Coventry City U21S suffered defeat in the Professional Development League against Queens Park Rangers at the Coventry Building Society Arena.
The Sky Blues started at a high tempo, combining sharp passing with creative play from Billy-Ray Cullinane and George Shepherd. QPR goalkeeper Calum Ward made several saves as Coventry won a succession of corners and repeatedly breached the opposition’s defensive line.
Shepherd nearly opened the scoring in the 21st minute, but his mistimed shot flew over Ward and rattled the seats behind the goal.
The game slowed as both sides focused on possession. QPR’s Isak Alemayehu was booked 15 minutes before half-time for a heavy challenge after Cullinane’s shot from inside the box went straight into the R’s keeper's hands.
QPR returned from the break with renewed attacking intent and took the lead 10 minutes into the second half after Riccardo Di Trolio clipped one of their attackers, conceding a penalty. Jack Ruddy called the direction correctly, but Ridwanullahi Hassan placed the ball just too far from his fingertips as it rolled into the bottom-right corner.
Coventry had little time to recover as only four minutes later, QPR counterattacked, and Joshua Wright pounced on a loose ball to make it 2-0 in the 58th minute.
Sky Blues manager Liam Kelly spoke about how the team “seemed to just not be able to deal with the long balls up the pitch one-on-one”, which showed with the R’s second goal.
The tone of the game shifted after the second, as Alemayehu was booked again, earning him a red card following a crunching challenge, leaving QPR to hold their lead with only ten men. Coventry immediately turnt up the intensity and were pushing for chances in the final third, earning them multiple free-kick attempts and corners.
However, QPR’s defence held on for the remainder of the game, with their keeper Calum Ward proving to be impossible to get past. The match ended 2-0 to QPR, ending Coventry’s eight-game unbeaten run. The boys will be looking to bounce back in the next game. Kelly summarised, “This game wasn’t a reflection of ourselves today”. Despite the loss, Kelly’s side is still 4th in the PDL standings, only 4 points behind Swansea in 3rd.