Mark Robins attributed Coventry City’s difficult 3-1 victory over relegation-threatened Huddersfield Town to a chaotic build-up to the game on Good Friday.
Ellis Simms gave the Sky Blues a 2-0 lead in the first half, and they appeared to be in control of the game. However, the manager had warned of problems after the break, and those problems materialised when goalkeeper Brad Collins misplayed a ball, allowing the Terriers to get back into the game. Rhys Healey, a substitute, cut the deficit with eleven minutes remaining in regular time.
That caused a wild finish to the match, during which Collins made two vital saves to earn himself a point, and City were holding on. However, Haji Wright sealed the victory with a third Coventry goal deep into six minutes of stoppage time.
The City manager said following the 3-1 victory at John Smith’s Stadium, “At any stage of any season you have to try to find a way of winning a game, and coming after an international break and an FA Cup game against Premier League opponents and the euphoria around the game, as well as having internationals away who you can’t work with, so there were a lot of things that changed the dynamic of the build-up to the game.”
We made it difficult for ourselves, so I’m relieved it is over and done with and that we were able to get three points. They have some incredibly gifted players among them, and they are battling for their lives. They are a large, aggressive side that poses a threat on set plays. Remember that they drew with Leeds a few weeks ago? They are definitely not mugs.
“We had to risk our lives for it. Brad had to make some incredible saves. He ultimately made a few mistakes that were off-side, but generally, his performance was excellent.
Anticipating a challenging second half, Robins stated: “We spoke at halftime that we would be the ones to give them an advantage, and that’s exactly what transpired. We talked about it and it seemed to put something in their heads, almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, you could sense and see it. That was one of those situations where the wind was blowing and we were a little careless, so they interrupted it (Collins passed out from his area).
It was a little bit easy-osey; perhaps the wind caught it and slowed it down. Healey was given a fantastic opportunity, which he seized with great skill because those are hard to come by. And they turned around after that. We were under pressure to throw bodies in front of their shots because the audience was engaged and they had a lot of them.
“As a result of that action and them coming back in, we ended up going too deep, and that’s what happens. However, that allowed us some room to counterattack in the opposite direction. Haji made a few attempts to get inside, and they were successful in getting some very nice blocks in, but when he got that final one, it was an absolutely incredible finish.
But every goal we scored was truly exceptional, he continued. Ellis has a tonne of confidence and skillfully found the top corner on his first shot. Milan got our breathing room when he reversed the ball back for his second goal and came onto it, finding the far corner.
We had more opportunities to end the game. Milan had a chance, but Lee Nicholls, our excellent custodian, made a great save, and we earned our half-time advantage.
“We were just trying to see how long they would last because of what happened earlier with Kasey, Joel, and Haji being away on duty, but coming out for the second half, we just wanted to sharpen it up.” Haji performed amazingly well because he played all the way through to the conclusion of the game and managed to find half a yard to seal the victory and give us the three points. But without a question, it was a hard-fought contest.
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