Coventry Sphinx 2-2 Anstey Nomads
Marcus Robinson
Coventry Sphinx drew a second consecutive home fixture in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands, this time an entertaining affair against unbeaten Anstey Nomads.
Sphinx and the Nomads were both promoted in 2022/23 as winners of their respective divisions in the United Counties League but the visitors started the day in third place after a flying start to life at Step Four.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas had one new signing on the Sphinx bench and another in the starting eleven.
Forward Matthew Reed was named among the substitutes after joining from Coventry United. Striker Leo Brown is on loan from Alvechurch and had an instant impact on his debut.
Brown started with Matty Shipman in a reshuffled attack backed up by Jac Redhead, Alex Lock and Luke Downes in midfield with Jack Downes serving a suspension. Joe Pursey and Finlay Shorrock flanked a back line of Callum Whiteside, captain Louis Guest and Will Edjenguele. Keelan Fallows started in goal.
The home team took just 55 seconds to take a 1-0 lead. Pursey was played into space on the right and clipped a lovely pass in behind for debutant Brown. He brought the ball down well and forced it through goalkeeper Conrad Logan, after which it span slowly over the line to put Sphinx in front.
A couple of minutes later Sphinx built up some more good pressure around the box and Brown fired over on the turn. Then, after an attacking free kick, Brown set the ball back for Redhead whose volley sailed wide of the Anstey goal in the fifth minute.
The Nomads came into the game after a fast start for the hosts and in the 16th minute a swinging free kick from Andy Kanga dropped onto the roof of the Sphinx net.
Brown was quickly involved again with a good win and a driving run towards goal but didn’t quite get hold of his shot at the end of it. Shipman followed suit a minute later but the pair combined to great effect in the middle of the half.
In the 23rd minute, Brown went through with pace and showed tenacity to recover when tackled inside the box. He also had the composure to roll the ball to his right, where Shipman was on hand to tap it into the empty net and double Sphinx’s lead.
The connection between Shipman and Brown flourished but midfielder Lock was next to squeeze off a shot as the home team edged an increasingly competitive and occasionally ill-tempered match but Logan was able to make a comfortable save.
The Nomads had a chance from a corner ten minutes before the end of the first half but it came to nothing. Thanks to Fallows, their best opportunity of the half was fruitless too. Nyle Blake got in on the right but was thwarted by an excellent one-on-one save by the Sphinx stopper.
The visitors remained goalless until half time but three minutes into the second half they had a goal back. Luis Rose slotted in at the back post to make it 2-1 and pile the pressure on a Sphinx team whose performance before the break had warranted the lead.
A few minutes later Henry Bestwick fired over for the Nomads just before Sphinx’s two key moments of the second half came and went.
In the 54th minute, Brown was released in behind the away defence once more and chipped a confident finish past Logan and into the far corner. Sphinx were denied a renewed two-goal lead by a late and hotly contested flag from the assistant referee on the far side, who deemed the debutant to be offside.
Brown went close again with 56 minutes played. After playing a one-two with partner Shipman, a clearly onside Brown beat Logan again but saw his strike cannon back off the Nomads crossbar. On such fine margins are points won and lost.
Anstey continued to force the issue with both their play and their ongoing dialogue with the match referee, who awarded them a penalty with 20 minutes left to play for a foul by Shorrock. It was a marginal call at best and it gave the visitors a golden opportunity to equalise. Rose blasted the ball down the middle to make it 2-2.
With the pitch heavy due to the rain and the game noticeably energy-sapping for the players, the last quarter was largely devoid of goalmouth action but was thick with tension. The outcome was on a knife-edge right into stoppage time, when Fallows again made a tremendous save to maintain parity at the death.
It's fair to say both teams considered this a case of two points dropped. Anstey came to Coventry expecting to win and Sphinx lived to regret wasted chances at 2-0 and 2-1.
But this season is about building up the points for Thomas and Woodward’s side and performing well to add another against a very robust Nomads team represents a more than satisfactory outcome. On another day, it might have been three.
Sphinx now face a busy month with the usual Saturday schedule bolstered by midweek away games against Nuneaton Borough in the Birmingham Senior Cup Second Round and Harborough Town in the league.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Whiteside, Shorrock, L. Downes, Guest, Edjenguele, Pursey (Parker), Lock, Shipman, Redhead (Johnson), Brown (Bryson). Unused subs: Reed, Hedge