Coventry City 0-1 Leyton Orient

Josh Wright joined Leyton Orient in January on a free transfer after his contract with Millwall was cancelled

Leyton Orient gave their hopes of escaping League One relegation a boost with a late winner at fellow strugglers Coventry City.

Josh Wright powered home an angled right-foot shot to win the game with his first goal for the club.

City were left to bemoan their bad luck after on-loan Tottenham midfielder Grant Ward was denied by both the post and visiting keeper Alex Cisak.

Defeat leaves new boss Tony Mowbray without a home win in four attempts.

Orient's victory lifts them out of the bottom four for the first time in over two months, but their goal led a charmed life during Coventry's purple patch at the start of the second half.

Sky Blues still struggling at the Ricoh
Coventry's 2-1 home win over MK Dons on 28 February, immediately following the sacking of Steven Pressley, remains their only league victory at the Ricoh Arena in the past five months.

After a dreary first half, Ward's stunning dribble followed by curled right-foot effort straight after the break looked likely to spark the game into life.

But it hit the post to trigger a catalogue of Coventry near misses.

George Thomas had a shot cleared off the line by O's defender Mathieu Baudry after an error by keeper Cisak, who then made amends by tipping Ward's curling shot over before City centre-half Aaron Martin then headed just wide.

Ward's inswinging corner was then kept out from under the bar by Cisak, before another cross with the outside of his right foot somehow passed across the face of goal.

But, with 12 minutes left, Orient broke away and Wright kept his cool to fire past on-rushing home keeper Lee Burge.

Coventry, who had won their previous three away matches, are now just three points clear of trouble, with six games left.

Sky Blues manager Tony Mowbray told BBC Coventry & Warwickshire:

"We'd have been disappointed with 0-0 because of the opportunities we created, but to lose it is even worse.

"It's about putting the ball in the net and keeping it out at the other end and the basics have to be done. One madness moment and the ball is in our net.

"I couldn't knock their determination, desire and effort to win, but we have to win another few games to secure our place in the division.

"We're all fully aware of the last four games at home, one point from a possible 12. We have to go to Notts County, try to be positive again and try to keep our points tally ticking along."

Leyton Orient manager Fabio Liverani told BBC London 94.9:

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Liverani on Coventry v Leyton Orient

"It was a very important game and a six-pointer. They are three important points for us.

"The spirit of the players has never lacked since I arrived and is why I was always happy to stay, even in moments we were losing games and struggling.

"With seven games to go, we have to aim for maximum points game by game to make sure we get out of this situation."

• Line-ups
• Match Stats
• Live Text

Line-ups

Coventry

• 1Burge
• 2Willis
• 22Pennington
• 21Martin
• 30Stokes
• 8Ward
• 7Fleck
• 17OdelusiSubstituted forTurgottat 82'minutes
• 11O'BrienSubstituted forHaynesat 81'minutes
• 19NoubleBooked at 34mins
• 14SamuelSubstituted forThomasat 11'minutes

Substitutes

• 6Thomas
• 16Barton
• 18Phillips
• 25Turgott
• 26Haynes
• 33Charles-Cook
• 37Thomas

Leyton Orient

• 40Cisak
• 5Cuthbert
• 6Baudry
• 15Clarke
• 12Lowry
• 35TaylorSubstituted forHedgesat 59'minutes
• 17Wright
• 20Bartley
• 11McAnuffSubstituted forJamesat 68'minutes
• 23DagnallSubstituted forOmozusiat 85'minutes
• 24Henderson

Substitutes

• 2Omozusi
• 8James
• 27Simpson
• 30Plasmati
• 33Woods
• 34Hedges

Referee:

Darren Bond

Attendance:

8,010

Match Stats

Home TeamCoventryAway TeamLeyton Orient

Possession

Home60%

Away40%

Shots

Home9

Away7

Shots on Target

Home3

Away5

Corners

Home5

Away6

Fouls

Home7

Away10

Live Text

Posted at

Match ends, Coventry City 0, Leyton Orient 1.

