No one can argue that Mark Robins does not deserve his new four-year contract extension. Not content with leading his team from League Two to the Championship, Coventry’s manager has now guided them to the verge of football’s promised land.
As Gustavo Hamer’s winner, bent superbly into the top corner, secured the visitors a Wembley playoff final date with Luton and potential Premier League entree, Steve Gibson, Middlesbrough’s owner, proved a study of despair in the directors’ box.
Gibson has a fine manager in Michael Carrick and an extremely promising team but, despite dominating much of this second leg, Boro were ultimately undone by Hamer and the excellent Viktor Gyokeres.
A flag had been placed on almost every seat and, at kick-off, the Riverside was transformed into an evocative sea of red. Once the action began, the atmosphere in the stands was reminiscent of the good times here, most notably back in 2006 when Steve McClaren’s Boro swashbuckled their way into the Uefa Cup final.
At their very best, Carrick’s class of 2022-23 can look almost as strong in midfield as that band of European adventurers. This perhaps explains why Robins took the precaution of tweaking Coventry’s formation, leaving Sweden’s Gyokeres as his lone striker.
Only Boro’s Chuba Akpom has scored more times in the Championship than Gyokeres this season. As if to emphasise that pedigree, Akpom started brightly, showing glimpses of the skill which brought him 28 league goals from his station in the hole behind the Aston Villa loanee Cameron Archer.
Perhaps tiring of the sheer pace of the passes flying towards Akpom as Middlesbrough started stretching their guests to the limit, Ben Sheaf lunged in with a hefty challenge which left the former Arsenal forward flat out on the turf, requiring fairly prolonged treatment. Thousands of hearts were in mouths but eventually Akpom rose, albeit rather gingerly, to his feet and was able to continue.
Sheaf continued to prove a somewhat abrasive figure as he endeavoured to disrupt Boro’s one- and two-touch passing. Hayden Hackney, a midfielder who has improved immensely under Carrick’s tutelage, was cheered to the rafters whenever he succeeded in putting Sheaf in his place.
Yet for all Boro’s overall dominance their final ball was wanting as they persistently struggled to deconstruct Coventry’s highly efficient defence. Even worse, from Carrick’s viewpoint, they were very nearly caught out on the counterattack when only Ryan Giles’s smart clearance prevented Hamer – the visitors’ key midfield threat – from capitalising.
As the clock ticked past the 40 minute mark the match still awaited its first shot on target and Carrick, otherwise a study in elegantly straight-backed technical area calm, began balancing a notepad on his thigh and jotting down a few thoughts.
If Carrick remained largely still throughout, Robins – who signed a four-year contract extension with Coventry on Wednesday – stayed so tranquil he barely twitched a muscle. Or at least until he finally raised his arms in despair when, at the end of a promising, if rare, break Gyokeres inexplicably miscued his final pass, allowing Boro to counter.
The opening half ended with Coventry’s goalkeeper Ben Wilson finally called to arms but Darragh Lenihan’s header was so soft, Wilson made the most routine of saves. It was no surprise that Lenihan’s opening arrived after his connection with a corner. Given the meanness of both rearguards, and Robins’s in particular, set pieces looked increasingly the best route to goal.
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At that stage Boro had controlled almost 70% of possession and, possibly encouraged by their hosts’ failure to do too much with it, Coventry adopted a slightly more aggressive, front foot, second-half demeanour.
When Gyokeres’s change of pace caught Middlesbrough cold, Sheaf’s shot was blocked. Yet the ball fell kindly to Jamie Allen who got his feet in such a tangle Boro were reprieved.
But not for too long. In the 57th minute, the increasingly influential Gyokeres collected a through ball over the top and drew Zack Steffen off his line. Although Steffen forced him wide, the Swede cut the ball back for the onrushing Hamer.
After cutting in from the left and dodging a marker, the Brazilian-born midfielder sent an imperious shot curving into the top right-hand corner. It was Coventry’s first shot on target throughout both legs but, as their exultant fans delighted in reminding the Riverside, it had transported them to within touching distance of Wembley.
As Hamer celebrated his potentially transformative goal poor Giles looked desolate; it had been his momentary loss of concentration and concession of possession that precipitated Gyokeres’s advance.
Carrick summoned Giles for a quiet, apparently supportive, word. It appeared impressive management from the former midfielder but his team were wobbling and almost fell apart again when Hamer’s free-kick hit the bar.
