TWO teams with recent good form and ambitions of a play-off place - so it was inevitable that one would be going home disappointed.
Unfortunately for the Sky Blues, it was Coventry City who lost out in what could effectively be thought of as a six-pointer.
It was only a few days ago that Chris Coleman’s men gave it their all against Chelsea as dreams of FA Cup glory were erased by the megabucks Premiership side. And how that hangover took its toll.
For all their toil and effort here, City looked like a tired side. At times, even the players looked a little cranky with eachother as it was clear that some could simply not give it 100 per cent.
As it was, goals from Jamie McAllister and Lee Johnson gave Bristol City the play-off boost that had been a glimmer of hope for Coventry. Now, although not impossible, a play-off place looks a distant dream.
Remarkably, it was the Sky Blues who just about edged the first half with Leon Best and James McPake going close after Clinton Morrison had hit the post.
But it was Bristol’s McAllister who opened the scoring with a speared shot from the edge of the area past the impressive Keiren Westwood. Johnson later secured all three points with a simple tap-in from a Gavin Williams cross.
All in all, Coventry did what they could in the first half, but the efforts from Saturday’s cup encounter clearly took the wind out of their sails for the second half.
Full credit to Keiren Westwood though - without some of his tremendous stops, the scoreline could easily have been doubled.
“It was a good time for Bristol to play us after all the effort and emotion that went into the Chelsea match,” said Chris Coleman.
“I thought we started okay, but I was always worried we might run out of steam. The big disappointment was the goals we conceded.”
