Sc*nthorpe 2 Coventry City 1

EIGHTEEN-year-old Jack Cork struck a superb second-half winner to haul Sc*nthorpe off the foot of the Coca-Cola Championship.

The Chelsea midfielder, on a season-long loan from Stamford Bridge, netted his second career goal to hand his adopted team only their second win of 2008.

It also piled the pressure on fellow strugglers Coventry, who fell behind in the 15th minute when Martin Paterson cracked in his 14th goal of the season from long range.

The advantage lasted just six minutes, after Marcus Williams brought down Kevin Thornton in the box.

Sc*nthorpe handed striker Ben May his second start for the club in place of the veteran Geoff Horsfield.

He almost made an instant impact, but fired his left-footed shot over the bar after less than two minutes.

Martin Paterson could have put the Iron ahead after five minutes but his header from six yards was straight at Andy Marshall.

At the other end, Izzy Iriekpen - making his first start for five months - had to be alert to cut out a Michael Mifsud cross.

Sc*nthorpe deservedly went ahead in the 15th minute, Paterson's speculative shot finding the net from more than 25 yards.

Daniel Fox tried to curl in an equaliser from similar range but the defender was off target.

Williams then gifted Coventry a penalty in the 21st minute, bringing down Kevin Thornton, who picked himself up to score.

Sc*nthorpe tried to hit back but Ian Morris' header was an easy catch for Marshall.

The midfielder nearly made amends from a corner taken by Grant McCann - back from a three-match ban - Morris' strike was cleared by Jay Tabb.

Thornton then shot too close to Joe Murphy just past the half-hour mark.

Both sides failed to force another opening until May headed McCann's cross over a minute from the break.

Scott Dann, recalled in the Coventry defence at the expense of Elliott Ward, then nodded a Daniel Fox corner wide in stoppage-time.

After a quiet opening 10 minutes of the second half, the visitors suddenly created the best chance of the game, but Julian Gray failed to find the net from six yards.

Otherwise, it was becoming a niggly contest, Coventry's Leon Best and Isaac Osbourne picking up needless bookings to add to those of Thorton and Fox in the first half.

The game needed a moment of inspiration and it duly arrived in the 66th minute when Cork's superb strike flew into the net from the right edge of the penalty area.

The midfielder nearly had his second minutes later but he was off target from 12 yards, before Paterson shot too close to Marshall from similar range.

Coventry were showing little sign of levelling, Andy Crosby's header cleared by Marcus Hall.

Paterson could have killed them off with less than five minutes remaining but he fired over, while Coventry substitute Robbie Simpson also had a shot blocked late on.

Coventry City relegation battle: Chris Coleman fires wake-up call

COVENTRY CITY boss Chris Coleman warned his players they must improve or else after Sa ay's 2-1 defeat at Sc*nthorpe dragged them deeper into Coca-Cola Championship relegation trouble.

Eighteen-year-old Jack Cork struck a superb second-half winner to haul the Iron off the foot of the table.

The Chelsea midfielder, on a season-long loan from Stamford Bridge, netted his second career goal to hand his adopted team only their second win of 2008.

But for the Sky Blues it was a seventh successive away defeat and new manager Coleman said: I know as a player what it feels like to taste relegation.

It's a horrible feeling that takes a long time to go away. I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

But we know we are in for a rough ride and the only way we are going to stay out of trouble is if everybody realises the situation we are in.

We are down here for a reason. The season is not just five or 10 games old, there are only about 10 games left.

The first half was okay at Sc*nthorpe but the second was unacceptable.

I have told the players that. If we are going to stay out of trouble, we are going to have to do better than this.

It was Sc*nthorpe's leading marksmen Martin Paterson who fired his side in front in the 15th minute with an excellent curling shot from 25 yards past goalkeeper Andy Marshall for his 14th goal of the season.

Coventry were back on level terms just six minutes later when midfield man Kevin Thornton scored from the penalty spot after he had been brought down by a challenge from full-back Marcus Williams.

The Iron, who had won only twice in their previous 22 games, showed plenty of energy and plenty of industry.

