Coventry fans were left cursing there luck after a dubious red card, a missed penalty and a late header from Kevin Lisbie lead to them being knocked out of the carling cup at the first round for the fourth time in five years.
Coventry had the better of the early play in the first half with numerous chances meaning they could’ve been three up in the first fifteen minutes. The first chance came from good work by Callum Wilson nearly lead to a Scott Cuthbert own goal but Orient keeper Jamie Jones pulled off a great save to keep the scores level. Then some great build up play by Clarke and Wilson lead to a chance for Franck Moussa but he was denied by the excellent Jones. Despite all of Coventry’s early pressure it took them till the 22nd minute to open the scoring. A great solo effort from Carl Baker as he went passed Gary Sawyer with ease and then curled the ball into the bottom left hand corner. But Coventry’s joy was short lived as a mere four minutes later, Orient had equalised through Kevin Lisbie. It was a simple finish for Lisbie following a superb save by Murphy to deny Lloyd James. The comeback was complete in the 37th minute as free kick was headed away to the edge of the box straight to dean cox who smashed the ball home to give Orient a 2-1 lead going into half time.
At the start of the second half, what seemed like a killer blow was dealt to the sky blues as there captain Carl Baker was sent off for a high tackle on Romain Vincelot as things started to have a familiar feel to them for Coventry fans. But four minutes following Baker’s sending off and Coventry found themselves level after Moussa found space and rifled a shot into the top corner. The game was very even following this with Lisbie and Christie going close for Orient and Coventry respectively. However in the 77th minute, Coventry fans must’ve thought that there luck was changing as Leon Clarke was brought down in the area by Cuthbert and Coventry were awarded a penalty. Steven Pressley seemed bemused at the fact that Cuthbert was only shown a yellow card as he was clearly preventing a goal scoring opportunity. Clarke picked himself up to take the spot kick but it was that man jones again who thwarted Clarke with a great save down to his right. Orient had the momentum following the miss and in the 89th minute, a brilliant cross from Moses Odubajo found an unmarked Lisbie who diverted the ball into the Coventry net leaving Sky blues fans with the same feeling that they will have had from Saturday. The match finished 3-2 and despite a spirited performance, it was another loss for Coventry who can’t seem to catch a break at the moment.
With Coventry now conceding 6 goals in their first two games, it shows that City’s problems lie with their inexperienced centre half pairing of Jordan Clarke and Jordan Willis. However the rumoured imminent arrival of the former Hearts defender Andy Webster should add some much needed experience to Coventry’s youthful defence.
Player Ratings
Coventry:
Murphy – 6
Christie – 7
J. Clarke – 5
Willis – 5
Adams – 7
Baker – 6
Thomas – 5
Fleck – 5
Moussa – 6
Wilson – 6
L. Clarke – 6
Leyton Orient:
Jones – 8 (MOTM)
Omuzusi – 6
Cuthbert – 6
Baudry – 6
Sawyer – 4
Cox – 7
Vincelot – 8
James – 6
Odubajo – 6
Mooney – 5
Lisbie – 7
