A young Town reserves side fell to a 1-0 defeat against Coventry City at Nuneaton Borough, courtesy of an early goal from Kevin Thornton.

Academy director Bryan Klug took charge of the team - reserves boss Steve McCall being away with the first team - and included Monaco midfielder Jimmy Juan who has joined on loan for the rest of the season.

The game was watched by Cyrille Regis, Bristol Rovers boss Ian Atkins, Rotherham boss Ronnie Moore, new Coventry reserve boss Alan Cork and about ten Ipswich supporters.

City took the lead in the eighth minute when a through ball from Barry found the over-lapping Liam Nicell. The Irishman got to the by-line and crossed for Kevin Thornton to hit a right-footed shot past visitors' keeper Shane Supple from fifteen yards.

With the rain getting worse, Ipswich had their first effort on goal in the 17th minute with a tame header from Billy Clarke being easily caught by Scott Shearer.

Craig Reid was playing against his former club, and in the 18th minute he did well to turn on the greasy surface and fire a 10-yard shot which Supple got down to save.

Four minutes later, Thornton won a corner after cutting into towards the goal only for Town's lanky defender Aidan Collins to blast the ball out of the ground.

In the 24th minute, Collins clattered into Ben Mackey. There was a loud crack which echoed around the empty stadium and a yelp from the young City striker who was immediately rushed to the dressing room clutching his left arm as Collins was shown a yellow card by referee Steve Bratt. Academy striker Gary O'Toole came on for Mackey who was taken to hospital at the start of the second half.

City were passing the ball around nicely in midfield but after Ryan Lynch fired wide on the half hour mark, neither side managed a worthwhile shot before the interval with City centre-halves Andy Whing and Isaac Osbourne remaining in full control.

The rain ceased and the cold set in as the second half got underway and two minutes in a good move down the right involving Andy Hall saw Craig Reid fire just over from 12 yards.

Bryan Klug made his first change of the evening in the 57th minute when Jerrome Sobers, who had taken a number of whacks on his legs when throwing himself in the way of efforts from Hall, Reid and O'Toole, was replaced by Daniel Flack.

City were well on top and nearly increased their lead when Supple pulled off a fine save diving to his left to concede a corner from an O'Toole six yard header after a Craig Pead free kick.

Ipswich forced three consecutive corners before Klug made his second change in the 62nd minute with Scott Barron coming on for Dean McDonald.

Left-back Ryan Lynch, making his reserve team debut for Coventry, was having a fine game, keeping the Town striker Billy Clarke very quiet. In the 65th minute, Lynch shrugged off Clarke's challenge on the halfway line and hit a 30-yard pass for O'Toole to run onto and fire over whilst under pressure from two defenders.

Much had been made of Jimmy Juan in the pre-game build-up. The Monaco midfielder, whose legs are match like in appearance and with a dubious first touch, brought down Andy Hall in the 69th minute and was lucky only to receive a ticking off from the referee.

The next time a City player was brought to the ground, it resulted in a 72nd minute penalty when Craig Reid got through the Town defence before Collins yanked him to the floor.

Kevin Thornton, who scored a penalty for the Coventry reserves in their 2-2 draw with Peterborough United last week, wrestled the ball away from Reid who was desperate to score against his former team-mates. Thornton's kick was well taken but Supple threw himself to his right to save the spot-kick.

With fifteen minutes left, Juan, who had not looked anything out of the ordinary but had taken a knock limped off and was replaced by Adem Atay. Thornton was the next player to pick up a knock and Coventry's young Irishman rushed for the ice pack on his back after Liam Davis had come on for him.

In the dying seconds, Atay headed over from a corner but it was not enough and City held on to win their first game since beating Fulham 2-0 on November 2nd.

Town: Supple, Mitchell, Krause, Patten, Collins Sobers (Flack 57),Manning, Juan (Atay 75), Clarke, McDonald (Barron 52), Garvan. Not used: Casement, Lordan.

Photo: Action Images

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