They were unlucky not to regain the lead when a shot from midfield man Ian Morris was scrambled off the line by Coventry midfield man Jay Tabb.
The visitors had appeals for a penalty turned down early in the second half when striker Leon Best looked to be impeded by Sc*nthorpe skipper Andy Crosby.

The home side sna*ched the winning goal in the 66th minute when a deep left-wing cross found England Under-19 man Cork, who squeezed his shot past goalkeeper Marshall from what seemed an impossible angle.

Manager Nigel Adkins was delighted with the result, saying: We can play much better than this but winning games is all that is important at this stage of the season.

We have always had a belief that we can get out of trouble and survive at Championship level.

We want to be a little bit like that Olympic runner who comes from behind and finishes strongly to cross the line in first place.

It was a terrific goal from Martin Paterson, who has had an excellent season for us.

There might have been an element of fortune about Jack Cork's winner but he too has been tremendous for us this season on loan from Chelsea.

He is a young player with a terrific talent.

Results are the only thing that matter, says Chris Coleman

NEW Coventry City boss Chris Coleman today stressed that results are far more important than performances at this stage of the season.

The Sky Blues lost 2-1 to fellow relegation strugglers Sc*nthorpe on Sa ay.

And Coleman is quick to point out that points are needed - no matter how they arrive - are needed as the

When we start training on Monday morning I want to see a group of men who will go into the game ready to win, he said.

Whether we win it in the first minute or the last minute, with a great goal or a lucky goal, I don't care.

We can't play the way Sc*nthorpe play.

They're built for that; they've got bigger guys and they knock it long.

We've got a smaller team so we can't do that, but we can do a lot better than we did second half because I can't accept a performance like that.

We could have built on the first-half performance but unfortunately we went the other way.

There was never a lack of effort because we've got a good bunch of guys, good professionals, but perhaps we were a bit complacent.

When we got into good positions we were frivolous - it looked to me as if they were thinking 'it's all right, we'll get another chance in a minute.'

It could have been different if we'd been a bit stronger mentally up front, and we've got to be braver defensively as well because at the moment we drop deep so quickly.

That's what happens when you're losing because you think the safest thing is to drop back early. It's all down to confidence because they've become used to losing games and it's hard to get out of that habit.

As to Jack Cork's spectacular winner, Coleman said: I don't think he meant it - I think he was just trying to smash it across the box - but when you're where we are and you've lost a lot of games, things go against you.

They'll only go for you if you make them go for you and that's what we've got to start doing.

We had a blatant penalty in the second half, as bad as the first one, but it wasn't given.

But I don't want to make excuses because we've got no time for that. We've got games left, but we need a dramatic improvement if we're going to stay in this league.

Jack Cork pops Sky Blues balloon as relegation inches closer

JACK CORK has scored only two goals in his fledgling professional career - but they might just prove crucial blows to Coventry's prospects of playing in the Championship next season.

The 18-year-old midfielder, son of former City coach Alan, netted at the Ricoh Arena as Sc*nthorpe scrambled a 1-1 draw despite finishing the first-ever league meeting between the two clubs with only nine men on the pitch.

And if that seemed a minor irritant back in November, Sa ay's winner at Glanford Park was a savage setback to a Sky Blues side now teetering just three points above the relegation cut-off.

It's no consolation at all that Cork Junior's latest strike was an outrageous fluke, a goal he could never hope to repeat if, having completed his season-long loan spell with The Iron, he returns to parent club Chelsea and becomes a Stamford Bridge legend for the next decade.

More likely, in fact, is that the hopeful cross that somehow swerved into the top corner of Andy Marshall's net will rip another hole in the Sky Blues' shredded self-confidence, convincing them that the fates are conspiring to ensure that nothing they do will be sufficient to save them from the drop.

Manager Chris Coleman is all too aware of that danger, insisting: We can't feel sorry for ourselves.

We've got to be tougher mentally because we've got into the habit of losing - and we won't get out if it with performances like that.

And after two defeats from his first three games in charge, Coleman admitted that he will have to compromise his principles if City are to claw their way to safely.

Forget about me saying we want to pass the ball, he said.

