ON THE day when the Sky Blues welcomed back over 40 former players for Legends Day, Tony Mowbray’s side produced their best performance of the season to beat Bury 6-0 and get their promotion charge back on track.
Goals from Chris Stokes, Baily Cargill, James Maddison and John Fleck gave the home side a comfortable 4-0 victory at half-time.
And after the legends, which included 1987 FA Cup winner Brian Kilcline, were paraded around the pitch at the break, Adam Armstrong scored a second half brace to make it a weekend to remember for Sky Blues fans, who were also celebrating the life of club legend Jimmy Hill.
“I was pleased the team could find the performance that merited the things that have happened over the last few days,” said Mowbray
“I hope the people of the city and the supporters of the football club are pleased with the performance and result.
“It was a poignant day and some of the legends of the football club who were watching us today can hopefully see it’s not such a bad team.”
It took just four minutes before Mowbray’s side took the lead when Chris Stokes volley a Joe Cole corner past Ian Lawlor in the Bury goal.
Baily Cargill made it a home debut to remember by stabbing home Cole’s in-swinging free kick from the left on 12 minutes and four minutes later Maddison made it 3-0 with perhaps the pick of the bunch.
The academy graduate did brilliantly to wrong-foot Kelvin Etuhu outside the area before beating Lawlor with a low 20-yard shot.
A dominant first half display ended with Fleck scoring his third goal of the season from long range and after the break the Sky Blues refused to take their foot off the gas.
Top scorer Armstrong got in on the act after collecting a Cole pass before beating Lawlor with a low finish on 68 minutes.
And the Newcastle loanee took his goal tally in League One to 19 for the season by beating the Bury goalkeeper again two minutes later after ending a quick breakaway from the back.
“I think it was a good result and the right result,” Mowbray added.
“In the meeting before the game I could sense a real urgency about the team, and a sense of responsibility. We had to get back on our horse and start riding fast again, which is what we did.
“Confidence is a massive thing in football, a few defeats can mean sometimes the strong messages we put across in training sometimes don’t stick, quite as much.
“When we saw their line-up I thought they had come to sit deep, with one striker and five midfield players.
“They are a very physical side from what we’ve seen of them and we thought it would be a difficult day, but I could see the adrenaline in the players before the game.”
