win his duel with Matthew Lowton. After securing the ball, he was too easily allowed to progress infield from the flank to the edge of the box, where he beat the diving Bilokapic with a curling effort into the far corner.
Town did try to muster an immediate reply, with Pearson sending a goalwards header too close to the custodian after Helik kept a set piece alive.
After that, loanee Joseph Hungbo – on just after the hour for a lively debut – led the forward movements. He found Ruffels on the left and his cross was met by Rhodes’ head, but again it was too close to the goalkeeper.
Instead, Coventry made sure of the three points with a second 20 minutes from time. An initial corner was dealt with, but again Coventry kept the attack going and Gyökeres went outside High before drilling a cross towards the six yard box that Palmer headed past Bilokapic.
The hosts shut the game down after that. Hungbo had another decent effort saved, racing onto High’s forward pass before firing a left footed volley on target, but Bilokapic had to be equally alert at the other end to save substitute Matt Godden’s late effort with his foot.
Town’s team (5-4-1)
Nicholas Bilokapic; Matthew Lowton, Tom Lees, Michał Helik, Matty Pearson, Josh Ruffels; Jack Rudoni, Jonathan Hogg (c), Scott High (David Kasumu, 79’), Duane Holmes (Joseph Hungbo, 63’); Jordan Rhodes (Florian Kamberi, 75’)
Unused substitutes
Ryan Schofield; Ollie Turton, Will Boyle, Brahima Diarra
Town bookings
Michał Helik (52’), Matthew Lowton (89’)
