Sky Blues take another step towards survival with a vital point away at the Latics
Coventry City picked up a vital point to take another step towards League One survival with a goalless draw away to Oldham Athletic at Boundary Park.City boss Steven Pressley opted to make two changes to his starting line up from the team that lost 2-1 to Swindon Town on Good Friday, bringing in Nathan Eccleston and Anton Robinson to replace Nathan Delfouneso and Conor Thomas for the clash with the Latics.
For all of the pace and frenzy of the opening stages it took 16 minutes for the first effort of the day to materialise and it came to former Sky Blue Jonson Clarke-Harris.
A deep cross picked out the striker to loop a header which looked as though it would drop just inside the far post until Joe Murphy tipped it over his bar at full stretch.
Clarke-Harris then went just as close four minutes later with a free kick after drawing a foul from Carl Baker just over 20 yards out. His stinging effort curled around the bottom of City's wall but smacked the face of the far post with Murphy sprawling down low in an attempt to get a hand to it.
Callum Wilson went close in the only other real chance of the first 45 minutes when he picked up a clever short ball from Baker and fired from a tight angle after 34 minutes only to see his effort deflected into the side netting.
The Sky Blues then fashioned the first effort of the second half on target when, two minutes before the hour, Eccleston cut inside his man in the area and fired low inside the near post only for Paul Rachubka to get down quickly to make the save.
Oldham's very next attack saw them go almost as close though when half time substitute James Dayton was picked out with a cross although his downward header into the ground saw the ball bounce up and over Murphy's crossbar.
Fellow sub Charlie MacDonald very nearly poked home the opener on 67 minutes though, just moments after coming on for Danny Philliskirk, when he got a touch to a stabbed ball into the box and twice tried to steer the ball into a near empty net only to be thwarted by some desperate Sky Blues defending.
The flurry of substitutions from both sides infact saw the game open up and City had another chance after 71 minutes when sub Mark Marshall floated a corner delivery onto the head of Jordan Clarke who nodded just over the bar.
John Fleck provided was was nearly a stunning highlight eight minutes from time. The midfielder picked up the ball on the halfway line and cut right through the middle of the Latics midfield and defense with a devastating run only to be denied a finish by a leg save from Rachubka.
It was the last real chance of the game though as both sides saw out two minutes of added time without a hint of a winner to keep the Sky Blues four points above the bottom four with two games to go.
Attendance: 4,633 (578 Sky Blue Army)
Teams
Coventry City: Murphy, Christie, Webster, Clarke, Willis, Fleck, Baker (c) (Marshall 64), Prutton, Robinson (Thomas 71), Eccleston (Seaborne 90), Wilson
Subs: Burge (GK), Adams, Delfouneso, McGeouch
Oldham Athletic: Rachubka, Brown, Grounds, Wesolowski, Smith (c), Clarke-Harris, Wilson, Lockwood, Philliskirk (MacDonald 64), Worrall, Harkins (Dayton 45)
Subs: Coleman (GK), Millar, Mellor, Gafaiti, Byrom