Coventry City made it three wins on the bounce following a dominant 2-0 victory away at Wycombe as goals from Conor Chaplin and Jonson Clarke-Harris ensured the Sky Blues made it a winning start to the New Year.
It took the Sky Blues 34 minutes to open the scoring, clever play led to Coventry receiving a penalty before Chaplin coolly converted.
Clarke-Harris made an immediate impact after coming off the bench in the second half, he latched on to a through ball and fired his effort past a helpless Ryan Allsop.
The Sky Blues’ first chance fell to Jordan Shipley after a short corner eventually made its way to him, however his effort failed to trouble Allsop.
Jordy Hiwula had a great chance to open the scoring 16 minutes in, a slick through ball saw him through on goal until the linesman pulled it back for offside as Coventry were looking dangerous.
Coventry continued to press and an excellent run by Luke Thomas and clever link up play with Conor Chaplin saw the Sky Blues win a free kick on the edge of the area. Chaplin took the resulting free kick, but his drilled effort was cleared to safety.
Another chance fell to the Sky Blues, Thomas cut in from the right and made space inside Wycombe’s area, but his powerful shot fell inches wide of Allsop’s near post.
Coventry’s pressure finally paid off 34 minutes in, Dujon Sterling made a darting run into the area before being carelessly tripped by Nathan Tyson which saw a penalty awarded. Chaplin stepped up and smashed the penalty into the bottom left corner to make it 1-0 to Mark Robins’ men.
Half Time: Wycombe 0-1 Sky Blues
Chaplin almost doubled the lead for the visitors just minutes into the second half, a skilful run by Hiwula saw him break deep into the area, before pulling the ball back for Chaplin who’s shot is deflected off Sido Jombati for a corner.
As the hosts worked to breakdown a resilient Sky Blues defence, Anthony Stewart had a long-ranged effort, but Burge calmly watches it sail over the net.
Mark Robins brought Jonson Clarke-Harris on in the 60th minute for Hiwula to seek another goal, and just one minute later Tom Bayliss played a slick through ball for Clarke-Harris and with his first touch slots home into the far corner to make it 2-0.
As the hosts slightly settled more into the game, Coventry almost capitalised when breaking upfield, Thomas eventually created space in the area and forced a driven effort straight at Allsop as Coventry maintained their two-goal lead.
Liam Kelly was forced to come off with just over ten minutes remaining, after a challenge saw him stay down holding his arm. Sam McCallum came off the bench to replace him making his third appearance of the season.
Despite some pressure from the hosts, the Sky Blues managed to stay strong at the back and saw our the 2-0 score line comfortably to secure all three points.
Full-time: 0-2
Goals: Chaplin ’36, Clarke-Harris ’62.
Sky Blues XI: Lee Burge (GK), Dujon Sterling, Jordan Willis, Dom Hyam, Brandon Mason, Liam Kelly (C) (McCallum ’79), Tom Bayliss, Jordan Shipley, Luke Thomas, Jordy Hiwula (Clarke-Harris ’60), Conor Chaplin (Doyle ’75).
Unused subs: Corey Addai (GK), Jack Grimmer, Tom Davies, Zain Westbrook.
Wycombe Wanderers XI: Ryan Allsop (GK), Sido Jombati, Dominic Grape (C), Anthony Stewart, Michael Harriman, Curtis Thompson, Fred Onyedinma, Nick Freeman (Kashket ’69), Nathan Tyson, Alex Samuel (Akinfenwa ’65), Jason McCarthy.
Unused subs: Cameron Yates (GK), Adam El-Abd, Craig Mackail-Smith, Paris Cowan-Hall, Randell Williams.
Yellows: Thompson ’27, Jombati ’90.