That's all well and good but we need to win the games and to do that we've got to show more organisation that we did in the second 45 minutes here because that was unacceptable.

In the first half City did try to play their way out of trouble - it might not have been exactly ol football, but they at least attempted a constructive pass-and-move alternative to the blood-and-guts norm at this level.

If at times they were overly intricate (embarrassingly so when Michael Hughes and Michael Mifsud cannoned into each other, alarmingly when Marshall, Isaac Osbourne and Marcus Hall indulged in a bout of one-touch passes on the rim of their own area) the philosophy was vindicated in the excellent build-up that led to their equaliser.

But although their flexible 4-5-1 c*m 4-3-3 formation offers fluid attacking possibilities, it founders on the lack of a genuine cutting edge.

Leon Best's abilities are not best suited to a role where he spends most of his time collecting the ball with his back to goal and two big defenders snapping at his heels.

Michael Mifsud and Julian Gray have the pace and control to exploit space down the flanks, but both were again disappointingly peripheral on Sa ay.

And, having discarded Dele Adebola and Kevin Kyle in the final hours of the January transfer window, City no longer have the fall-back option of lumping long ba11s into the box.

The immeasurable value of an on-song striker was underlined in the 15th minute when Martin Paterson fired Sc*nthorpe in front with his 14th goal of the season.

There seemed no immediate threat when a City attack broke down as Best lost possession and Paterson picked up Ian Morris's clearance inside the visitors' segment of the centre-circle - but as Hall back-pedalled in front of him, he strode forward and lined himself up for a cleanly-struck, splendidly-accurate 30-yard shot that curled round Marshall's full-length dive to slide just inside the post.

City retaliated inside six minutes with a finely-constructed right-flank move that featured Thornton's delightfully-intuitive flick to Osbourne.

By the time the full-back duly crossed, Thornton had made his way into the area where he was clumsily toppled from behind by Marcus Williams - and the young midfielder happily took the responsibility from the spot, beating Joe Murphy with cool left-foot precision before picking up a yellow card for celebrating with the fans behind the goal.

Sc*nthorpe were denied a second when Jay Tabb, again an outstandingly energetic box-to-box presence, pulled off an all-but miraculous goal-line block from Morris's fierce left-foot shot.

But the Sky Blues finished the half well - Thornton twice threatening while Scott Dann was just unable to get a clean connection to Danny Fox's corner - and they were denied a vital breakthrough 10 minutes after the interval when Best was cut down by Andy Crosby on the edge of the area but referee Bratt brushed aside their penalty claims.

It's tempting to pinpoint that as the psychological turning point because from then on Sky Blue shoulders sagged while Scun-thorpe's self-belief soared.

True, their tactics were largely limited to manoeuvring opportunities for Morris to demonstrate his trebuchet long-throw, but that paid huge dividends in the 66th minute.

The initial danger seemed to have been cleared as Best ushered Cork into the angle of the goal-line and the 18-yard box, but the England Under-19 player swivelled to fire over a cross that sliced into the near top corner of the City goal.

What can you say about that, said the rueful Marshall after the game.

It made me feel a little bit better when I found out what had happened because initially I thought it was him just swinging his leg and smashing it into the top corner.

But it was a complete fluke - if you tried it a thousand times you'd never get close to repeating it.

The point was underlined in the 73rd minute when Cork blasted high and wide as Morris's cross skidded past Fox to present him with a clear shot 12 yards out.

But although Coleman sent on Wayne Andrews and Robbie Simpson to freshen up his attack, and Marshall threw his weight into an injury-time corner assault, City never seriously threatened to salvage a point.

And unless Mifsud - who hasn't scored in his last 15 Championship starts - has another couple of specials tucked into his boots or Coleman can draft in loan reinforcements for the final push, they will be reduced to praying for a few flukes of their own if they are to cling on to their Championship status.

QPR game is Coventry City's biggest of the season

CHRIS COLEMAN has pinpointed Wednesday's showdown against Queens Park Rangers as Coventry City's biggest match of the season as he battles to stop the relegation rot at the Ricoh Arena.

Sa ay's 2-1 defeat at rock-bottom Sc*nthorpe leaves the Sky Blues just two precarious places above the drop zone.

