Coventry 3-0 Notts County Player Ratings: King Kelly

Jodi Jones celebrates – coventrytelegraph.net

The League Two season kicked-off at the Ricoh Arena with a Jodi Jones hat-trick as Coventry defeated fellow East Midlanders Notts County 3-0 – but how did players on both teams rate? Here’s our verdict.

Coventry City

Liam O’Brien – a little nervy in patches, indecisive when closed down by Ameobi. Did not have to work too hard for his clean sheet. 6

Jack Grimmer – An energetic display in which he got stuck in and moved forward when the right moments arose. Nullified Alessandra’s threat. 8
Dominic Hyam and Rod McDonald – Although Coventry didn’t have an aggressive centre-back, Hyam and McDonald were right not to try to compete physically with Stead or Ameobi. Their wise discipline meant there were few opportunities for opposing players to break into the box. Both 7
Chris Stokes – Let Alessandra get past him on one or two occasions but was roundly solid and got into the opposing half when opportunities came. 6

Liam Kelly – was first to most balls in his vicinity and bossed the midfield with his drive and desire. Played simple forward passes. 9
Michael Doyle – protected the defence superbly and was quick to sweep up loose balls in the defensive third, which helped the back-four hugely. 9

Jodi Jones – in the early stages his firm desire to use his left foot hindered his decision making, but confidence flowed once he got his first goal and ultimately deserved his hat-trick. 9
Marc McNulty – worked hard, but was not given many opportunities to show his poaching instincts. 6
Peter Vincenti – contributed little to the best chances Coventry created. Gave the ball away too often. 4

Stuart Beavon – Though he put himself about, we perhaps did not see the best of his hold-up play. Taken off with the score at 1-0. 5

Maxime Biamou (on 73) – chased lost causes and stretched play. Excellent pass to Jones for the second goal. 9
Duckens Nazon (on 86) – a wonderfully clever winding run to set up Jones for his hat-trick. 8

Notts County

Adam Collin – Not beaten by the most powerful strikes from Jones and was given little to do aside from the three goals. 3

Matt Tootle – Does not look as confident in possession as he did in his earlier days at Crewe. 4
Richard Duffy – Suffered from a lack of midfield cover, especially in the latter stages. 3
Shaun Brisley – headed narrowly wide from Alessandra’s first half free-kick, but this was not his day defensively. 3
Dan Jones – lost his discipline in the second half as Coventry had a field-day down County’s left late on. 3

Terry Hawkridge – hit the post at 0-0 and had a second half run that led to a penalty appeal. One of the brighter players. 6
Elliott Hewitt – with attack-minded wide men and two advanced strikers up top, he was asked to cover too much ground. 4
Liam Walker – as with Hewitt, he was given a lot to do. A little rash on occasions and was taken off early in the second half. 3
Lewis Alessandra – anonymous for much of the contest, bar one good ball into Ameobi early on. 4

Jon Stead and Shola Ameobi – Notts County’s problem was not the individual performances of their strikers, but the way their roles interlinked. Both Stead and Ameobi won the aerial balls asked of them but there was nobody picking up the second balls. One of them should have been replaced with a nippier forward. Both 5

Rob Milsom (on 58) – the game bypassed him in the latter stages. 4
Jorge Grant (on 64) – didn’t quite do himself justice, perhaps due to the circumstances of the match. 4