Coventry Sphinx 0-0 Coleshill Town
Marcus Robinson
Most of the drama relating to Coventry Sphinx’s home fixture against Coleshill Town happened before the match. Coleshill lined up with Paul Hathaway in the dugout after the swift exit of new manager Dave Stringer in the week.
Sphinx, meanwhile, were able to welcome a new signing into the team in the form of the versatile Gio Dainty, who returned to Sphinx Drive after his own – rather longer – spell at Pack Meadow. He made his debut from the start against his old team-mates.
The match itself was an absorbing but ultimately uneventful and goalless one, leaving the teams to split the points in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands table.
Dainty was joined in the starting eleven by goalkeeper Keelan Fallows and a defence consisting of Joe Pursey, captain Louis Guest, Will Edjenguele and Finlay Shorrock. Jack Downes and Luke Downes started in midfield with Alex Lock and the line-up was completed by forwards Dylan Parker and Matty Shipman.
From frantic beginnings, the game briefly settled into a pattern of Coleshill possession in the middle of the pitch before an injury to former Sphinx player Alex Tomkinson delayed the first half. His replacement, Adrian Gyamera, has also spent time at Sphinx Drive. Coleshill went wide with an effort in the 20th minute and soon began to control the game.
In the 20th minute Sphinx stopper Fallows made the only real save of the match and it was an excellent one. Niall Rowe’s header from a Coleshill corner appeared destined for the net but a strong hand from the diving goalkeeper denied him.
Just as it became clear the home team needed to find their feet they managed to put together a spell of pressure at the other end. Striker Shipman outpaced his marker wide on the Sphinx right and whipped a tremendous ball across the box for Parker, who was smartly levered off balance in front of goal.
The visitors were next to get a glimpse of goal but the shot was driven over. With half an hour played Parker had a shot blocked for the hosts. A scramble followed in the Coleshill box but the ball never quite dropped for a player in a Sphinx shirt.
Sphinx were the better team for a period in the first half and looked dangerous, getting in behind and starting to make things happen. The chance they wanted remained elusive and the Colemen came back into the match.
But it was the home team who had the final opportunity of a slightly stodgy first half. Shipman and Lock cleverly exchanged passes but the midfield man could only fire over Lewis Landers’ crossbar.
The match opened up a little after the break. Fallows made a simple save from Oscar Tonge after he’d been teed up by Ashton Demulder in the 50th minute and the chance that really should have won the game came Coleshill’s way just before the hour.
Lewis Archer capitalised on a defensive slip with the visitors on the break and chose to try and sneak the ball in at the near post instead of going across Fallows with only the goalkeeper to beat. He missed the target and that opening was really the only difference between the sides in this goalless encounter.
Debutant Dainty went over from the edge of the box after a nice tee-up from Guest with his back to goal. Fallows then had to move his feet and get a good hand to the ball to tip over an in-swinging corner but Sphinx were in the ascendancy. Again, they couldn’t generate a proper look at goal.
Some sloppy play and a Sphinx giveaway led to another Coleshill effort that went over the bar, and with quarter of an hour remaining a Shorrock free kick met the same fate with Landers unconcerned.
Parker then dug out a lovely cross from the right but Dainty’s header under pressure at the back post came to nothing. Despite the late urgency in the game largely coming from the home team, Archer had another chance in the 79th minute and dragged it wide again.
Shipman popped up with two attempts on target late in the day. With two minutes left in regulation time his header from a corner had to be sliced off the Coleshill goal line by Gyamera, and in stoppage time he was slipped in on the right and saw his shot held by Landers.
Thanks to Harborough Town’s progress in the FA Trophy there will be a two-week break for Sphinx after the draw with the Colemen, after which Thomas and Woodward’s side will be back in league action at home against Anstey Nomads.
Nomads won the United Counties League Premier Division North while Sphinx won the Premier Division South last season, so it’ll be another informative test for the boys in sky blue and white.
Steadily picking up points through the winter will go a long way to helping Sphinx meet their objectives for the season and a draw against Coleshill, established now at Step Four, is a welcome addition to the tally as the chilly weather edges ever closer.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Pursey, Shorrock, L. Downes, Guest, Edjenguele (Whiteside), Parker (Johnson), J. Downes (Redhead), Shipman, Lock, Dainty. Unused subs: Bryson, Ellis