Cambridge City 0-1 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
Coventry Sphinx haven't exactly had it all their own way in their first season in English football's eighth tier but the wins have all been worth the wait.
Celebrating them heartily when they come along is important and Matty Shipman's late winner against Cambridge City was a high point that was enjoyed to its maximum by the travelling Sphinx support.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas were without Gio Dainty but had a double boost for this away game, which was played at St Ives Town due to City's current groundshare arrangement.
Striker Jamal Adams was named on the bench after rejoining the club at the end of November. Captain Callum Woodward was given a first start since he was kicked out of nine weeks of action against Corby Town.
Keelan Fallows played in goal behind Louis Guest and Will Edjenguele at centre back. Joe Pursey and Finlay Shorrock continued at full back, Jordan Hayward started wide on the left and Alex Lock got the nod on the right.
Jack Downes played in midfield with Woodward and playmaker Jac Redhead, while Shipman led the line and, ultimately, won the game against ten-man City.
The match was affected by the wind in Cambridgeshire and never more so than in the early minutes. The Lilywhites settled the ball down fastest, getting on the front foot and moving the ball quickly on the artificial surface.
Sphinx were first to get a sight of goal, though, and it was Woodward who took a free kick after a foul on the advancing Redhead. His whipped effort cannoned off the crossbar with Cambridge goalkeeper Joe Welch beaten.
The first quarter of the game lacked incident but the visitors found their feet and enjoyed a period of pressure around the half-hour mark but the pivotal moment of the half came at the other end.
City forward Stefan Broccoli's aggressive run took him into the Sphinx box and led to an accidental clash with Guest and an angry reaction. Broccoli lashed out in the melee, earning himself a costly red card and shoving Pursey on the way off the field for good measure.
The away team immediately set about the search for a goal and Shipman soon clipped the crossbar with a shot on the break. With five minutes left in the half, the striker produced a cute backheel to set up a shot wide for Redhead.
As the clock ticked into stoppage time Hayward was released towards the byline on the left and zipped the ball across goal, where Redhead connected with a snapshot that swung just wide, and five minutes later Hayward was the source again.
Shipman was the recipient this time and shovelled the ball to his right, where Redhead again got his shot away but was off-balance. Welch remained untested.
Despite late chances for Sphinx, Cambridge had responded well to the red card and remained confident and capable in possession. That continued into the second half as the afternoon threatened to frustrate the visitors.
Sphinx did get on the attack straight away in the second half but couldn't capitalise on an early flurry and the Lilywhites got on the ball and had the first proper shot of the half. Debutant Kyle Boyce's strike wasn't clean and Fallows held on easily.
Shipman fired over after a long throw-in eventually dropped nicely for him with 55 minutes played but Sphinx weren't able to control the game and force the issue against ten men who acquitted themselves rather better on the day than their dismissed colleague.
After an hour the hosts took a quick free kick that really shouldn't have been allowed to roll by the referee, shooting over, and five minutes later Welch made a comfortable save when Lock didn't fully get hold of his shot.
The Cambridge goalkeeper was worked much harder at the mid-point of the half, turning away a thumping Redhead shot from a narrow angle, but Sphinx weren't using their advantage. One City shot with quarter of an hour remaining was volleyed wide and Fallows had to make a decent save from Daniel Cotton with twelve minutes to play.
Sphinx, finally, squeezed Cambridge back and started to dominate in the last ten minutes of the game. The home team sought to protect a point and a lack of end product from their opponents started to look like it might let them do so. That changed in the 88th minute when the latest in a wave of Sphinx attacks broke the deadlock at last.
There were appeals for a penalty before the loose ball broke in the box for Redhead. He nudged it off for Shipman, who thrashed it left-footed beyond Welch and high into the corner of the net.
Five minutes of stoppage time were Cambridge's reward for time-wasting in the second half but it was Adams, on late for Hayward, who almost claimed the game's second goal with its final kick. His shot hit the base of the post but it didn't matter for long and the whistle went immediately to confirm a crucial win.
Despite constant complaints from behind the Sphinx goal, Cambridge put themselves at a disadvantage and paid the price against a Sphinx team who simply refused to settle for a draw.
The hosts stood up well to a difficult assignment but Shipman's goal might have arrived earlier with a better final ball from the visitors. A late spell of pressure did the damage and win number three is in the books.
Sphinx now face a vital home game against Gresley Rovers on Saturday 16th December before a third meeting of the season with Quorn on the Saturday before Christmas and a Boxing Day encounter with league leaders Lye Town.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Pursey, Shorrock, J. Downes, Guest, Edjenguele, Lock (Bailey-Nicholls), Woodward, Shipman, Redhead (Whiteside), Hayward (Adams). Unused sub: L. Downes