Coventry Sphinx 0-1 Bedworth United
Chris Nee
Coventry Sphinx’s 2022/23 Emirates FA Cup campaign ended after just 90 minutes thanks to a 1-0 home defeat by Step 4 neighbours Bedworth United, who’d beaten Sphinx by the same score and the same method in a pre-season friendly a few weeks earlier.
Shaun Thomas and John Woodward’s team produced a battling performance and rode their luck until it all ran out at once in the middle of the second half at the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena.
Already on one yellow card, central defender Louis Guest was tempted into a foul and received a second from referee Harry Organ. The Greenbacks scored the tie’s only goal from the resulting free kick and it was too far back for the ten men of Sphinx.
The home team ended the afternoon sweating over the condition of goalkeeper Scott Martin, who put in a Man of the Match performance in his second game for the club. He saved a penalty and almost everything else, demonstrating his ability to deputise for injured Sphinx stopper Tom Cross.
Joint manager Woodward welcomed Loz Rawlings into the side for the first time this season, allowing Callum Whiteside to join Callum Woodward and Jack Downes in the centre of midfield. Guest was flanked at centre back by James Bryson and Jamie Draper, with Callum Martin at left wing back.
Callum Stewart and Matty Shipman started up front, while there were first appearances on the bench this season for Lewis Noon and goalkeeper Kurtis Selley-Haywood.
Although it was decided by a single goal there was no shortage of action in a match that started competitively and with Bedworth enjoying good early possession.
Sphinx had the first attempt on goal. Jack Downes intercepted the ball in a dangerous area and fired in a 25-yard drive that Bedworth goalkeeper Sam Lomax smothered well. A minute later, Woodward's corner from the Sphinx left was flicked on by a Bedworth defender and Guest, adjusting his body, angled a firm header just over the crossbar.
The visitors were by no means struggling for their own threatening moments. Khaellem Bailey-Nicholls worked himself a yard of space and shot just wide, though Martin looked to have it covered.
After a more even opening quarter of an hour, Bedworth began to turn the screw and Sphinx weren't able to get hold of the game. The visitors were dangerous with the ball around the Sphinx box and a tough defensive shift was already required.
Sphinx still wanted their say, however, and Lomax was the first goalkeeper really tested with 25 minutes played. Woodward delivered a terrific corner kick and Guest, who'd made himself some space around the back, headed towards goal. Lomax needed a decent stop to deny him.
By now, Sphinx had grown into the game. A couple of minutes later a nice attacking run by Shipman left Stewart with a glimpse of goal but his shot was blocked. Woodward, picking up the bits, sent in another lethal cross and it was Rawlings, this time, who found his header repelled by the Bedworth goalkeeper.
Despite a harmless Bedworth header wide, Sphinx were very much in the game and arguably on top for a spell in the first half, mixing it physically with the visitors and attacking just as capably.
But the game reached half time goalless only because of two huge let-offs for Thomas and Woodward’s men.
In the 39th minute Guest, prone on the grass, was adjudged to have handled the ball. Bedworth felt it was denial of an obvious goalscoring opportunity but the referee did not. The Greenbacks had to settle for a penalty, deprived for now of Guest’s dismissal.
Former Sphinx midfielder Richard Blythe stepped up to take the spot kick and went for the bottom corner. Scott Martin made an outstanding save and Draper followed in to make a vital tackle to clear the ball in the aftermath.
Then, almost on the cusp of half time and with Sphinx suddenly on the rack, Bedworth had a goal disallowed. A deep cross went in from the left and a header was directed back across goal. The ball was nodded over the line by a player who was offside.
It remained 0-0 at the break and Bedworth's players complained loudly about the lack of a red card for Guest. They soon had their wish.
Sphinx had been in the ascendancy before that pair of escapes at the end of the first half and established their footing again early in the second. They were fighting hard and able to put the Bedworth defence up against it as a result.
But a quality side is a quality side. Sphinx were better with and without the ball in the first ten minutes of the second half but only by a whisker.
A long pass forward found Bedworth forward Tyler Haddow but he shot straight at Martin, and just as the game started to get bogged down in midfield there came the three minutes that took the Greenbacks into the next round.
With 64 minutes played a storming run took Draper into the penalty area where he was pulled from pillar to post and was made to regret staying on his feet when the assistant referee ignored the clear foul taking place a few yards in front of him.
In the 68th minute, Sphinx’s hopes unravelled when Guest committed a foul with Bedworth on the break and was shown a second yellow card.
Already facing an uphill battle with ten men, Sphinx’s afternoon went from bad to worse when centre back William Edjenguele rose highest to head the free kick past Martin and into the net.
There would be no flag to save the hosts this time and, while they had a couple of looks at Lomax's goal and gave everything they had, the remainder of the game was really a Scott Martin showcase.
On 74 minutes he made a deft low diving save. On 84 he held a shot from the edge of the penalty area. On 87 his parried save was followed up and the ball cleared off the line. On 90 he pulled off a quite superb one-on-one save, his finest of many.
Thanks to Martin’s heroics in goal, Sphinx were able to stay in the match to the very end. But only the most invested observer would deny that Bedworth might have had another goal from one of their brighter spells.
In cup ties against higher level opposition, teams looking to cause an upset need everything to go their way. On this occasion, Sphinx enjoyed a little luck in the first half but found the football gods against them in the second.
Bedworth were more incisive and deserved their win but a big decision wrongly going the way of the visitors at 0-0 left a sour taste. Sphinx must pick themselves up quickly in order to get back on track in the league – there’s no time to waste on wallowing. Guest’s suspension ensures a challenging return to UCL action for the boys in sky blue and white.
Sphinx team
S. Martin, Draper, C. Martin (Platts), Whiteside, Guest, Bryson, Rawlings (Noon), J. Downes (L. Downes), Shipman, Woodward, Stewart. Unused subs: Billing, Francis, Walker, Selley-Haywood