Coventry Sphinx 2-2 Newport Pagnell Town
Stuart Guest
Coventry Sphinx and Newport Pagnell Town played out two tight matches in Sphinx’s first season in the United Counties League, winning a home game each by a single goal.
Sphinx edged Newport Pagnell out of fourth place on the last day of the 2021/22 season; Newport Pagnell were busy winning the FA Vase after knocking out the team that defeated Sphinx in the latter rounds of the same competition.
The top end of the Premier Division South looks a little more open with Harborough Town and Hinckley LRFC now at Step Four and Newport Pagnell have their eyes on promotion. They are, therefore, formidable opposition.
Yet this 2-2 draw felt like a suckerpunch defeat for Sphinx, who took the lead for the second time with six minutes remaining but conceded in the fifth minute of stoppage time. The inquest began immediately but this will, in time and with wounds healed, reveal itself to be a positive result.
John Woodward and Shaun Thomas made some changes to their starting line-up, with James Bryson and Louis Guest returning to the defence in front of goalkeeper Scott Martin and alongside Jamie Draper after being unavailable against Desborough Town.
Jordan Hayward shifted to left wing back in place of Callum Martin, and Leo Stone came into midfield in front of Jack Downes and Callum Woodward. Loz Rawlings continued at right wing back, and Callum Stewart partnered Matty Shipman up front.
It was Shipman who got the ball rolling in the seventh minute. After an end-to-end start, Sphinx were awarded a free kick in midfield and Woodward clipped it superbly into the penalty area, where Guest was beaten to the ball by a combination of three Newport Pagnell defenders.
The ball dropped to Shipman and the Sphinx striker controlled it and fired left-footed past Martin Conway before the goalkeeper could react. The ball found the bottom corner and Sphinx had an early lead.
It was an even and entertaining start and Newport Pagnell threatened. Scott Martin had to move his feet well to flick a whipped cross wide of the post in the tenth minute, and he saved smartly from a scramble in the box a few minutes later when it seemed inevitable the visitors would score.
But Sphinx had grasped the initiative. It wasn’t always pretty but it was causing problems for the away defence. The game swung Newport Pagnell’s way in the middle of the first half but the back three and Jack Downes – an excellent screen for them all afternoon – worked themselves into the ground to keep Sphinx’s noses in front.
With 26 minutes played, Shipman stole the ball on the Newport Pagnell byline and teed up Rawlings as the wing back arrived to support him. Rawlings went past a defender and cut it back across goal. Conway got down well to prevent an own goal when the ball ricocheted off a defender.
By now, the match’s secondary plot had emerged. Sphinx had seen a reasonable penalty shout turned down and Newport Pagnell escaped unpunished after three clear yellow card offences and a barrage of fouls in midfield.
But this was a contest more memorable for the quality of play than the evenly matched and admittedly absorbing physical contest, and Sphinx were at it again just after the half hour.
Shipman reversed a clever pass into the left-hand channel for Stewart, who got clear of his marker and raced into the box. Choosing not to shoot, he instead looked for a pass across Conway. Stone couldn’t connect with the goal at his mercy and a crucial late touch from a defender nicked the ball off the toes of Rawlings at the back post.
Newport Pagnell went wide with a shot from outside the box in the 44th minute and an often spiky and increasingly ill-tempered first half came to a close with the hosts holding a 1-0 lead.
Sphinx came close to extending that lead in the first minute of the second half. Stewart was played in with a nice pass around the corner and delivered the ball low into the box. It made its way back to Woodward, who saw his shot blocked by a Newport Pagnell defender.
The home team played ten minutes with a man advantage thanks to the sin-binning of Newport Pagnell’s Jake Watkinson. Sphinx sought to capitalise in the 51st minute but Conway stood up well to Stewart’s attempted lob after Woodward had intercepted the ball and found the striker with a tremendous pass.
Just before the hour, Rawlings was the architect of another chance for the hosts. He slotted the ball wide for Shipman, whose cross was good but a fraction too high for Stewart to snaffle under pressure. The top scorer headed wide.
Sphinx had controlled much of the pitch with Watkinson out of the play, but Newport Pagnell retained a threat with ten men and made it 1-1 just a few minutes after his return to the pitch restored them to eleven.
Danny Webb got up to bury a free header from Ben Shepherd’s cross and the equaliser heralded a significant period of weathering the storm for Sphinx. As if to accentuate the point, the hailstones and pouring rain arrived right on time.
It might have been different had the home team not had a goal disallowed in the 69th minute. Stewart was played clear despite a Newport Pagnell handball, the touch apparently confusing the assistant referee who flagged for offside after rounding Conway and rolling the ball into the net.
There were chances for Woodward and Draper as the conditions deteriorated but Newport Pagnell had their tails up and were pushing for all three points until a double change paid off for Sphinx.
With six minutes remaining, Callum Martin blazed up the left wing and picked out a perfect pass across goal. Conway couldn’t get there, Mason Platts slid in to prod the ball home and Sphinx were 2-1 up thanks to two substitutes who’d been on the field for just a few minutes.
Newport Pagnell’s equaliser was a cheap one from a Sphinx point of view. It came in the fifth minute of stoppage time, with the home team now holding on under serious attack from the visitors. The ball got lost in the box, Jake Newman found it, and his powerful volley gave Scott Martin no chance of keeping it out.
While it was sickening to drop two points beyond the expected added time, there were plenty of positives for Woodward and Thomas to take from the game. This was, in many aspects, an improved performance. Only the goals conceded – and the nature of them – give cause for regret.
The home team made chances more freely than in some of their matches so far this season, and did so through more consistent use of the ball and better link play between defence and midfield, and midfield and attack.
Just as the previous Saturday, this result took Sphinx to the top of the Premier Division South, albeit temporarily. If nothing else, it showed that these two teams remain competitive and that neither should fear anyone in this division as the weather turns for winter.
Sphinx team
S. Martin, Draper, Hayward (L. Downes), J. Downes, Guest, Bryson, Rawlings (C. Martin), Woodward, Shipman (Noon), Stone (Platts), Stewart (Billing)