McNulty’s early brace helps Coventry up to sixth

Posted Saturday, April 21, 2018 by PA

Coventry moved up a place to sixth in League Two thanks to a comfortable 3-1 win against 10-man Stevenage.

Mark Robins’ men remain firmly on track to secure a play-off place thanks to two early goals from Marc McNulty and a Liam Kelly strike.

Stevenage responded through Alex Revell at 2-0 down – all four goals came in the opening 37 minutes – but Luke Wilkinson’s dismissal just before half-time gave them too big of a mountain to climb.

It took the hosts just two minutes to go ahead, with Jonson Clarke-Harris teeing up McNulty for a 30-yard shot that too hot for goalkeeper Tom King to handle.

Four minutes later it was 2-0 as McNulty tapped home his 20th league goal of the season after meeting Jordan Willis’ knock-down.

Stevenage halved the deficit in the 20th minute when Revell pounced on a defensive mix-up before lashing home.

The Sky Blues’ two-goal advantage was restored in the 37th minute when Kelly drove home from outside the box following Jordan Shipley’s lay-off.

Stevenage’s hopes of getting anything out of the game then suffered another significan blow when Wilkinson was shown a straight red card following a crude challenge on McNulty.

Kelly volleyed against the crossbar as Coventry sought to increase their lead but Revell almost made it 3-2 with 20 minutes left when he fired narrowly wide.

City substitute Josh Barrett fired over the top late on but the points had already been secured.