Coventry Sphinx 0-1 Rugby Town
Chris Nee
While it’s doubtful Coventry Sphinx’s poor record in matches against Rugby Town will have been in the team’s thinking before their most recent meeting, it makes for even more miserable reading after a 1-0 home defeat.
The Valley visited the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena for the second match of the new Uhlsport United Counties League Premier Division South season and made it six points from six thanks to David Kolodynski’s goal.
Sphinx joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas welcomed a new signing into their starting line-up. With goalkeeper Tom Cross out long-term with the injury he sustained at Histon on the opening day, Scott Martin was quickly signed and put in an impressive debut performance.
Callums Whiteside and Martin continued in the wing back positions either side of Jamie Draper, Louis Guest and James Bryson – back in more familiar territory after brilliantly deputising for Cross a few days earlier – in the centre of defence.
Jack Downes and Luke Downes started in a midfield led by captain Callum Woodward, the match winner against Histon. Callum Stewart scored the Sphinx equaliser that day and took his place in the starting line-up against Rugby next to Matty Shipman up front.
Rugby made the early running and looked to capitalise on a slow start by the home side. In the fifth minute they won a corner and the aerial battle that came of it, heading just over.
Sphinx enjoyed a fleeting period of possession in the visitors’ half and Shipman’s flick-on sent Stewart clear in the tenth minute. He got a good shot away but goalkeeper Matt Hill saved comfortably and Rugby soon started to take control of what became a very scrappy first half.
Yet the early goalmouth action went in Sphinx’s favour. With quarter of an hour played Stewart dropped into the hole and teed up Luke Downes, who laid the ball out wide for his brother, Jack. His cross to the back post found Whiteside but the angle was too tight to give Hill any problems.
By the middle of the half Rugby were on top in terms of possession and their most dangerous moments in a windy first half at Sphinx Drive came from the long throw-ins of right back Luke English. The game was increasingly punctuated by fouls as the half progressed.
Gradually, Rugby translated their control of the half into some presentable chances. In the 25th minute a dangerous low ball right across the face of goal was dug out from under the crossbar by Guest, and a couple of minutes later goalkeeper Martin’s handling had to be perfect to keep the Valley at bay.
The home team did have possession of their own but were rushed, too eager to get the ball from back to front too quickly – there’s nothing wrong with the approach but the execution reflected an uneasiness at how the game was developing.
Two moments of controversy occurred in the last five minutes of the first half. First, Woodward’s free kick was handled in the penalty area by a player in the Rugby wall. Ten yards is generally considered a distance at which handball is avoidable.
Then, with the break imminent and after Stewart seemingly fouled English, Rugby instigated a flashpoint off the ball which might have resulted in one of any number of disciplinary outcomes but led, ultimately, to nothing but half-time handbags. Goalless, then, at the interval.
The needle from that incident lingered into the second half, making for an entertaining but scruffy spell. Rugby turned up the pressure in the 52nd minute but Sphinx settled themselves by putting together a lovely passing move from back to front that came to a halt only when Whiteside, clear on goal with the ball at his feet in the penalty area, fell victim to the assistant referee’s flag.
As the game stretched it became evident that it wasn’t likely to work in favour of a Sphinx team who were a little off-colour. Ten minutes into the half Scott Martin was called into action and made a confident diving catch.
At the other end, Hill was fortunate to avoid punishment after leaving his penalty and being unable to gather the ball before his attempt to control it connected instead with Stewart. The Sphinx forward stayed on his feet and attempted to keep the attack moving, saving the Rugby goalkeeper from a free kick in a dangerous position and a probable card.
Martin made another good save just before the hour but the game’s defining moment was in the post. Sphinx gave away a soft free kick in the defensive third and initially repelled the immediate threat but never really cleared their lines.
The ball eventually broke nicely for Kolodynski, who worked himself half a yard of space and struck a shot on the turn. It was destined for the bottom corner and Martin, this time, could do nothing about it.
The home team briefly rallied and set about the hunt for an equaliser. In the middle of the half a corner was partially cleared and Callum Martin – who put in another quality performance on the left – whipped a venomous cross back into danger. Guest’s glancing header was thin enough to stay in play and Hill had to get up well to grab the ball off Whiteside’s head when it came back in.
A minute later a long free kick out of defence was flicked on by Guest. Shipman drew the ball in, turned and fired in a low shot that Hill saved well at his near post. Soon after, Woodward took a corner quickly. Rugby weren’t set but Guest had seen the opportunity and sprinted from the back. Hill saved his header.
Thomas and Woodward’s team threw everything they had at Rugby in the last 20 minutes, loading the attack with more and more bodies and going more direct as a result. The desired equaliser didn’t materialise; Rugby were able to open the home team up and carved out the game’s only real remaining chance. It deflected up and over, and they stood fast against the late Sphinx artillery to claim maximum points.
Sphinx’s inability to generate the golden chance to equalise was frustrating but this was a match that could have gone either way. On another night the home players engage Kolodynski quicker or his shot drags wide, and they take a chance of their own. On this occasion it was Rugby who took theirs in a game of few.
It’s both a blessing and a curse that the fixtures come so thick and fast at this stage of the season. On the one hand, there’s little time to dwell on narrow defeats. On the other, there’s seldom a chance to take pause for evaluation and adaptation.
There’s certainly no respite for Sphinx, who stride right into another big home match against local opposition, this time welcoming Step 4 Bedworth United to Sphinx Drive in the Extra Preliminary Round of the Emirates FA Cup. Defeat to the Valley must be quickly forgotten.
Sphinx team
S. Martin, Draper, C. Martin, J. Downes (Walker), Guest, Bryson, Whiteside (Francis), Woodward, Shipman, L. Downes (Platts), Stewart. Unused subs: Billing, Fraser