Coventry thump struggling Bradford

Posted Wednesday, October 24, 2018 by PA

Coventry extended their winning run to four matches after a richly deserved 4-2 victory at Bradford – a result that saw the Bantams sink to the foot of the League One table.

It was Bradford’s ninth defeat in 11 matches and their fourth in a row. To compound their misery they had striker George Miller sent off a second yellow card after handling the ball into the net in the 88th minute.

Coventry raced into a 2-0 lead after only 10 minutes. Their first goal came in the second minute when skipper Michael Doyle’s corner was headed back across goal by former Bradford loanee Jordy Hiwula and Jonson Clarke-Harris scored with looping header just inside the far post.

Clarke-Harris almost added a second in the seventh minute when keeper Richard O’Donnell made a superb save to keep out his close range header, but goal number two was not long delayed, Conor Chaplin scoring direct from a 20-yard free-kick that curved round the defensive wall and just inside the near post.

Defender Anthony O’Connor pulled a goal back for Bradford in the 62nd minute, flicking ball high into the corner of the net from Lewis O’Brien’s cross, but Coventry retaliated with two goals in five minutes to put the result beyond doubt.

Hiwula raced 30 yards down the left before cutting in to score with a low left shot into the far corner for their third goal in the 65th minute and Tom Bayliss added a fourth in the 70th minute after cutting in from the right and beating O’Donnell with a left foot shot.

O’Connor scored his second goal in the 78th with a shot from the edge of the box after Ryan McGowan’s long throw was cleared into his path, but it proved to be a mere consolation for the home side.