Iain Dowie was vindicated in his decision to reject offers for Leon Best after his brace helped Coventry to a 4-0 home win over Barnsley.The Sky Blues finally picked up their first Championship points of the year thanks to a barnstorming performance from Best, a player who looked set to leave the club a week ago.

He handed in a transfer request when his hometown club Nottingham Forest tabled a bid for him - an act which saw him singled out by his own supporters.

But Dowie rebuffed Forest's interest and Saturday saw his decision bear fruit as Best scored twice and set up the other two scored by Julian Gray and Jay Tabb.

The City boss said: "I never wanted to sell Leon. He knows that.

"He said he wanted to go there because it is his hometown club. They never matched the valuation.

"He has set his standards. He has shown it at West Brom and he showed it fleetingly at times against Manchester United.

"He put in a 90-minute display and Barnsley found him too hot to handle.

"I am delighted for the players. We were edgy occasionally when we were 1-0 up. We had to grind it out in a positive fashion. We played with a bit of swagger when we got the second goal and really worked hard on our possession."

Best opened the scoring when he turned swiftly inside the box in the 37th minute to fire an unstoppable shot beyond Barnsley's on-loan goalkeeper Tony Warner.

Warner's miserable afternoon continued in the 69th minute when new team-mate Dennis Souza failed to clear Best's right-wing cross and the alert Gray tapped in the ball at the far post.

Coventry were again on target in the 75th minute when Best headed Gray's left-wing cross against the bar and Tabb headed in the rebound.

Best completed Coventry's third four-goal haul against Barnsley in their last three meetings in the 84th minute when Tabb's cross from the left reached him and the 21-year-old drilled a firm shot into the far corner of the net.

Barnsley manager Simon Davey admitted he was glad his team did not have to play the Sky Blues every week.

He said: "There is no disaster at Barnsley Football Club. We have a good group of players but unfortunately for me this is two heavy defeats for Barnsley against Coventry this season.

"They seem to be a bit of a bogey side at the moment. Thank God we don't play them every week.

"Every time I have played against Coventry they have put four past us. I didn't expect that with their position in the league.

"It is always a hard game here. Some of my players didn't turn up.

"I have got a better group of players than when I came here last season and lost 4-1 although on this showing it doesn't look like it."

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