Clinical Crewe Crush Sky Blues Hopes

It ended in disappointment but Coventry City gave it their all in Tuesday night's Johnstone's Paint Trophy Area Final but were undone by a Crewe Alexandra side that finished three counter-attacks in clinical fashion to put one foot into the Wembley final.

For 70 minutes the Sky Blues created chance after chance but came up against a visiting goalkeeper in fine form and failed to fashion the crucial goal.

A record JPT crowd for a game outside the final gave the home side superb backing and no-one could have left the Ricoh Arena feeling that their team gave it anything less than their all, despite the initial disappointment of the final whistle blowing on a 3-0 defeat.

Mark Robins was left to rue the manner in which his side conceded all three goals on the counter-attack as they chased a goal that would have 'lifted the roof off' according to the manager. He had no complaints about his side's effort but called the defeat a 'learning curve'.

His immediate task is to lift his deflated players off the floor for Saturday's League One game against Yeovil as City aim to boost their play-off hopes and open up another avenue to Wembley.

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