WOLVERHAMPTON WANDERERS 1-1 COVENTRY CITY
City:Murphy (GK), Adams, J. Clarke, Webster, Willis (Phillips 83), Moussa (Manset 79), Thomas, Fleck, Baker, Wilson, L. Clarke. Subs: Burge (GK), Phillips, Haynes, Garner, Rankin, Barton.
Wolves: Ikeme (GK), Doherty, Batth, Henry, Griffiths (Siguardson 74), Sako, McDonald, Ricketts (C), Price (Davis 35), Golbourne, Doyle. Subs: McCarey, Edwards, Stearman, Forde, Cassidy.
HT WWFC 0-0 CCFC FT WWFC 1-1 CCFC ATT 22,939
Goals Leigh Griffiths 66, Aaron Phillips 85
Referee Fred Graham
Booked Jordan Clarke, James Henry, Phillips
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One lapse of concentration and a cracking strike from substitute Aaron Phillips saw Coventry City come back to draw 1-1 at Wolves.
So the day of one of the biggest games in the League One season duly arrived. Long gone are the days when Molineux would see ten thousand City fans coming to town but there was still 3,400 City supporters, who had snapped up every available ticket, who made the journey up the M6 or by train.
That included City supporters, from Ireland and Australia as well as regular travellers from Kent, London, Hampshire and a whole host of towns and cities including plenty from Coventry itself.
Steven Pressley, wearing the red training kit today, named an unchanged side at a Molineux Stadium where building work has left Wolves with an impressive North Bank Stand.
In their new kit, City, unbeaten away to Wolves in consecutive away league games in the West Midlands, were under pressure from the start and it took an early good tackle from Jordan Clarke to stop the first attack involving Leigh Griffiths.
A sliced clearance gave Coventry a corner in the ninth minute and when the ball was knocked back down by the glove wearing Leon Clarke, Franck Moussa blasted over.
Another corner followed a minute later but only resulted in a free kick taken by Carl Ikeme, who has impressed me in the reserve games I have seen him play over the years.
John Fleck, whom had a superb game, as did Conor Thomas, played an intelligent ball, just missing Callum Wilson before Wolves won a 15th minute corner that was punched clear by Joe Murphy.
After the Wolves fans had demanded to know where the Ricoh had gone and the Sky Blue Song had boomed out from the City fans, Andy Webster, having one of his best games in a City shirt, got in some good tackles and a header.
One long ranger sailed over Murphy's bar in the 33rd minute, Kenny Jackett made a change taking off the injured or useless Price and in the 37th minute, City were awarded a free kick for a foul against Leon Clarke, playing against one of his former clubs.
Carl Baker struck the wall and misqueued the rebound. That chance was cleared and Wolves attacked with James Henry, who had played for Jackett at Millwall, who in turn off-loaded a player described by Lions fans as ‘lazy’ , played in Leigh Griffiths who blasted high and wide just before the folically challenged purple shirted assistant finally put up his flag and indicated what all the City support, including some making racist comments in front of some of my friends to my left, had seen.
Straight after the re-start and Joe Murphy was pushing a shot round for a corner, which was the first of four for a Wolves side whose slip down two divisions in two seasons has rightly been questioned by their support, in the first five minutes.
In the pouring rain, Wolves were winning everything in the air, so City were best playing to feet and when they did, they started to look more promising.
John Fleck went close in the 55th minute with a shot from 20 yards. Wolves responded with two corners on the hour mark and five minutes later, Leon Clarke headed a Wilson cross on to the roof of the net from five yards.
City's defence were starting to get themselves in a mess and in the 66th minute, Leigh Griffiths, was able to exploit the hesitancy and was left alone to fire Wolves in front from about ten yards.
One Wolves ran from the South Bank in front of the City fans and had passed the halfway line before being rugby tackled by a steward. This started a number of incidents as some City fans tried to get at the individual and three City fans were ejected.
With fifteen minutes left, a free kick led to a City corner. That was dealt with, so Pressley sent on Mathieu Manset for the last ten minutes and Aaron Phillips also came on for Jordan Willis who had picked up a knock.
In his first touch and with five and a half minutes left, Phillips got the ball and thumped it past Ikeme in the North Bank goal, to spark wild scenes in the two areas set aside for City supporters.
City defended well with Phillips taking one for the team with a tackle that cost him a booking and Webster blasted over, to earn a point that many of us would have taken before the game.