Goals from Jack Clarke and Wes Burns saw Town end 2025 with a 2-0 victory over Championship leaders Coventry City at the CBS Stadium, the Blues’ first double of the season. Town dominated the first half but without finding the net before the Sky Blues improved in the early stages of the second, however, Town restored their superiority and Clarke opened the scoring in the 72nd minute and Burns came off the bench to score his first goal in 19 months on 83 to secure the three points and what could prove to be a very significant victory.

Town made four changes from the team which drew 0-0 at Millwall on Boxing Day, one enforced with Leif Davis missing out due to illness. Jacob Greaves came in for his first start since the 2-0 win against his old club Hull City just over a month ago and his first at left-back since the home match with Brentford in May.

Jack Taylor returned at the centre of midfield, Sindre Walle Egeli wide on the right and Clarke on the left with Jens Cajuste, Kasey McAteer and Jaden Philogene dropping to the bench. Cameron Humphreys returned to the squad.

Boss Kieran McKenna was taking charge of his 197th Town game, four years to the day since his first, a 1-0 home win against Wycombe Wanderers in League One, moving him above Bill McGarry in terms of most matches with the club and up to eighth behind Sir Bobby Robson, Scott Duncan, George Burley, Sir Alf Ramsey, Mick McCarthy, Bobby Ferguson and John Lyall.

Former Blues central defender Luke Woolfenden started for leaders Coventry, who made two changes from the side which beat Swansea 1-0 at home on Boxing Day.

Miguel Brau replaced Jake Bidwell at left-back and Haji Wright took over from one-time Town target Ellis Simms up front. Centre-half Bobby Thomas again missed out with a calf strain.

The Blues began brightly, seeing most of the ball in the opening minutes. On 10, Town created the game’s first chance, Greaves crossing from the left to the far post and Ivan Azon nodding into home keeper Carl Rushworth’s arms.

Two minutes later, Cedric Kipre was given space just outside the area to shoot but his effort struck Woolfenden. However, the Ivorian stayed up and he and Greaves exchanged passes on the left to win a corner.

Town continued to dominate the division’s top side, Woolfenden blocking a Clarke shot from inside the box.

Coventry were struggling to make any headway going forward with the Blues quickly winning back possession every time the Sky Blues threatened to push into their half. On 18, Liam Kitching was booked for clattering into the back of Clarke’s heels on halfway.

The home side threatened for the first time in the 22nd minute, Ephron Mason-Clark nodding tamely to Christian Walton following a bout of head tennis after a long throw from the left.

Town should have gone ahead a minute later. Walle Egeli’s low cross from the right reached Clarke, who shot very narrowly wide of Rushworth’s left post from around 10 yards.

Soon after, Clarke fed in Greaves on the left inside the Blues’ half, the stand-in full-back playing a pass forward for Azon to chase. The Spaniard beat Woolfenden for pace before cutting in and curling an effort into Rushworth’s arms as he tried to replicate his goal in the game against the Sky Blues at Portman Road.

After a stop-start spell for a couple of injuries, and with Coventry seeing more of the ball, Town counter-attacked in the 35th minute, Matusiwa shooting well over from just outside the area.

Four minutes later, the Blues put together another excellent patient move with the ball moving from left to right before Furlong, who had been involved in an ongoing battle with Mason-Clark throughout, clipped a cross to the far post where Greaves stooped to head goalwards but too close to Rushworth.

As the half moved into its final five minutes, the Blues went even closer to going in front. Greaves played in Clarke on the left, the former Sunderland man cut back to Taylor breaking into the area. The Irish international struck a shot which was bound for the roof of the net until Rushworth somehow tipped it onto the bar.

Greaves dived in to head the loose ball over the line but a combination of the keeper and a defender bundled it behind, Rushworth requiring treatment for a knock suffered in the clash before carrying on.

Furlong flicked a header over at the near post from the corner, then in the 44th minute Taylor mishit wide from the edge of the area.

After three minutes of additional time, referee Anthony Backhouse ended a half in which the Blues had been very much on top, the only frustration that they weren’t going in a goal to the good.

Town had been in control from the off, creating a number of opportunities, the best Clarke’s shot wide and Taylor’s which Rushworth did very well to push onto the bar.

The Sky Blues, the division’s top scorers by some distance, had only managed one effort on or off target in the entire half, Mason-Clark’s header, which was comfortable for Walton.

Coventry carved out the first opportunity of the second half, Mason-Clark stumbling his way into the left of the area before hitting a low cross which skipper Dara O’Shea diverted out to the edge of the box where Victor Torp hit a shot which Greaves blocked.

On 54, with the Sky Blues having settled into the second period better than Town, Wright hit a low shot from not far outside the box which took a deflection and was pushed away down to his left by Walton.

A minute later, following a free-kick on the left, Kitching headed down and to the Town keeper from a Matt Grimes cross.

