Jim Gannon suffered his first home defeat as Peterborough United manager as a goal from Jonathan Stead earned Coventry City a narrow 1-0 win at London Road on Saturday afternoon.

Posh could have opened the scoring inside the opening 10 seconds as a slick build-up ended with winger Chris Whelpdale firing wide of the far post.

The Sky Blues won the first corner kick of the afternoon on nine minutes, but Craig Morgan was able to head away the danger under severe pressure from Jon Stead.

Whelpdale tested Kieran Westwood with a fierce drive on 13 minutes after a good ball into his path from Liam Dickinson.

The long throws of Gunnarsson were a threat, he was hurling it a fair distance and the Posh defence were under pressure to clear with Craig Morgan doing well on two seperate occasions to clear.

Goalkeeper Lewis made a comfortable stop from a deflected Gunnarsson effort as the visitors found some space 30-yards from the Posh goal.

On 22 minutes, a set-piece from Frecklington was flicked into the path of centre back Gabriel Zakuani at the back post, but he couldn't keep his header down, flying off his forehead and over the crossbar.

The visitors opened the scoring two minutes later as a long ball from deep from Cranie picked out STEAD, he held off the attentions of Morgan and fired an unstoppable shot past Lewis.

Clingan was cautioned for a hack at Whelpdale on 36 minutes. James McPake sliced a Tommy Rowe cross-shot over the crossbar as Posh pressed for an equalising goal. From the resulting corner kick, Posh came desperately close to levelling as Lee connected to a Frecklington centre and Clingan on the line diverted the effort onto the underside of the crossbar before the ball was hacked clear.

Frecklington volleyed over the top as Posh continued to threaten in the final third. Whelpdale dragged a shot wide on the stroke of half-time after driving into some space afforded to him.

Half-time: Posh 0-1 Coventry City

Coventry made a switch at the back with Clingan replaced by Gary Deegan at the heart of midfield. New signing Mark Little saw a shot blocked on 51 minutes as Coventry struggled to deal with a Dominic Green corner kick.

McPake glanced a header wide on 58 minutes before Posh made their first change of the afternoon as Josh Simpson replaced Whelpdale. McIndoe sent a free-kick out of the crowd from a good position and in truth, there was not a lot going on in this game.

Clinton Morrison saw a shot from 25-yards deflect wide of the target on 65 minutes and the Sky Blues seemed to content with their one-goal advantage secured by Stead's first half finish.

An optimistic shot from Lee went well wide of the target on 68 minutes after a good lay-off from Dickinson. Goalkeeper Lewis made a fine save to deny striker Morrison who beat the offside trap and found himself six-yards from goal with no-one anywhere near him. Lewis racing from his line to deny the front man with a good reflex stop.

Craig Mackail-Smith replaced Mclean with 20 minutes remaining. The striker wasted no time in running at the defence and Coventry struggled to deal with the fresh legs and the pace of the former Dagenham and Redbridge man.

The substitution seemed to lift the home faithful and the boys in blue with several set-pieces causing a few problems, however Westwood did well to come from his line to gather on several occasions.

A left-footed shot from Frecklington sailed over the bar on 79 minutes as Posh continued to try and cause the opposition problems,  but on a heavy pitch, the natural passing game was being hampered severely.

Final Score: Posh 0-1 Coventry City

Posh: Lewis, Little, Morgan, Zakuani, Rowe, Green, Frecklington, Lee, Whelpdale (sub Simpson 59min), Dickinson, Mclean (sub Mackail-Smith 74min). Unused subs: McKeown, Day, Torres, Koranteng, Geohaghon.

Coventry: Westwood, Wright, Hall, Clingan (sub Deegan 46min), McPake, Stead, Morrison (sub Sears 86min), Cranie, Gunnarsson, Baker, McIndoe. Unused subs: Konstantopoulos, Hussey, Eastwood, Wynter, Grandison.

Attendance: 10,469 (3,126 City fans)