COVENTRY City succumbed to their first away defeat of the season at Bloomfield Road against Ian Holloway's Blackpool.

An early first half penalty from Charlie Adam gave the hosts the lead and Ben Burgess and Gary Taylor-Fletcher added two more in the second half to hand the Sky Blues their second successive league defeat.

The Sky Blues started the first half in lively fashion, first Clinton Morrison and Leon Best putting on a display of one-touch football which very nearly opened up Blackpool's back line in the first few seconds.

Full debutant and Chelsea loanee Jack Cork went close a minute later, sticking a foot out for Aron Gunnarsson's cross-come-shot and guiding the ball just wide of Paul Rachubka's near post.

Blackpool nearly opened the scoring on six minutes when Adam crossed for Taylor-Fletcher to crash a header onto Keiren Westwood's bar.

The hosts were ahead on 12 minutes though when referee Neil Niller adjudged Sammy Clingan to have brought down Seasiders striker Burgess in the area while both were contesting a loose ball.

Adam made no mistake with the spotkick, tucking away to Westwood's left-hand bottom corner.

Burgess then put an effort straight into Westwood's hands on 20 minutes.

The Sky Blues enjoyed a bit of pressure in the way of set pieces in the last 15 minutes of the half, Clingan and Michael McIndoe both producing dangerous crosses which, at times, had Rachubka flapping at the ball to clear his lines.

City went within a whisker of an equaliser three minutes into the second half, Clingan's corner delivery whipped through the Seasiders' six-yard box and somehow managing to avoid everybody.

Blackpool doubled their lead two minutes before the hour though when Brett Ormerod received a long ball and crossed at the byline for Burgess who ghosted in at the back post and fired a header into the net off the underside of the crossbar.

City very nearly clawed one back ten minutes later, a cross from McIndoe finding Best at the far post only for the City striker to see his header at the back post grabbed out of the top corner by Paul Rachubka.

Taylor-Fletcher then added the hosts' third with 20 minutes to go, a loose ball bouncing around the Coventry penalty area and Taylor-Fletcher finding it in his path from ten yards out, leaving him to fire home past Westwood.

Attendance: 8,239 (away 1,560)

Teams

Coventry City: Westwood, Wright, Cranie, Turner, van Anholt, Gunnarsson, Clingan, Cork, McIndoe, Best, Morrison (Eastwood 60)
Subs: Konstantopoulos (GK), Osbourne, Walker, Cain, Grandison, Clark

Blackpool: Rachubka, Crainey, Southern, Eardley, Evatt, Burgess (Emmanuel-Thomas 60), Ormerod, Taylor-Fletcher (Bangura 80), Euell, Edwards, Adam (Vaughan 80)
Subs: Gilks (GK), Clarke, Baptiste, Almond