FOOTBALL: A SECOND half equaliser from Stevenage midfielder Tom Pett cut short the Sky Blues’ celebrations as Mark Robins’ side were forced to settle for a midweek point.
Marc McNulty earned the Sky Blues the lead midway through the first half when a goalmouth scramble was bundled into Boro’s net.
But injuries to Jodi Jones and Liam Kelly forced Robins into making changes – moments before the home side drew level.
The draw means Coventry remain sixth in the SkyBet League Two table, now six points adrift of third placed Accrington Stanley.
City’s Ryan Haynes had the Sky Blues’ first sight at goal.
The left-back has not found the net since his return from injury, but that trend almost changed after some nice link up play with Liam Kelly found him inside the area, only to find the side netting.
Max Biamou was left frustrated when his goal was disallowed after Jack King was judged to have been fouled moments earlier.
Frustration was put to the back of the Sky Blues’ mind though when Marc McNulty put City ahead after finding himself in the right place at the right time to convert a goalmouth scramble.
The second half started with the same intensity.
Biamou again found himself in with an opening in front of goal, but after another altercation with King he ended up on the deck with the referee waving play on.
Jodi Jones was instrumental in City’s victory at Lincoln, and had a golden opportunity to set up Jordan Shipley to double Coventry’s lead moments later.
The 20-year-old was sent charging up the touchline by McNulty and did not see Shipley and Biamou free in the penalty area until it was too late.
That would be Jones’ last impact though. He was stretchered off with 25 minutes to go after landing badly on his left knee, making him City’s second injury of the evening after Callum Maycock had to replace Liam Kelly early on after he pulled up.
Even without Jones, the Sky Blues were still threatening.
Biamou looked a danger all evening, forcing a strong save down to Fryer’s right-handside from just inside the area.
Stevenage had not troubled Lee Burge an awful lot on the night, but that started ot change in the final 20 minutes.
A scramble in the area, not too disimilar to the one that gave Mark Robins’ side the lead, fell to Ronnie Henry in the area but Burge reacted fastest to dive on the ball.
Boro fans would not have to wait too long to be level though.
A momentary and rare lapse at the back gave Tom Pett a look at Burge’s goal for the first time, and the 25-year-old made the most of it – rocketting the ball in off the crossbar to draw his side level and earn them a vital point.
