Coventry Sphinx 0-1 Bedworth United
Stuart Guest
After the thudding reality check of defeat at Spalding United, Coventry Sphinx were eager to pick up their first win in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands when they hosted neighbours Bedworth United on Bank Holiday Monday.
For the second home match in a row Sphinx were on the wrong end of a single goal. Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas can certainly claim to have been the better team against Sporting Khalsa but a dearth of real chances in front of goal meant that Bedworth, though they had to work for the win, were seldom in danger of giving up their slender lead.
Sphinx were short-handed once more. Matty Shipman and Keelan Fallows remained unavailable, Kyle Carey was unable to play and Jordan Hayward’s injury in the previous match kept him out of this one.
Woodward and Thomas started with Zach Hedge in goal behind Joe Pursey, Callum Whiteside, Louis Guest and Callum Martin in defence. Luke Downes came into the midfield alongside Jack Downes, Max Johnson and captain Callum Woodward, and there was a first start for Antonio Cristofaro off striker Dylan Parker.
Though absorbing, this wasn't a game for the purists. Goalmouth action was at a premium, shots on target few and far between. In that regard it was a typical derby match.
It was Sphinx who generated the first chance of the match. Woodward's fine work created it for Cristofaro, who cut inside well but saw his shot easily saved by Bedworth goalkeeper Sam Lomax.
The visitors made their presence felt quickly, with lots of early pressure on the Sphinx defence. A sequence of long throw-ins and a corner kept the home team honest before a Greenbacks shot on the turn was deflected wide of goal in the tenth minute.
But it wasn't one-way traffic. Sphinx had Bedworth working for everything. Another shot was deflected off target and, from the resulting corner, Whiteside and Hedge collided in the six-yard box.
The delay for Whiteside's subsequent treatment did the game no favours. There was no shape or rhythm in the first half. While the match wasn't exactly attritional, it was a scrap for the most part.
In the 29th minute, a Bedworth free kick nicked off the Sphinx defensive wall and flew wide. The next chance was more than ten minutes away but it was ultimately the one that mattered most.
Bedworth's Leo Stone won the United Counties League Premier Division South with Sphinx last season, scoring one particularly crucial goal in the process, and his first-time finish past Hedge five minutes before half time was the difference here too.
The officials were kept busy at half time with tempers running hot at the end of a niggly half. There was more to come in the second period and that, really, is where the action was.
The visitors saw a volley blasted wide from a narrow angle before Sphinx made a couple of chances, beginning with their best of the match and one that really should have been taken.
Parker created it with a fine run before teeing up Cristofaro, who was unable to find the finish from close range. He did rather better in the 51st minute but his sharp run and shot didn't stretch Lomax in the Bedworth goal.
Just before Sphinx made some rearrangements to get an extra man up front and closer to Parker, captain Woodward fulfilled the role.
He drew the attention of Bedworth central defender Joe Mugunda, whose off-the-ball shenanigans in full view of the officials culminated in a kick and a stamp that should have led to a straight red card.
The unorthodox switch that followed brought centre back Dawid Peplinski off the bench to play up front with Parker, where he was an effective challenge for Bedworth's aerial power and the catalyst for a good spell for the home team.
Despite this positive spell, Bedworth were the likelier scorers of a second goal against a Sphinx side who fell asleep too often two days after a long and difficult away trip.
Hedge made an easy save in the 70th minute and Sphinx's best move of the match took them straight to the other end, where Jack Downes smashed in a terrific cross. Parker headed wide but Sphinx continued to push.
Lomax's best save of the game came 15 minutes from time. Woodward delivered a long free kick and Guest did well to win the header and send the ball towards the bottom corner. It didn't have much on it but the Bedworth goalkeeper had to react quickly to get down in time.
After one final shot over the bar, Bedworth sought to take the sting out of the match through the last five minutes and a healthy chunk of stoppage time. When it comes to that particular task, there's nothing green about the Greenbacks.
If losing to Spalding was an eye opener, this defeat against Bedworth was an unwelcome glimpse of the familiar. Sphinx have had several tight games against Bedworth over the years and the truth is that some of them were closer than this.
Nevertheless, it’s important that the players and management maintain their confidence. They won’t want to hear it again but Spalding aside, Sphinx have stepped up a level and competed in every game from the first whistle to the last.
They should have beaten Quorn, might have beaten Gresley Rovers and could have beaten high-flying Sporting Khalsa. A bad weekend with key players missing all over the pitch doesn’t change that.
But the elusive first win has to come soon. Sphinx now revert to weekly Saturday matches for a while, the first being a visit to Sutton Coldfield Town and the second a vital tie against Quorn in the Isuzu FA Trophy.
Sphinx team
Hedge, Pursey, Martin, L. Downes (Ellis), Guest, Whiteside, J. Downes, Woodward, Parker, Cristofaro (Phillips), Johnson (Peplinski). Unused sub: Penton