Full Time

Posted at 90'+5'

Second Half ends, Coventry City 0, Leyton Orient 1.

Substitution

Posted at 85'

Substitution, Leyton Orient. Elliot Omozusi replaces Chris Dagnall.

Posted at 84'

Foul by Matthew Pennington (Coventry City).

Posted at 84'

Chris Dagnall (Leyton Orient) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Substitution

Posted at 82'

Substitution, Coventry City. Blair Turgott replaces Sanmi Odelusi.

Substitution

Posted at 81'

Substitution, Coventry City. Ryan Haynes replaces Jim O'Brien.

Posted at 81'

Aaron Martin (Coventry City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 81'

Foul by Chris Dagnall (Leyton Orient).

Goal!

Posted at 78'

Goal! Coventry City 0, Leyton Orient 1. Josh Wright (Leyton Orient) right footed shot from the right side of the box to the bottom left corner. Assisted by Chris Dagnall.

Posted at 76'

Corner, Leyton Orient. Conceded by Aaron Martin.

Posted at 69'

Frank Nouble (Coventry City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 69'

Foul by Mathieu Baudry (Leyton Orient).

Substitution

Posted at 68'

Substitution, Leyton Orient. Lloyd James replaces Jobi McAnuff.

Posted at 66'

Grant Ward (Coventry City) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 66'

Foul by Darius Henderson (Leyton Orient).

Posted at 66'

Attempt saved. Sanmi Odelusi (Coventry City) left footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

Posted at 64'

Corner, Coventry City. Conceded by Mathieu Baudry.

Substitution

Posted at 59'

Substitution, Leyton Orient. Ryan Hedges replaces Jake Taylor.

Posted at 59'

Sanmi Odelusi (Coventry City) wins a free kick in the defensive half.

Posted at 59'

Foul by Jake Taylor (Leyton Orient).

Posted at 55'

Attempt saved. Chris Dagnall (Leyton Orient) header from the centre of the box is saved in the centre of the goal.

Posted at 54'

Foul by Grant Ward (Coventry City).

Posted at 54'

Marvyn Bartley (Leyton Orient) wins a free kick in the attacking half.

Posted at 53'

Attempt missed. Aaron Martin (Coventry City) header from the centre of the box is just a bit too high following a corner.

Posted at 53'

Corner, Coventry City. Conceded by Alex Cisak.

Posted at 53'

Attempt saved. Grant Ward (Coventry City) right footed shot from outside the box is saved in the top centre of the goal.

Posted at 52'

Attempt blocked. George Thomas (Coventry City) right footed shot from a difficult angle on the right is blocked.

Posted at 50'

Hand ball by Darius Henderson (Leyton Orient).

Posted at 48'

Delay in match Alex Cisak (Leyton Orient) because of an injury.

Posted at 47'

Grant Ward (Coventry City) hits the right post with a right footed shot from the left side of the box following a corner.

Posted at 47'

Corner, Coventry City. Conceded by Mathieu Baudry.

Posted at 47'

Attempt blocked. Jim O'Brien (Coventry City) right footed shot from outside the box is blocked.

Second Half

Posted at

Second Half begins Coventry City 0, Leyton Orient 0.

Half Time

Posted at 45'+3'

First Half ends, Coventry City 0, Leyton Orient 0.

Posted at 45'+3'

Attempt saved. Darius Henderson (Leyton Orient) left footed shot from the left side of the box is saved in the bottom right corner.

Posted at 45'+2'

Attempt saved. Chris Dagnall (Leyton Orient) header from the centre of the box is saved in the top left corner.

Posted at 45'

Corner, Coventry City. Conceded by Shane Lowry.

Posted at 44'

Corner, Coventry City. Conceded by Shane Lowry.

Posted at 43'

Foul by Sanmi Odelusi (Coventry City).

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