Tweet
Coventry striker Dele Adebola squandered the two best chances as the Sky Blues fought out a dire goalless draw with in-form Stoke at the Ricoh Arena. After 18 minutes Adebola headed wide Leon McKenzie's cross when he was well placed and unmarked and in injury-time at the end of the first half, he could only head onto the bar from Darren Currie's ball in.
The visitors, who had won their previous five matches, were limited in attack, but after the break a sixth consecutive clean sheet never looked in doubt. The final quarter at last saw some urgency, with Stoke's Ricardo Fuller going close on a number of occasions, but a poor game finished goalless, with the hosts making it four matches unbeaten. For two sides in such good form it was flat opening from the off, although Stoke's Mamady Sidibe had a drive held by Andy Marshall and Fuller also forced an early save from the Sky Blues goalkeeper.
Coventry were struggling to make inroads and a poor McKenzie header from Currie's corner was all they had to show for the opening 17 minutes. But a minute later Richard Duffy played McKenzie through, with more than a hint of offside, and his cross from the right found his strike partner, but Adebola, with goals in his previous two matches, nodded wide from 10 yards out.
Stoke's Lee Hendrie hooked a free-kick over from 20 yards and Fuller showed his class with 27 minutes gone, surging past Marcus Hall and Michael Doyle, only to be thwarted by a fine low stop from Marshall.
With Currie a constant threat, the Sky Blues finished the half strongly and Adebola hit the woodwork from a cross from the industrious winger. The hosts maintained their ascendancy after the interval and Clive Clarke sliced wide from the edge of the area against his old club. Salif Diao was having an impressive afternoon defensively and the on-loan Liverpool midfielder did well to turn away Colin Cameron's cross under his own bar.
The Potters finally produced some decent football and combination play between Fuller and Hendrie created space for Berger, whose strike was deflected wide. Midway through the second period Sidibe made a mess of a great opportunity after Andy Griffin and Hendrie linked, the big striker running too wide and causing Marshall few problems with a scuffed effort. With 20 minutes left, the game seemed finally to have come to life and from a disputed corner McKenzie was just blocked as the Potters cleared desperately.
A couple of minutes later Hendrie drove through the Coventry midfield and Fuller's close-range shot was blocked wide. Fuller then saw a curling effort palmed away by Marshall and the same player volleyed over from the subsequent corner. Coventry substitute Stern John blasted well off target with a minute left and the game finished in stalemate.
<TABLE class=tablehead cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 border=0><TBODY><TR class=colhead style="FONT-SIZE: 9px"><TD align=left width="50%">Coventry</TD><TD align=right width="50%">Stoke</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=left>33Andy Marshall</TD><TD align=right>Steve Simonsen1</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=left>9Dele Adebola</TD><TD align=right>Michael Duberry5</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=left>26Clive Clarke</TD><TD align=right>Andy Griffin20</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=left>24<A href="h
The visitors, who had won their previous five matches, were limited in attack, but after the break a sixth consecutive clean sheet never looked in doubt. The final quarter at last saw some urgency, with Stoke's Ricardo Fuller going close on a number of occasions, but a poor game finished goalless, with the hosts making it four matches unbeaten. For two sides in such good form it was flat opening from the off, although Stoke's Mamady Sidibe had a drive held by Andy Marshall and Fuller also forced an early save from the Sky Blues goalkeeper.
Coventry were struggling to make inroads and a poor McKenzie header from Currie's corner was all they had to show for the opening 17 minutes. But a minute later Richard Duffy played McKenzie through, with more than a hint of offside, and his cross from the right found his strike partner, but Adebola, with goals in his previous two matches, nodded wide from 10 yards out.
Stoke's Lee Hendrie hooked a free-kick over from 20 yards and Fuller showed his class with 27 minutes gone, surging past Marcus Hall and Michael Doyle, only to be thwarted by a fine low stop from Marshall.
With Currie a constant threat, the Sky Blues finished the half strongly and Adebola hit the woodwork from a cross from the industrious winger. The hosts maintained their ascendancy after the interval and Clive Clarke sliced wide from the edge of the area against his old club. Salif Diao was having an impressive afternoon defensively and the on-loan Liverpool midfielder did well to turn away Colin Cameron's cross under his own bar.
The Potters finally produced some decent football and combination play between Fuller and Hendrie created space for Berger, whose strike was deflected wide. Midway through the second period Sidibe made a mess of a great opportunity after Andy Griffin and Hendrie linked, the big striker running too wide and causing Marshall few problems with a scuffed effort. With 20 minutes left, the game seemed finally to have come to life and from a disputed corner McKenzie was just blocked as the Potters cleared desperately.
A couple of minutes later Hendrie drove through the Coventry midfield and Fuller's close-range shot was blocked wide. Fuller then saw a curling effort palmed away by Marshall and the same player volleyed over from the subsequent corner. Coventry substitute Stern John blasted well off target with a minute left and the game finished in stalemate.
<TABLE class=tablehead cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 border=0><TBODY><TR class=colhead style="FONT-SIZE: 9px"><TD align=left width="50%">Coventry</TD><TD align=right width="50%">Stoke</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=left>33Andy Marshall</TD><TD align=right>Steve Simonsen1</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=left>9Dele Adebola</TD><TD align=right>Michael Duberry5</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=left>26Clive Clarke</TD><TD align=right>Andy Griffin20</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=left>24<A href="h
</SPAN>
Comment