Iain Dowie had not managed to record a victory since new owner Ray Ranson took control of the club, but Dele Adebola obliged in the 64th minute.
Dowie was forced to make changes after the disappointing defeat to Crystal Palace on Boxing Day, but that meant Michael Mifsud and Adebola were reunited in attack.
Almost from the off, the little and large combination caused Ipswich problems.
Mifsud should have found the net in only the second minute when he raced away from the Ipswich rearguard but simply blasted his shot over the top.
At the other end it was clear that that Pablo Counago was going to be the main threat for the visitors and he almost wriggled into a shooting chance in the fifth minute before being eventually snuffed out.
But it was the Mifsud-Adebola combination which made the first real impact when the home side went in front in the 11th minute.
The big target man escaped the attentions of Jason De Vos and raced to the Town area before squaring a pass to Mifsud.
The Malta international must have thought he had scored but Neil Alexander made a superb save and it was left to Julian Gray to have the decisive touch.
But after that encouraging start, Coventry went into their shell and it was the visitors who began to look more dangerous.
Jon Walters produced the cross the half to put in Danny Haynes only for him to fluff his chance under pressure from Andy Marshall.
Striker Alan Lee had claimed a penalty after 22 minutes when he was challenged by Ben Turner but his protests were waved away.
Keeper Andy Marshall had to be on his toes on the half-hour mark when he did very well to keep his former side at bay by stopping a close range header from Counago.
They got their reward four minutes from the interval when David Wright let fly from 30 yards.
Marshall seemed surprised by the shot but made a good save only for the ball to hit the woodwork and bounce down for Haynes to score.
Coventry needed to up their game and it was the introduction of two young subs which die the trick.
Liam Davis and Kevin Thornton came on early in the second half and suddenly the home side had some added zip.
And the two combined to set up a winner in the 64 minute when Davis' run ended with him slipping in Adebola, who netted his fourth goal of the season.
Town midfielder Tommy Miller was red carded for his second booking with five minutes left.