Sporting Khalsa 3-0 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
After a positive performance in defeat to high-flying Spalding United, Coventry Sphinx struggled to get going in a 3-0 loss at Sporting Khalsa in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands.
Khalsa took three of their chances and might have scored a couple more on a day when the woodwork denied them more readily than the opposition. Sphinx had good spells on the ball but this was a comprehensive defeat that should pose some questions.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas started with Keelan Fallows in goal and opted for Louis Guest and James Bryson at centre back in between full backs Joe Pursey and Jordan Hayward.
Luke Downes, Alex Lock and captain Callum Woodward started in midfield, and Jac Redhead and Kyle Carey played in more advanced positions off striker Matty Shipman.
The visitors made a decent enough start but a mistake in possession gave Khalsa an early opportunity, culminating in a shot over Fallows’ crossbar with two minutes played.
Less than a minute later the hosts had the lead when Gurjit Singh was teed up on the edge of the box and swept the ball across the goalkeeper and into the bottom corner, profiting from determined Khalsa play in the final third.
They were in the ascendancy for a while after the goal and Sphinx weren't able to keep the ball for any sustained period until the middle of the half. Khalsa, meanwhile, were getting forward with ease and at speed.
Sphinx enjoyed a positive patch before the half hour but a succession of offsides – initially correctly identified but later more doubtful – blunted their threat.
The home team steadied themselves and zipped a low drive wide of goal from 30 yards out in the 30th minute. Though Khalsa were back on the front foot, the rest of the first half was end to end.
Khalsa went close again after 36 minutes and Sphinx hit back after 39. Some nice play in midfield freed up Carey, whose clever clip in behind created an opening for Shipman. The striker fired wide from a very tight angle.
Three minutes later Woodward delivered a corner only for the ball to be cleared back to him. He whipped it back in and it was headed out as far as Bryson, whose volley from the edge of the box dipped towards goal but sailed safely over Ben Whiting’s bar.
Sphinx were forced into a change as half time loomed with a one-goal deficit. Carey had taken a knock earlier in the half and was withdrawn. His replacement was the familiar face of Ryan Harkin, who came on to make his first Sphinx appearance at Step Four.
After the break Sphinx fared well at first. Fallows saved and held a free kick but a couple of dangerous attacks showed the intent of the visitors. They were necessarily leaving the back door ajar, however, and Fallows was called into action again.
In the 52nd minute Khalsa generated a chance and clipped the crossbar from just inside the box. They had another couple of good looks at goal and from there it was their day. They moved the ball well and pushed Sphinx back, notably looking like scoring when the visitors went forward in numbers to hunt for an equaliser.
Pursey sent in a cross from the right just before the hour and Woodward arrived beyond the back post to turn the ball towards goal. It bounced wide of the post.
Sphinx were solid in possession in the middle of the second half but the sense that they were playing with fire was palpable. With 61 minutes played, Fallows had to make an excellent save to keep Khalsa out after his pass had been picked off by an opponent.
A thumping strike from 25 yards beat Fallows but not the crossbar in the 66th minute. Khalsa soon had their second goal anyway.
In the 67th minute a corner kick led to the ball bouncing around in the Sphinx box and the defence couldn't snag it in order to force it clear. James McGrady gathered it and thrashed the ball in from twelve yards to make it 2-0 and put to bed any serious hopes of a Sphinx comeback.
A double substitution shuffled the defensive personnel for Sphinx and led to centre back Will Edjenguele getting a brief shift up front as the visitors tried in vain to get something from the match.
They had performed reasonably well in many aspects up to that point but didn't test Khalsa goalkeeper Whiting until the last ten minutes. He made a fine low save from Harkin’s shot on target, the key moment in his quest for a clean sheet.
Far from a rousing finale from the visitors, the last five minutes were all Khalsa. Fallows made a superb save with the home team breaking and then another to keep the score at 2-0 soon afterwards.
He could do nothing to deny them a third goal at the third time of asking. Sphinx failed to deal with another corner in the 88th minute and Khalsa captain Tesfa Robinson was in the right place to smash it into the roof of the net.
The hosts hit the base of the post in the final minute of normal time but the damage had long been done. The second goal killed Sphinx off and their paucity of chances made them easy to beat after conceding a very early goal.
Losing matches is just part of the reality of being promoted from Step Five to Step Four for a club of Sphinx’s means. But not all defeats are created equal.
Sometimes you don't get the rub of the green, sometimes you don't show up and sometimes you fall a little short against a team that offers more on the day. This was the latter kind. Khalsa looked sharper, were quicker to second balls and, in the end, made enough headway to score three without reply.
Sphinx have been in a rough spot since the turn of the year but their heads haven't dropped and there are better days to come. There is quality in the side, the attitude is right throughout the squad and soon enough a good performance will translate into another three points.
Their next two matches are both at home. Loughborough Dynamo will visit the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena for the rearranged league fixture on Tuesday 16th January.
On the following Saturday it's Harborough Town who'll come to Coventry eager to continue their league-leading form. Time will tell whether Thomas and Woodward’s team can get back on the right path.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Pursey, Hayward, L. Downes (Whiteside), Guest (Edjenguele), Bryson, Lock, Woodward, Shipman, Redhead, Carey (Harkin). Unused sub: Martin