Coventry Sphinx 1-1 Quorn
Stuart Guest
Drawn matches were few and far between for Coventry Sphinx in their two seasons in the United Counties League but they had to share the points with fellow promoted outfit Quorn in their first match in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands.
The match ended in a 1-1 draw that both sides can consider a job well done but it might have been all three for the Sphinx, who conceded an equaliser within seconds of opening the scoring and had a big goal-line decision go against them deep into stoppage time.
This was Sphinx’s first ever match in the eighth tier of English football and joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas kept faith with the bulk of the team that was eliminated from the Emirates FA Cup at Stourport Swifts.
Captain Callum Woodward returned from injury with Luke Downes making way. Jack Downes and Max Johnson played in midfield with the skipper behind a fluid front three comprising Kyle Carey, Dylan Parker and Matty Shipman.
Goalkeeper Keelan Fallows made his first league start for the Sphinx. Louis Guest and Callum Whiteside started in the centre of defence, flanked by Joe Pursey on the right and Jordan Hayward on the left.
After being unable to have a substantial impact in the FA Cup, the home side made a positive and incisive start in the league. Quorn quickly found their feet too and it was Fallows who had the first bit of handling to do, saving comfortably to keep out a volley from twelve yards out in the twelfth minute.
For a spell in the middle of the first half it seemed a presentable chance for the Sphinx wouldn’t be far away, but the visitors consistently looked threatening in the first half hour of a very competitive match.
Woodward and Thomas were forced into a change after 25 minutes. Left back Hayward succumbed to an injury he sustained while stretching into a tackle a few minutes earlier and Martin was introduced in his place.
Shipman battled hard up front all afternoon and was the catalyst for a couple of half chances for the home side around the half-hour mark as the wind really picked up.
First, he teed up Carey for a left-footed shot that flew wide. Then, after hunting down a lost cause in the Quorn penalty area, he managed to get an unlikely shot away. It didn’t have the heft required to test goalkeeper Charlie Woods.
In the 39th minute the Quorn stopper was in action again, fielding a curling effort from Callum Woodward that caught the wind after the referee played advantage in Sphinx’s favour.
Quorn had their moments too – a free kick in the last minute of normal time in the first half sailed over Fallows’ crossbar after a short period of pressure – but the closest either team came before the break was an effort by Parker in the third added minute. His strike on the turn drifted just wide of the post when Woods appeared beaten.
The tempo in the first half was frantic but there was plenty of quality on show between the 18-yard boxes. Playing at that kind of pace with the wind whipping around your ears isn’t easy and both teams showed that they were good value for their respective promotions last term.
Quorn made the better start to the second half but by the hour it was Sphinx who were starting to put together some sustained attacks. They were quickly rewarded with their first ever Step Four goal.
In the 57th minute Shipman was played in behind and opted to try to lob Woods as he came out to meet him. The goalkeeper made a fine save and the ball struck the post on its way out for the corner from which Sphinx opened the scoring.
There aren’t many goals scored by this team that don’t involve a Callum. On this occasion, two combined to make it 1-0 in the 58th minute. Woodward stood the corner kick up at the back post. Whiteside rose highest to get his head on the ball and divert it beyond Woods and into the corner of the net.
Sphinx’s elation was short-lived. Quorn equalised from the restart, catching the home team cold in a manner that justifiably frustrated the players in blue. Paddy Webb scored the goal, driving a nicely struck low shot across Fallows and into the far corner from the left of the Sphinx box.
Perhaps inevitably, Sphinx – though they rallied later – wobbled a little after conceding in those circumstances. Quorn hit the crossbar with a header from a free kick three minutes later and Sphinx lived dangerously for a few minutes before the game turned scrappy.
With quarter of an hour remaining, substitute Martin took matters into his own hands and drove hard at the Quorn full back. He hit the byline on the left and cut the ball back to Parker, whose powerful shot from just outside the box was well blocked.
Though Sphinx shaded the last ten minutes, Quorn had a couple of big chances drop their way. Both were headers from dead balls. Both were met flush by defender Patrick Zito. Both – thankfully from a Sphinx point of view – missed the target.
Zito’s header over from a corner came in the last minute of regulation time just as the match looked destined to remain a draw. Sphinx had other ideas and two corners of their own nearly forced the issue in stoppage time.
With Woodward and Johnson having been replaced by Luke Downes and Sam Ellis on his league debut, Carey assumed set piece duties. Shipman’s shot was blocked after the ball was headed back to him from one delivery.
From the next, Shipman and his team-mates thought he’d gone one better. With the ball loose, the striker got his head on it to send it goalward. Desperate goalkeeping from Woods and panic among his defenders eventually forced it clear.
The home team were convinced the ball had crossed the line but the assistant referee disagreed and a close game ended 1-1. On the balance of play it was really the fairest outcome.
The late disappointment was a bitter pill to swallow but this was an exceptionally tight game that Quorn will rightly believe they didn’t deserve to lose. The visitors carried a genuine threat for good stretches of the match and Woodward and Thomas had cause to be pleased with what had to be a robust Sphinx showing.
Losing Hayward to injury in the first half was a blow but Martin came on and demonstrated Sphinx’s depth against a challenging opponent. Whiteside’s goal capped a terrific performance at the back, while Jack Downes made his presence felt in midfield as Shipman did up front.
Nobody at Sphinx is expecting to experience an easy game in 2023/24. Tough games against quality sides is the only flavour on offer and the team will have to develop a taste for it very quickly. Next on the menu is a return to Gresley Rovers for a Tuesday night fixture that promises to be every bit the task Quorn presented on the opening Saturday.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Pursey, Hayward (Martin), J. Downes, Guest, Whiteside, Parker, Woodward (L. Downes), Shipman, Carey, Johnson (Ellis). Unused subs: Phillips, Cristofaro