CITY 2 COVENTRY 4

IT’S nearly three years since two anonymous businessmen took in their first City game.

Coventry were the visitors on that Tuesday night and the atmosphere – despite the absence of any goals – whetted the appetite for what Stefan Rupp and Edin Rahic would eventually buy into six months later.

There was no sign of either owner at Valley Parade yesterday to witness their rudderless club drift to the foot of League One.

While Rahic remains in Germany on a family holiday – and Rupp has not been seen at the ground this season – City’s freefall continued with a ninth defeat in 11 games.

Plymouth’s win saw the sides swap places on goal difference – the first time the Bantams have been bottom of any division since the grim old days of treble relegation.

In these increasingly troubled times, the fans continue to vote with their feet.

The crowd of just 11,075 was the lowest in the league since April 2013, although there were no shouts for the chairman’s head on this occasion.

City’s latest loss also came at another heavy cost for David Hopkin – who lost three players for Saturday’s trip to Gillingham.

George Miller was sent off for using his hand to put the ball in the net - though on second glance the decision looked very harsh, with the striker appearing to use his chest. Having already been booked, there was some dispute afterwards whether he had been given a second yellow or a straight red which will affect whether they can appeal the decision.

Ryan McGowan picked up a fifth yellow card – and Alex Jones was subbed within 11 minutes of coming off the bench, prompting more injury fears for the jinxed striker.

Off-field politics is a familiar background for Coventry as the long-running civil war with owners SISU shows little sign of a cease fire.

A season’s exile to Northampton, crowd boycotts and protests have littered the route since the hedge fund took command seven years ago. And as it stands, Coventry currently have no agreement over where they will play next season.

But the Sky Blues have made a decent start to life back in League One after winning the club’s first promotion in more than half a century – this was their fourth straight win.

Blocking out what’s happening around them is an art that City may need to master as their sticky season threatens to be swamped by the on-going anger with the club’s controllers.

January cannot come soon enough for Hopkin, although the FA Cup first-round draw 24 hours earlier had done him no favours.

A potentially tricky long haul to Aldershot hardly carries the promise of guaranteed prize money and the progress needed to generate cash for the reinforcements the head coach wants.

Such is the situation right now that he threw in Hope Akpan from the start after six weeks out since dislocating his shoulder on Hopkin’s first day at training.

But the midfielder had not even got a touch before City found themselves a goal down from Coventry’s second-minute corner.

Michael Doyle’s kick was headed back into the mix by Tom Davies, Jordy Hiwula flicked on and Jonson Clarke-Harris applied the decisive nod from close range.

All Hopkin’s pre-match plans went out the window within 90 seconds – another shattering blow for City’s already-brittle confidence. And worse was to follow.

It needed a fantastic reaction block from Richard O’Donnell to prevent a quickfire second, palming another Clarke-Harris header against the post from Junior Brown’s cross.

But the respite was only temporary. Anthony O’Connor fouled Hiwula 25 yards out and Conor Chaplin curled a well-placed free-kick over the wall and into the top corner.

It was a belter of a finish and left O’Donnell grasping thin air. Not that it was any consolation for the disconsolate hosts.

A City team that had not scored more than one in their last seven league outings were already two adrift and the game was barely 10 minutes old.

It sounded like a Coventry home game as the noisy travelling fans struck up the party mood. The rest of the ground were stunned into silence.

That familiar sinking feeling hit Hopkin when McGowan appeared to be clipped in the Coventry box but ref Ross Joyce saw nothing amiss.

The fans tried to stay with the team to lift flagging spirits, although there was an ironic chorus of “we’ve had a shot” when Josh Wright fired low at Lee Burge just past the half hour.

City were knocking the ball around better than they had done against Rochdale and McGowan nodded narrowly over from a Connor Wood cross.

Coventry, with the luxury of that two-goal cushion, were allowing them plenty of the ball.

But the visitors threatened a third after 38 minutes as Chaplin found Dujon Sterling on the overlap and the right back thrashed a cross-shot past the far post.

Hopkin’s arms were in the air again as Miller was felled on the corner of the box on the stroke of half-time.

Joyce correctly ruled the foul just outside and the striker nodded Jack Payne’s free-kick past the near post. It was as close as City had come to troubling Burge’s goal.

Doyle gave them an early scare from the restart as his in-swinging corner whizzed through the six-yard box and Luke Thomas fired straight at O’Donnell.

Coventry had picked it up since the break as they pushed for a third to kill it off. It needed another good stop from O’Donnell to thwart Clarke-Harris, sticking out his left leg to keep out a downward header.

City found themselves a lifeline on 62 minutes with a comeback goal from O’Connor. The skipper looped a shot under the bar from Lewis O’Brien’s cross to breathe life back into Valley Parade.

But hope was extinguished within three minutes as Coventry picked them off on the break, Hiwula countering and finishing confidently against his former club.

And Tom Bayliss quickly added a fourth from the corner of the box – sending several home fans heading for an early exit.

Those leaving did miss O’Connor’s second goal as he fired into the ground and in off the bar from a half-cleared long throw from McGowan.

There was the worrying sight of sub Jones being subbed – before Miller also left the proceedings prematurely, adjudged to have deliberately handled in a scramble in the Coventry goal-mouth as he diverted the ball into the net.