Harborough Town 6-1 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
No football team likes to lose, especially heavily, but getting promoted can mean you have to take a kicking once in a while. Coventry Sphinx were on the wrong end of a quality Harborough Town performance in Leicestershire and were beaten 6-1 in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands to end a run of five consecutive draws.
Sphinx joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas brought Will Edjenguele back into the starting eleven after injury and named a back five in front of goalkeeper Keelan Fallows. Louis Guest and Callum Whiteside completed the central defensive trio, with Joe Pursey and Finlay Shorrock on the wings.
Jack Downes also returned to the line-up to play alongside Luke Downes and Gio Dainty in midfield, while Leo Brown started in an advanced position with striker Matty Shipman. Jac Redhead was named on the bench with Jordan Hayward, Khaellem Bailey Nicholls and Alex Lock.
As 90-minute performances go, Harborough’s was as complete as we’ve seen this season. They put Sphinx under pressure from the off and proved themselves worthy league leaders with early attacks that soon produced a lead.
A low ball in to Joel Carta necessitated an excellent save from Fallows at his near post but it was already clear what the visitors were up against. Sphinx were putting in the yards and Harborough had the ball, but the opening goal for the Bees came out of possession.
Jordon Crawford speedily closed down an attempted clearance from Jack Downes and the ball ran perfectly for the Harborough man who confidently finished the chance one-on-one and still had three more first-half goals up his sleeve.
Pursey cleared an effort off the line after quarter of an hour and Sphinx generated a decent spell against a very good side through the middle of the first half. Brown hit a powerful left-footer from 25 yards that stung the palms of Harborough goalkeeper Elliott Taylor, then curled a shot over from the edge of the box after nice play by Jack Downes.
Downes delivered a corner that Guest headed into Taylor’s gloves in the 25th minute before another period of Sphinx attacking came to nothing. Harborough wasted no time getting back on the front foot and it wasn’t long before they doubled their lead.
Carta was thwarted on the goal line again, this time by a Shorrock block, but Harborough scored a second with 30 minutes played. Crawford went in on goal, got a second bite of the cherry after another Fallows save, and turned it in for 2-0.
By now Harborough were moving the ball quickly, usually before the player in possession was engaged by an opponent, and Sphinx could only chase the game. Another Jack Downes cross provided an opportunity for Shipman to head back across goal but Taylor snuffed it out easily and two became three for the hosts in very short order.
Crawford’s finish for 3-0 was the best of his bunch and his hat-trick took a shade over 20 minutes. Sadly for Sphinx there was another to come before the break. Harborough’s clinical play and sharp finishing combined to give them obvious dominance and the fourth wasn’t a surprise.
Alex Morris scuffed an effort into the grasp of Fallows with a couple of minutes left in the first half, and in the first minute of stoppage time a disputed penalty was awarded to the home team for what was deemed a foul by the back-tracking Shipman.
Crawford took the spot kick and fired it in off the post to round off a near perfect half for Harborough, whose all-round game was just too much for the visitors. Their passing was crisp, their direct play moved them upfield effectively and their physical side went unmatched on the night.
Clearly the away team had it all to do but the game was lost and the low energy start to the second half reflected the scoreline before Fallows made a good low save seven minutes in and Shipman got up well to head over another Jack Downes corner shortly before the hour mark.
Substitute Bailey-Nicholls, on for Guest as Sphinx changed their shape and started to look ahead to the next fixture, dragged a left-footed shot wide of goal in the 61st minute as the visitors sought a consolation goal.
In the 67th minute the fifth goal of the match arrived and it went the way of Harborough. Amar Sandhu’s driving run was poorly defended but his right-footed strike across Fallows and into the far corner was sensational. It was also somewhat against the run of play with Sphinx briefly enjoying their best period of the match.
Pursey made a block on the line in the 73rd minute and Fallows soon had to follow suit. From the resulting corner, Harborough won a back post header and should have capitalised on a glaring opportunity to score with a free header in front of goal.
But Sphinx continued to work and refused to let the scoreline be an excuse for any lack of effort. Brown had a shot blocked and Redhead, off the bench, turned on the rebound and sent a shot on target but Taylor was able to make a straightforward save.
With 16 minutes left to play Redhead and Sphinx got their goal. Hayward, Sphinx’s other substitute, played a nice interchange with Jack Downes on the left before cutting the ball back for Redhead. His low strike kicked up off a defender and looped over Taylor to make it 5-1 and give him a second goal in as many games.
Unfortunately there was one last insult for Sphinx, who suffered the ignominy of a sixth goal conceded three minutes into stoppage time. Harborough remained dangerous in transition and Fallows made a late save only to find Johnson Gyamfi on hand to score from close range.
There’s no denying that this was a tough result to take but Sphinx must remain positive. Harborough were genuinely excellent and took apart a very good team. It’s important that Thomas and Woodward’s men aren’t knocked off track by that because they truly don’t need to be.
Harborough are top of the league and will be there or very close to it at the end of April. For all Sphinx’s progress in the last few years, we know that our focus right now is on the other half of the table.
Losing to the teams at the top won’t dictate Sphinx’s ability to settle in at Step Four this season. What happens in the aftermath will tell us a lot more about what’s to come for the boys in sky blue and white.
The positive response began on the night. A continuation against Boldmere St Michaels, Loughborough Dynamo and Cambridge City is now required.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Whiteside, Shorrock (Hayward), L. Downes, Guest (Bailey-Nicholls), Edjenguele, Pursey, J. Downes, Shipman, Brown, Dainty (Redhead). Unused sub: Lock