Coventry Sphinx 2-1 Histon
Stuart Guest
Non-League Day is a wonderful thing. Founded by James Doe in 2010, it’s gone from strength to strength and gives clubs like Coventry Sphinx a chance to get people to come along and try non-league, or our club, for the first time.
Thirteen years on, Non-League Day’s own support from the football establishment brought the Premier League trophy to the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena before our Uhlsport United Counties League Premier Division South fixture against Histon.
Former England international Dion Dublin was in attendance with a Premier League and Football Foundation film crew. It was a busy and thrilling day but the distraction didn’t take away from a gutsy performance on the pitch. Sphinx won 2-1 after going behind but lost Jordan Hayward and James Bryson to unwelcome injuries.
Hayward started the match at left wing back but had to withdraw after quarter of an hour. Loz Rawlings played on the other side, flanking a midfield trio of Callum Woodward, Luke Downes and Kyle Carey.
Bryson played at centre back with Louis Guest and Callum Whiteside in front of goalkeeper Scott Martin, while Matty Shipman partnered Callum Stewart up front. Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas named a strong bench that proved a crucial factor in a vital win.
The home team could scarcely have got off to a worse start. After making the very early running, they were caught on the break and unable to recover as Histon got in behind in the left slot. Connor Barnes finished smartly into the far corner.
Sphinx took their time to respond, struggling to get to grips with a game that became scrappy for spells of the first half. By the 15th minute they were controlling most of the possession but not really getting anywhere with it.
Carey’s powerful shot was deflected wide in the middle of the half, one of a handful of chances that didn’t quite run Sphinx’s way before the break. Shipman and Stewart combined well to put pressure on Histon more than once but it came to nothing each time. Callum Martin, on in place of Hayward, fired over in the 24th minute but the hosts made heavy work of their attacking play.
Carey’s tricky footwork took him into the Histon box with seven minutes remaining of a patchy half and Sphinx felt aggrieved not to be awarded a penalty when he was brought down in a threatening position. Had they equalised in the first half through that route or any other, Histon might have had cause to feel the same way.
Woodward and Thomas needed their team to find a spark in the second half. It didn’t happen straight away. Histon are a physically strong side and won many duels and second balls throughout the match, but Sphinx made it all too easy for them to play football early in the second half too.
And then, the spark. A minute after Guest’s downward header had been palmed over by the Histon goalkeeper, the boys in sky blue and white made their moment. Shipman’s header in behind sent Carey one on one with the goalkeeper and he was always favourite to get to the ball first after robustly holding off a defender. His deft lob found the net and Sphinx were level.
Histon were never out of the match and it was easy to see what a good side they are, but when this Sphinx team get going they’re hard to stop. For a while after the equaliser they were buzzing and very much on top, though they did drift again – to the visitors’ credit – in the middle of the half.
Sphinx were playing rather better now but still needed to get through the gears. Carey collected the ball from a corner and produced a fantastic turn before shooting over in the 63rd minute. Histon hit back on the break once more, forcing Martin into a sharp diving save to keep the scores level.
Carey’s involvement was key to the home team’s winning goal twelve minutes from time. His beautiful pass out of midfield picked out sub Dylan Parker in the left channel. Parker’s first touch was impeccable and his drilled ball across the face of goal was tapped in at the back post by top scorer Stewart and Sphinx had the late lead.
Stewart’s cheeky free kick attempt two minutes later was saved at the near post shortly before Bryson’s injury. We wish him a speedy recovery and a return to the starting line-up as soon as possible.
Sphinx picked up where they left off after a long delay and used every trick in the book to see out more than eleven minutes of stoppage time, not least trying to score a third.
In the 99th minute, Shipman’s shot ripped over the crossbar after a fine run by substitute Leo Stone, one of four second-half replacements whose contribution to protecting the lead didn’t go unnoticed.
With a loss for Rugby Town on the same afternoon, this win made it difficult to pretend Sphinx aren’t in the running for first place. With six huge games to go, the title is in Sphinx’s hands for the first time since that really meant anything.
That brief acknowledgement out of the way, the goal remains the same as ever: pick up every single point we possibly can. It’s never been any different and it’s not going to change now. It’s been a tremendous season and being in with a shout so close to the finish line is exciting for all of us.
What lies ahead is a challenge Sphinx must now embrace. Two home games remain, the book-ends before and after four away matches in a row. None of them will be easy. None of them can be taken for granted. Let’s see what the future holds.
Sphinx team
S. Martin, Whiteside, Hayward (C. Martin), L. Downes, Guest, Bryson (Stone), Rawlings (Parker), Woodward, Shipman, Stewart (Johnson), Carey (J. Downes)