COVENTRY City Under 18s were frustrated by their Bristol City counterparts as the visitors snatched a late winner at the Alan Higgs Centre on Saturday afternoon.

Gregor Ricoh's men came from behind thanks to Luke Bottomer's 75th minute strike, but Joe Edwards grabbed three points for the Robin's four minutes from time.

Both teams struggled to find fluency in blustery conditions early on, but Bristol City came closest to opening the scoring on 19 minutes, when City captain Nathan Cameron was forced to knee the ball off the goal-line.

The Sky Blues responded positively to the wake-up call, Rob Ogleby's fierce strike was deflected wide on 24 minutes, and Conor Thomas' drilled shot was pushed away by Bristol 'keeper Tom Bradley.

And City finished the first half strongest, when Jacob Blackwell headed against the post after quick counter-attacking from Ogleby, and then the lively striker was left unmarked  ten yards out, but failed to hit the target from Bottomer's chipped cross.

But with the strong wind against City in the second half, the Sky Blues were forced to defend deeper, and conceded the opening goal on 48 minutes. As the Robins exploited the space behind City's backline, Patrick Sayce cut-in from the left and lifted the ball over 'keeper Michael Quirke.

The City stopper was then forced into making two excellent reaction saves from close-range shots, and in search for an equaliser, Coventry were denied a penalty when Ogleby appeared to be tripped, off the ball, after a corner.

The home side continued to search for the illusive goal, but couldn't find a finish for all their good build-up play until a slick passing move 15 minutes from time registered a deserved leveller for the Sky Blues.

Suli Leluu fed Ogleby on the right, and his low shot was spilled by Bradley. As Thomas contended for the rebound, the loose ball fell to Bottomer to stroke home from 12 yards.

Cyrus Christie's bombing run from right-back nearly forced a winner, while Quirke was again called into action and Thomas made an invaluable tackle as both team's searched for the decider.

And to the disappointment of City players, it came on 84 minutes, when Edwards took a short pass, turned sharply on the edge of the box and thundered the winning strike past Quirke.

The Sky Blues second consecutive defeat sees them drop to fourth in Premier Academy League Group B, ahead of next week's away tie with second placed Birmingham City.

Team

Coventry City: Quirke, Christie, Cameron (c), Adams, Greenway, Bottomer, Thomas, Grogan, Blackwell, Leluu, Ogleby