Coventry City 1 Leicester City 1
With just about every issue resolved in the Championship two weeks before the end of the season this could quite easily have been drab, eventless Bank Holiday fare.
But local pride, a red-hot atmosphere inside the Ricoh Arena and a series of Coventry men - including manager Micky Adams - taking on their former club made for a passionate if not pretty 'M69 derby'.
With Dennis Wise at the heart of the Sky Blues' mid-field it was hardly surprising that there was plenty of needle especially as he faced Leicester's own livewire Joey Gudjonsson. But it was Foxes centre-back Patrick Kisnorbo who took a simmering affair to boiling point when he deservedly saw red for an horrific second-half tackle on Coventry substitute Andy Whing.
The Australian was late, high and went in with both feet. He could have no complaints when referee Keith Hill reached for the red card.
Worse still for the Leicester player, his misdemeanour took place right under the noses of the Coventry management team who reacted angrily to the tackle.
Manager Adams said: "Anyone who tries to defend that is wrong. It was a disgraceful tackle and he deserved a straight red. I was five yards away and he went over the top of the ball with two feet."
The incident overshadowed the match but the lack of genuine quality replaced by sheer will-to-win meant a sendingoff was always likely to steal the headlines.
Leicester had the clear intention of winding up Wise as Gudjonsson and Iain Hume were lucky to escape without a caution for fouls on the 39-year-old early on.
The veteran is never a favourite with opposition supporters but Leicester's following have even more reason to loathe the former England midfielder who broke teammate Callum Davidson's cheekbone during a pre-season tour.
Wise was doing his best to keep his temper in check before the visitors snatched the lead after nine minutes.
Coventry allowed Hume to cross and left young full-back Richard Stearman unmarked on the edge of the penalty area. There was still plenty for the 18-year-old to do but he drove the ball low past Marton Fulop.
The Sky Blues have shown on more than one occasion this season that they are capable of replying when they fall behind and within 60 seconds they drew level.
James Scowcroft sent in a probing cross from the right. Stern John was quicker to react than Kisnorbo and keeper Paul Henderson before drilling home. It proved yet again his prowess inside the area and took his tally to ten goals in effectively half a season for Coventry.
It was fairly even in the second period until Kisnorbo lost his head and left his team playing the last 25 minutes with ten men.
Coventry had chances to win as John was denied by an amazing goal-line block by S tearman before Wise crashed an overhead kick against the bar at the death.
But the home team never really did enough with the extra player to complain too hard that they deserved the victory.
