Match report: Swindon Town 1 Coventry City 0

Swindon’s Iraqi midfielder gave Town the perfect start to the new season when he curled in a sumptuous shot from the edge of the box after Michael Doughty’s cut-back.

 

Previously the afternoon had been a frustrating one for Swindon as they often got through the Coventry backline but had trouble in finding the back of the net.

 

Conor Thomas, who signed for Swindon from Coventry on a free transfer in the summer, could and should have scored against his former employers when he blazed over from close range as a result of Brophy’s ball.

 

Soon after, Michael Doughty was put through by youth academy graduate Jordan Young and, after turning inside one defender; Doughty then dallied and saw his shot charged down.

 

This had all come after Anton Rodgers had a shot blocked after both the returning Doughty and Obika both failed to connect a low Brophy ball into the box moments later Obika flicked a Brophy cross narrowly wide. Town bossed the second half but it was a different story in the first.

 

From the outset, however it looked as though it could have been a lot worse for the Robins, as Coventry debutant Marvin Sordell had an effort tipped onto the post as early as the fourth minute.

 

Dion Kelly-Evans came close a quarter of an hour later when he was put through down the left by an imposing Sordell but returning goalkeeper Lawrence Vigouroux, who signed a permanent deal at Town for £400,000 from Liverpool in the summer, was equal to Kelly-Evans’ attempt.

 

The Robins never really looked like scoring in the first 45, although they did have flashes of potential, first when Rodgers shot over the bar from 25 yards seconds previously to Obika drove the ball past the post on the turn.

 

Coventry soon hit back on a counter-attack after Sordell flicked the ball onto George Thomas, who seemed to have all the time in the world before scuffing the ball into the ground.

 

This result will come as a welcome relief for chairman Lee Power and manager Luke Williams who had previously came under scrutiny for a lack of transfer activity.