Godmanchester Rovers 0-5 Coventry Sphinx
Marcus Robinson
Ongoing problems with the home team’s pitch meant that Coventry Sphinx’s final away game of the 2022/23 was played at the unusual kick-off time of 7pm on Saturday evening and at St Ives Town rather than Godmanchester Rovers.
Sphinx also had to contend with the additional pressure of playing after the team in second place in the Uhlsport United Counties League Premier Division South.
That result elsewhere cut Sphinx’s lead at the top to a single point by kick-off in Cambridgeshire but Shaun Thomas and John Woodward’s team handled the challenge masterfully to win 5-0 and put themselves one victory away from the title.
Woodward and Thomas were able to take a strong team to St Ives despite the change in kick-off time. Goalkeeper Scott Martin played behind Joe Pursey, Callum Whiteside, Louis Guest and Jordan Hayward in defence. Jack Downes started in midfield with captain Callum Woodward and ended the match with the armband himself.
Leo Stone played in an attacking midfield position after coming off the bench to win the previous fixture with a crucial stoppage time goal. Kyle Carey and Cally Stewart flanked Dylan Parker up front with Matty Shipman unavailable.
The visitors made an energetic start, looking to play quickly and get Godmanchester turned not by going long, but by moving the ball. It was an even first quarter of an hour but Sphinx appeared more potent.
Godmanchester deployed their familiar long throws effectively early on. It was the source of a chance for them after six minutes but a sturdy defensive block kept the scores level.
A slick Sphinx move created an opportunity for Carey in the 16th minute. His strike was saved and held by the Godmanchester goalkeeper but the visitors were really starting to tick as the middle of the first half came around.
In the 28th minute a free kick was cleared out as far as Carey and he drove his strike wide. Soon after that a Woodward corner led to a Guest header that was saved and a follow-up effort from Parker that was blocked by a defender.
A minute later the away team took the lead. Fantastic work wide on the left kept the attack alive after the previous phase had been cleared and Carey delivered an excellent in-swinging cross. Whiteside had stayed up after the original set piece and got to the ball just before the goalkeeper, nodding past him into the empty net to make it 1-0.
Sphinx suddenly clicked into gear. Pursey’s clever play on the right allowed him to feed Stone, who found Carey with a lovely reverse pass. The forward was unable to get enough purchase on his shot. It wasn’t long before he added another assist.
The second goal arrived on the stroke of half time. Hayward’s lethal cross caused problems at the back for Godmanchester and Carey managed to tee up Stewart inside the box. Sphinx’s top scorer grabbed his first of the night, firing the ball low into the corner to double his team’s advantage at the break. Stone came close to adding a third in stoppage time for good measure.
The visitors had their tails up and started the second half full of intensity. But, while Carey’s deflected shot from distance needed saving in the first minute of the period, Godmanchester gave as good as they got for a spell. Nevertheless, Sphinx were able to get in behind at will when the passing was right.
Ten minutes into the half Stone sent a shot just wide from six yards out after yet more sharp creative work by Carey. Downes was the next to have a crack, creating it himself with a superb powerful run. The strike was good too but zipped tantalisingly wide of goal.
With an hour played, Sphinx were doing what they needed to do. Their desire was unfailing and they passed the test for the most part, albeit with a need in the middle of the second half to get a foot on the ball and settle the game down. In the end, a third goal made sure and the visitors were able to ease to maximum points.
In the 67th minute Stewart nicked the ball in the area and was fouled. He took the penalty himself, went low to the goalkeeper’s right and ripped in a perfect spot kick. His second of the night made it 3-0 and there were a couple more still to come.
With the points all but secure, Sphinx played out the match with a calm approach that brought about a fourth goal, then a fifth.
Twelve minutes from time a speedy burst from Stewart opened up a chance that the home goalkeeper had to save, and his hat-trick wasn’t far away. After a spot of sloppy defending by Sphinx a harmless Godmanchester shot sailed wide, Stewart put the game beyond them once and for all.
Substitute Sam Jackson nudged through a terrific, incisive pass to put Stewart one on one with the goalkeeper. Stewart ran onto it, rounded the forlorn stopper, and slotted the ball confidently into the net. He had three, Sphinx had four, and there were still five minutes to go.
Stoppage time began with a speculative shot wide for Godmanchester and ended with a fourth goal from Stewart to make it 5-0. Jackson exchanged passes with another sub, Callum Martin, before passing across goal for the smartly positioned marksman to conclude the scoring.
Stewart’s fourth of the night was his team’s 99th league goal of a brilliant, brave, entertaining season. The result kept the championship race in Sphinx’s hands and ensured that it would go into the final week of the campaign.
Sphinx need three more points to win the Premier Division South and secure promotion to Step 4, and they have one more game from which to earn them. The last game of the season is at home against Eynesbury Rovers, who gave the team in second quite a fright before Sphinx’s trip to Godmanchester.
It will be a massive Saturday afternoon for the club. Nothing can be taken for granted but we know this wonderful Sphinx team will give everything they have to complete their remarkable run and give themselves something to celebrate.
Sphinx team
S. Martin, Pursey, Hayward (C. Martin), J. Downes, Guest (Draper), Whiteside, Carey (Jackson), Woodward (L. Downes), Parker (Johnson), Stewart, Stone