Hinckley LRFC 0-2 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
Coventry Sphinx responded to a disappointing defeat in their previous match by collecting all three points from a comfortable 2-0 away win against Hinckley LRFC.
Kyle Carey’s penalty and a first Sphinx goal for Damian Kelly put the visitors two goals up at the break. Leicester Road’s goalkeeper was the busier in the second half and Sphinx went above their hosts in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands Division.
Kelly was given his first start with Shay Willock serving the last game of his suspension and Alex Lock away on international duty.
Kyle Carey and Jordan Hayward provided ample attacking support ahead of a midfield three of Jack Downes, captain Callum Woodward and debutant Kyle Burke, who joined the club from Boldmere St Michaels in time to start in Leicestershire.
With Pat Zito carrying a knock, goalkeeper Charlie Woods played behind a back four made up of Joe Pursey, Jamie Draper, Louis Guest and Finlay Shorrock. There were returns on the bench for Callum Martin and Sam Lockley.
Hinckley shaded an uneventful opening quarter of an hour but Sphinx, wearing their sky blue and white home shirts but the red shorts and socks of the away kit, had the first chance.
Hayward cut in from the right and hit a low left-footed shot that took a touch off the fingertips of Hinckley goalkeeper Jake Laban but resulted only in a goal kick for the home side.
The first half an hour was a well-matched affair without a great deal of quality around the two penalty boxes and some full-blooded play in the middle of the park.
With 31 minutes played, Sphinx were awarded a penalty. A pull-back teed up Downes for a shot at goal, which was on target but saved by a Hinckley defender who made the block with his arm outstretched. Sphinx wanted a red card for denial of an obvious goal-scoring opportunity but a yellow was the outcome.
The spot kick was more significant and the responsibility was assumed by Carey. He drilled the penalty into the roof of Laban’s net to make it 1-0 to the visitors.
Laban had to make an excellent save to thwart Woodward from a nicely placed free kick ten minutes before the end of the half. Sphinx went close again two minutes later, when a dangerous Hayward cross from the left was only taken off Kelly’s head by a vital touch from a Hinckley defender.
Hayward and Kelly did manage to connect in the 43rd minute. Kelly received the ball a long way out with his back to goal but held it up, beat his marker on the turn and played the ball out to Hayward on the right.
The winger drove forward and picked out Kelly once he reached the box. The young striker controlled the pass and swept the ball across Laban and into the bottom corner to make it 2-0 and put Sphinx in the driving seat.
Aaron Nuttall fired over for the home team in the third minute of injury time and the visitors took a two-goal lead into the break.
Sphinx were pushed back towards their own goal at the start of the second half but Woods, who handled his business well from crosses and set pieces, remained untested in terms of saving shots.
Hayward went close in the early part of the half, curling a left-footed shot just wide of the top corner. Sphinx had a good spell after that but Hinckley found some momentum. It lacked any sort of end product and it was the away side who should have added the third goal of the match.
Carey had a goal-bound shot well blocked in the 73rd minute and Laban made another sharp save to keep out a firmly struck Downes drive with six minutes remaining.
Sphinx benefited from the absence of a spark in the game. They took nothing for granted and fought hard to hold on to the three points but there was little tension in the final quarter of the match.
The last meaningful attack came in stoppage time and Downes was involved again. Laban saved his shot on the break and Fuseini’s follow-up, which has delivered before, forced another stop to keep the difference at two.
Sphinx were worthy winners at Leicester Road. They scored twice in the space of eleven minutes in the first half and looked the likelier scorers had the game produced a third goal.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas will be pleased with the clean sheet most of all, and it was warranted by a much improved defensive performance.
Woods handled the ball impeccably throughout and was protected by outfield players engaging much more quickly when Hinckley had the ball around their box than they did in recent fixtures.
Woodward and Thomas immediately turned their attention to Tuesday night, when Sphinx will visit Tamworth in their first Birmingham Senior Cup tie of the season.
Sphinx team
Woods, Pursey, Shorrock, Burke (Fuseini), Guest, Draper, Hayward (Martin), Woodward, Kelly (Lockley), Carey (Newey), Downes