Long Buckby AFC 1-5 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
After sweating over a late win against Rothwell Corinthians on the preceding Saturday, Coventry Sphinx again faced adversity in their midweek fixture against Long Buckby at Station Road in the Uhlsport United Counties League Premier Division South.
Shaun Thomas and John Woodward’s side went behind to an early goal for the Bucks but quickly turned the game around, leading 3-1 at half time and eventually running out 5-1 victors on a night when a draw elsewhere worked in their favour at the top of the table.
Callum Whiteside and Callum Martin joined Louis Guest in the back three in front of Scott Martin, with Sam Jackson and Jordan Hayward starting the game in the wing back positions. Luke Downes anchored the midfield behind captain Callum Woodward and Leo Stone, with Matty Shipman and Callum Stewart up front.
It was a lively start. After two minutes a curling Woodward free kick had to be saved at the near post, and three minutes later Long Buckby had the lead. The assistant referee appeared to have his flag up for offside but the opening goal on the break stood and the Bucks were in front.
Sphinx immediately set about the search for an equaliser and seemed certain to get it until Stone was hauled down when he was about to take a shot from close range with only the goalkeeper in the way. The bizarre decision not to dismiss the defender meant little in the end.
Stewart stepped up and smashed the resulting penalty kick into the bottom left corner and Sphinx were on their way to a big win on the road.
In the tenth minute Shipman was played through on goal as the visitors began to open up Long Buckby at will. On this occasion he had to touch the ball slightly wide and got underneath the shot, which sailed over the crossbar.
Downes fired in a low left-footer from inside the penalty area a minute later and it zipped wide. Quarter of an hour in, Sphinx were shading a match that had little shape but a few presentable openings.
A pinpoint through-ball from Stewart created another in the 19th minute and this time it had the desired outcome. Stone went clear and buried the ball in the bottom corner to complete the quick-fire turnaround for the boys in sky blue and white.
With the lead now theirs, Thomas and Woodward’s team really got to grips with the match. As Long Buckby laboured, Sphinx did a professional but seldom spectacular job against them. The win was made even more likely five minutes before half time, when the visitors scored their third goal in a half that wasn’t much of a spectacle.
Jackson ran in from the right and clipped in a threatening cross. The ball was helped on by a defender at the near post and was met by Shipman, who had a free header practically under the crossbar. He couldn’t miss and Sphinx had three.
There was still time for Scott Martin to have to make a deft save when a shot was drilled at him from twenty yards, and for Jackson to have a powerful shot of his own repelled at the other end. That led to a corner, from which Sphinx had the first of a few goals of the night disallowed – correctly, in this case.
Sphinx made an improved start to the second half and eventually took complete control of the match.
Six minutes into the half Shipman passed the ball across goal and it made its way out to Jackson beyond the back post. The wing back’s shot hit the upright but goal number four was on the way.
Woodward slipped Stone into the right channel and he drew a good save from the goalkeeper to win a corner. Sphinx kept the chance alive from the set piece and Jackson delivered for Shipman to apply another clinical finish and make it 4-1 to the blue boys.
With a three-goal advantage the visitors hit their groove. Guest had a header saved from another corner three minutes later, before excellent work by Hayward culminated in a shooting chance for Downes. His 20-yarder was just wide of the target.
Four changes at 4-1 brought Max Johnson, Jack Kennedy and Loz Rawlings into the fray as well as a debut for the returning forward Kyle Carey, back in a Sphinx shirt after leaving another team in the city.
Carey was immediately in the thick of it, sending Stone – now at wing back – into the clear on the right. Stone’s cross set up a Shipman header but the goalkeeper was equal to it and Sphinx had to wait for a fifth.
Scott Martin in the visiting team’s goal made a sharp save from close range in the middle of the half but Sphinx were relentless in their attacking intent and grabbed a fifth a couple of minutes later.
Stewart provided the smart assist but Carey took the plaudits, cutting back onto his left foot and squeezing home the first goal of his new Sphinx spell after just twelve minutes.
Ultimately, that was the end of the scoring and Sphinx had to settle for five on a night that could easily have brought more. Shipman’s speculative header over in the 74th minute was followed by a couple of efforts cleared off the line and a disallowed goal for a very questionable offside, and not the last.
All that remained was to avoid the barrage of late challenges and bank three valuable points. Sphinx were perhaps a little ragged at times and ended the match with none of the usual back three. After taking an early lead Long Buckby barely created an opening.
What started as an iffy night in the making ended up as a comfortable win for the team in second place in the table. Consecutive wins against the bottom two kept Sphinx on track for a good finish but there’s a long way to go and a lot of points still out there to be won and lost.
The last month of the season consists of seven matches, starting with a home back-to-back against in-form Histon on Non-League Day and Cogenhoe United the following Tuesday. Then there are four away games on the bounce before Sphinx end the season at home against Eynesbury Rovers on Saturday 22nd April.
Sphinx team
S. Martin, Whiteside, Hayward (Johnson), L. Downes (Carey), Guest (Kennedy), C. Martin, Jackson (Rawlings), Woodward, Shipman, Stewart, Stone. Unused sub: Draper