Coventry Sphinx 2-2 Cambridge City
Stuart Guest
Coventry Sphinx were twice pegged back and ultimately unable to claim their first double of the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands season by beating Cambridge City.
The Lilywhites came up with quick equalisers after each of Sphinx’s goals to secure a 2-2 draw and a share of the points. With both teams gradually creeping away from the relegation zone, a win for either would have been a big boost. Instead, Sphinx and City had to settle for not losing ground on one another.
The visitors were good value for the draw despite going behind twice against a Sphinx team who couldn’t replicate the performance levels that took them to their previous 2-2 draw at home against Loughborough Dynamo.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas had to make a change in midfield, where the suspension of Jack Downes opened the door for Luke Downes alongside captain Callum Woodward and Ashton Demulder. Louis Guest returned at the back in front of goalkeeper Keelan Fallows, with Joe Pursey, Will Edjenguele and Finlay Shorrock continuing in the back four.
Up front, Matty Shipman started in the middle and the wide spots were occupied once more by Tyler Haddow and Jordan Hayward. Among the substitutes was Cameron Moore, a new signing who joined Sphinx from Loughborough and made his debut off the bench.
Sphinx have turned fast starts into a habit and it paid off again just a few minutes into this vital clash in the Midlands survival scrap. Shipman got in behind after a fine long pass from Pursey, chopped back from his left foot onto his right, and was fouled.
The match referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty kick and Shipman had no trouble tucking it away. He sent Cambridge goalkeeper Kacper Kurylowicz to his right, slotted the ball to his left, and put Sphinx into an early lead.
If Sphinx had any doubts about what was in store, they got a warning shot in the eighth minute. City captain Taylor Parr, still up after a set piece, thrashed a shot over the Sphinx crossbar.
Fallows soon had a save to make and got down well to turn away a Johnathan Herd free kick that found its way through the Sphinx wall and was heading for the bottom corner before the goalkeeper’s intervention. Fallows saved again to keep out Bradley Rolt as the first quarter of an hour came to an end.
Sphinx were giving as good as they got in a game with a distinct edge but were struggling to really find their rhythm. They were cruelly cut off in their marginal supremacy by a quite phenomenal equalising goal about which Fallows and his team-mates could do absolutely nothing.
With 17 minutes played, Cambridge sent in a corner kick and it was cleared. Their left back, Jake Battersby, was waiting 35 yards from goal and stepped on to the ball before cutting across a powerful left-footed drive that curved away from Fallows and clipped the post on the way to making it 1-1.
Woodward’s cross was deflected and caught handily by Kurylowicz a few minutes later but it was the away team who had the momentum after their goal. Stefan Broccoli fired over as they piled on the pressure.
While Sphinx had a little joy after Hayward and Haddow switched flanks, they were second best through the latter part of the first half and in need of more on the other side of the interval.
They got more, but not immediately. Sphinx’s uncharacteristically lacklustre start to the second half allowed Cambridge to get on top again and Broccoli, from the edge of the box, shot over the bar six minutes in.
The away team’s first goal came somewhat against the run of play and the same can certainly be said of Sphinx’s second, which arrived eight minutes into the second period.
Demulder, Haddow and Shipman connected well on the right and kept possession under pressure. Demulder’s deep cross beyond the back post was perfectly delivered and Hayward, stealing in from the left, smartly finished from close range to make it 2-1.
Again, the reaction was sufficiently swift to deny the home team an opportunity to capitalise on any momentum. Five minutes after the goal, Pursey’s superb header off the line kept Sphinx in front with Fallows beaten.
It was little more than a stay of execution. On the hour, a cross from the Cambridge right dropped dangerously in front of the Sphinx goal and was bundled home by Ed Tassell. The Lilywhites were level again and Sphinx, by now, were evidently short of fluency.
The timid nature of the Sphinx performance gave Cambridge the chance to put them under the cosh and they did just that, albeit without adding much to Fallows’ workload.
At the other end, Sphinx carved out a few good looks at Kurylowicz’s goal. Hayward forced a save 20 minutes from time and Kurylowicz had to react sharply to tip the ball over and prevent an own goal after a long free kick into the mixer two minutes later.
Tremendous work first by Pursey and then by Hayward on the left led to a very presentable chance for Shipman near the penalty spot. The striker took on the shot first time and caught it cleanly. As a result, it went straight down the middle and made Kurylowicz’s save more comfortable than it should have been.
After a good Sphinx spell, City’s Pharrell Anderson drilled a threatening effort wide from 25 yards to kickstart a frantic conclusion to the match. Both teams went for the win, and both teams were able to get forward in an effort to snatch it late on. Neither got what they wanted.
It says a lot about the proximity of these two teams that there was no winner at the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena. Sphinx won the away fixture with a late goal having played most of the game against ten men. Cambridge hold the higher spot in the all-important league table, but not by much.
Both teams are fighting for their lives and there’s been little to choose between them all season, including when they’ve shared a football pitch. While the elusive double would have been a boon for Sphinx, they must recognise the benefits of being hard to beat with April looming.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Pursey, Shorrock, L. Downes, Guest, Edjenguele, Haddow, Woodward, Shipman, Demulder (Moore), Hayward (Wood). Unused subs: Bryson, Castellano