March Town United 0-2 Coventry Sphinx
Marcus Robinson
After holding games in hand for what seems like the entire season, Coventry Sphinx went four points clear at the top of the Uhlsport United Counties League Premier Division South with a 2-0 win at March Town United.
Now it's the team behind them who have an extra game remaining – five left for Rugby Town in second, four for Sphinx in first, and it's not a two-horse race until Newport Pagnell Town say so.
With the Swans in action in the FA Vase and Rugby’s game at Milton Keynes Irish postponed, the trip to Cambridgeshire was an important one for Sphinx and there were changes to the line-up named by joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas.
Joe Pursey made his first start at right back with Callum Martin continuing on the opposite wing and Callum Whiteside continuing at centre back alongside Louis Guest in front of goalkeeper Scott Martin.
Jack Downes, Luke Downes and skipper Callum Woodward provided the steel in midfield behind an incisive attacking trio of Matty Shipman, Dylan Parker and Kyle Carey. Despite the obvious firepower up top, Sphinx had to be patient to get this crucial match won and three more points on the pile.
It was immediately clear that the Hares were improved from their defeat at Sphinx Drive and the teams were evenly matched throughout the first quarter of this match at Robingoodfellows Lane.
A whipped drive wide of goal in the seventh minute for March was the first shot of the match and their long throw-ins were a thorn in Sphinx’s side in the early part of the match. After quarter of an hour one of the home team’s players escaped punishment for an obvious dive, soon followed by a shot straight into the hands of Scott Martin.
The visitors settled. After 20 minutes Carey went clear and stayed onside but held onto the ball long enough for March goalkeeper Charlie Congreve to snatch the chance away from him. Another powerful strike at the other end went wide just a few seconds later.
Sphinx were making the better openings but not turning them into shots, while the Hares got their strikes away and put defensive pressure on the visitors as a result.
Thomas and Woodward’s men eventually started to rack up the chances in the first half. In the 29th minute a free kick found Whiteside, who curled his effort wide. A couple of minutes later there were two presentable opportunities from a corner. Guest’s header was saved, Shipman’s follow-up shot blocked by a defender.
Only the crossbar denied Luke Downes ten minutes from the end of the half. He ripped a strike from a central position 25 yards from the March goal and had Congreve well beaten, only for the ball to thump against the woodwork.
That Downes attempt was the highlight of a half in which Sphinx’s lack of a clinical finish kept the home team in the game. They almost went one better in the third minute of stoppage time, when a blistering low free kick skipped up in front of Scott Martin and forced him into a remarkable and unorthodox reflex save to keep the scores level at the break.
The second half proved surprisingly serene in the circumstances, thanks in no small part to a quite brilliant opening goal as early as the 48th minute.
Sphinx had been eager to take quick set pieces in the first half but the match referee was equally keen to put a stop to them. On this occasion Woodward was allowed to expedite the restart and pinged a great pass across the pitch and out to the right channel, where Parker’s first touch was impeccable.
Parker cut inside, checked, and rolled the ball to Shipman. The in-form striker’s emphatic finish into the roof of the net was every bit as good as the play that came before and deservedly gave Sphinx the lead.
Reassured by the goal, the visitors started to play and gradually gained full control of the match. On the hour, another set piece chance saw Whiteside head over from a floated Woodward free kick. Callum Martin then cut across a left-footed piledriver from a wide position, a brilliant effort that just wouldn’t fade into the corner in time.
In the 63rd minute Sphinx got the all-important second goal and the composure of the assist was a big contributing factor again. Carey went clear in behind the March defence and showed superb patience and awareness to roll the ball to the side for Shipman. He finished with consummate ease and the visitors were 2-0 up.
From there, they were very much on top. Substitutes Max Johnson and Cally Stewart combined twelve minutes from time, Johnson slotting Stewart into a promising position before the top scorer was unable to steer his shot inside the far post.
March went close, too. With seven minutes remaining a beautifully struck free kick rattled the crossbar to narrowly maintain Sphinx’s two-goal lead. It was the last meaningful attack of the match.
With that, Sphinx stretched their narrow lead at the top of the Premier Division South table and have played more matches than Rugby Town for the first time this season. Nobody knows what the future holds and the only thing remotely under a football team’s control is its own results.
Sphinx have four to go. The Easter Bank Holiday takes them to Banbury to face Easington Sports and to the Butts Park Arena rugby stadium to take on a local opponent hell bent on stopping them winning the league. Both will be difficult fixtures. Both are must-wins for the boys in sky blue and white.
We already know they have the quality to climb to the top of the table. Over the next three weekends we’ll see whether they have the belief and determination to stay there and become legends.
Sphinx team
S. Martin, Pursey, C. Martin, L. Downes (Rawlings), Guest, Whiteside, Parker (Stewart), J. Downes, Shipman (Jackson), Carey (Stone), Woodward (Johnson)