The home side continued to have the better of the second half and on the hour, Jack Rudoni broke down the right and sent over a cross which Mason-Clark headed wide, off O’Shea, according to the referee, who gave a corner.

The flag-kick was sent in from the right and was bundled uncomfortably behind at the back post.

Moments later, the Coventry fans claimed a penalty when Wright got in front of Furlong as the defender headed back towards his own area and the two, who had continued their private battle all match, collided.

Within a minute, with the Sky Blues in possession and looking to push forward, Mason-Clark knocked Furlong over, referee Backhouse belatedly awarding a free-kick to Town, much to the annoyance of the home support and leading to a discussion between the official and O’Shea, while Furlong spoke to the fourth official on the sidelines.

Taylor was booked for a foul, then Azon chased a ball down the middle and claimed he had been pulled over but without interesting referee Backhouse.

Town began come back into it again, Clarke breaking away towards the left of the box but stumbling as he did so and failing to find Walle Egeli with his low cross.

In the 68th minute, the Sky Blues gifted possession to Town as they played out from the back and Azon struck a shot from an angle on the left which Rushworth did well to palm past his left post.

The Blues maintained their increasing pressure, Clarke sent over a dangerous ball from the left which flashed across the box.

And in the 72nd minute, Town went ahead. Kipre cut out a Coventry attack and played the ball to Nunez, who swept the ball wide to Clarke in acres of space on the left. The winger cut inside and hit a shot which looped off Woolfenden, over Rushworth, under the bar and into the net sending the 2,000-plus Blues supporters at the end wild.

The sides made their first changes in the 78th minute Azon, who had been undergoing treatment for a knock, and Walle Egeli making way for Chuba Akpom and Burns for Town and Rudoni and Torp departing for Josh Eccles and Jamie Allen for the Midlanders.

Five minutes after coming on to make his second sub appearance since his lengthy absence due to a ruptured ACL, Burns sealed the Blues’ victory.

Taylor won the ball just outside the Town box and fed Clarke, who brought the ball forward from halfway on the left, tricked his way past Grimes on the edge of the area before playing a pass with the outside of his boot inside to Nunez. The Chilean laid it off to Burns, who hit a low shot which clipped Kitching and nestled just inside Rushworth’s right post.

The second goal, Burns’s first since Town sealed promotion with a 2-0 win against Huddersfield on the final day of 2023/24, seemed to knock the stuffing out of the home fans with the CBS Arena seeing a swift exodus.

Town swapped man of the match Clarke for Philogene and Taylor for Cajuste for the final three minutes.

Furlong was booked for shoving over Mason-Clark as their private tussle continued, before the fourth official indicated an additional six minutes.

A minute in, Town weren’t far from a third, the ball falling loose to Kipre from a corner on the left but the central defender’s strike was blocked.

The Blues had other opportunities to break for a third goal, Philogene getting caught offside as Akpom played a pass through to him on the left with Town three against two.

As the game moved towards its final minute of time added on, Humphreys replaced Nunez, the academy product’s first senior appearance since the opening month of the season.

Town saw out the final moments to secure what could prove to be a very big win in the context of the season as a whole.

Having been much the better side in the first half, the Blues allowed Coventry a foothold in the game in the early stages of the second but gradually got back on top with Clarke and Azon both having gone close before the opening goal.

Nunez and Clarke did brilliantly for the first with the ball perhaps inevitably going in off Woolfenden.


The pair then played pivotal roles in the second, Burns hitting a trademark low strike from the corner of the penalty area to cement the three points.

There were excellent displays throughout the side with Greaves excellent at left-back, particularly in the first half, and Taylor and Matusiwa in midfield.

Clarke, who has scored three goals in his last two games at the CBS Arena, was probably the pick.

Town have now won their last five matches against Coventry home and away and are unbeaten on Sky Blues turf since August 2009. The defeat was Coventry's first at home this season and only their third in the Championship all campaign, Town having inflicted two of them.

The Blues, who will stay third whatever the outcome in the evening’s other games, have cut the gap to the leaders to 10 points with second-placed Middlesbrough, who host Hull, who are fourth, this evening, now only two points ahead of Town, who host Oxford on New Year’s Day.

Coventry: Rushworth, Van Ewijk, Woolfenden, Kitching, Brau, Grimes, Torp (Allen 75), Sakamoto, Rudoni (Eccles 75), Mason-Clark, Wright. Unused: Wilson, Allen, Simms, Kesler-Hayden, Bidwell, Latibeaudiere, Eccles, Perry, Andrews.

Town: Walton, Furlong, O’Shea (c), Kipre, Greaves, Matusiwa, Taylor (Cajuste 87), Walle Egeli (Burns 78), Nunez (Humphreys 94), Clarke (Philogene 87), Azon (Akpom 78). Unused: Palmer, Young, Johnson, McAteer. Referee: Anthony Backhouse (Cumbria). Att: 31,213.

Photo: Matchday Images