And Coleman admits he has got a massive task on his hands to rebuild his team's fragile confidence as they prepare to face a QPR side fresh from yesterday's 3-0 rout of leaders Stoke City.

We can't afford to feel sorry for ourselves, warned the Welshman.

We've got to be tougher mentally because we're not half-way up the league, we're in a relegation battle - and you don't get out of it with performances like we put in against Burnley and Sc*nthorpe.

You could see that we are a team that's become used to losing, and when that happens it's too easy to accept that things are going against you.

But we've got to get out of that habit because it's a cancer.

QPR is now our biggest game of the season - it's as simple as that.

I knew we were in a relegation battle when I turned up here.

We talked about the long-term plan, being in the Premier League, but the first goal is staying in this division.

These remaining games are cup finals for us, and unless we go in to them harder and tougher, we will be going down.

It can happen to anybody - ask Sheffield Wednesday - they're a big club and they went down.

It can happen to us and it will happen if we continue like that.

Asked if he will be looking to bring in loan players to bolster the survival bid, he said: Absolutely - the squad needs some help, because we are where we are for a reason.

Things were changed because the team was having a bad time and we've still got the same team.

There's a new manager, maybe new ideas, but the situation's the same.

I didn't come here with a bag of magic dust that would turn things round and make it nice and easy - it doesn't work like that.

We're not five or 10 games into the season, we're coming to the last stage and we know we're in for a rough ride.

And we'll only get out of trouble if everybody realises where we are.

I've had relegation as a player and that feeling of failure doesn't just last for six weeks during the summer, it lasts for ever.

I'll never forget how it felt when I was relegated and I never want to experience that again.

I've told the players that they don't want it either - it's a horrible feeling and I wouldn't wish that on anybody.

John Hartson rules out manager job

JOHN HARTSON has turned down the chance to become manager of Irn-Bru Third Division side East Stirlingshire.

The former Coventry City and Celtic striker recently retired from playing after leaving West Brom.

East Stirlingshire had hoped to present Welshman Hartson as their new boss by the middle of this week.

Reshuffle at Ricoh to boost Coventry City's coffers

COVENTRY CITY have taken the first step towards a deal with the Ricoh Arena to share more of the cash generated by the football club on matchdays.

The two organisations have agreed to work from the same offices and share some staff functions from next month as the first stage in a plan to explore ways to share match-day revenue further.

The move was announced by ACL chief executive Daniel Gidney and club chairman Ray Ranson after staff at both organisations had been informed of the changes.

They were also told that some posts could become redundant.

Ranson said: This is a very significant step forward for both organisations and for the supporters of Coventry City.

Everyone knows that historically we have not benefited from every aspect of matchday revenue and that has been a problem for us.

We said from the outset that we would attempt to address that situation and we and ACL have now agreed to look at ways in which that can be rectified through a number of joined up operations which will be mutually beneficial.

The details of those are still being explored but I am now confident that there will be a time in the near future that every pound spent on a match day will in some way benefit Coventry City.

The move is the first step in the process of restructuring City's finances and the club says it intends to exercise the option negotiated in the takeover deal to buy half of the stadium from the Higgs Charity within the next 12 months.

Sky Blue Sa ay: Quaking at the Championship table

SEISMOLOGISTS have executed a dramatic U-turn regarding the earthquake that hit much of Britain last week.

The quake, which measured 5.2 on the Richter Scale, was originally thought to have had its epicentre in the Lincolnshire town of Market Rasen.

But after reviewing the evidence, scientists have now earmarked Coventry as the earthquakes most likely centre.

Seismologist Dr Patti ODaws said there were two probable reasons for the quake originating in Coventry.

The low rumble followed by a short period of violent shaking were the hallmarks of a classic medium-scale earthquake.

This could have been the result of Coventry Citys season coming completely off the rails.

Or it could have been caused by Geoffrey Robinson falling over himself to get out of the club now that SISU have finally secured 90 per cent of the shares.

Either way, it left any number of people in the area confused, bewildered and frightened. Much like the feeling a City fan gets every time he or she looks at the Championship table.