Loughborough Dynamo 2-3 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
Coventry Sphinx’s two matches against Loughborough Dynamo in the space of just three weeks offered plenty of evidence that they’re capable of staying in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands and determined to do so.
After a 2-2 draw at the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena, the boys in sky blue and white went one better in the return fixture and claimed all three points thanks to a rousing 3-2 win. They ended the afternoon eleven points clear of the relegation zone as results at the bottom continued to go their way.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas gave a first Sphinx start to Cameron Moore, who joined the club from the Moes just a couple of weeks earlier and made his debut off the bench against Cambridge City. He played in a front three with Jordan Hayward and Matty Shipman.
Captain Callum Woodward, Ashton Demulder and Luke Downes made up the midfield while Jack Downes sat out the last match of a suspension. Joe Pursey, Louis Guest, Will Edjenguele and Finlay Shorrock continued at the back, with Keelan Fallows in goal.
Sphinx got off to a quick start and Demulder went close to scoring even earlier than his 16-second effort in the reverse fixture, but Dynamo gradually started to back the visitors off and create some openings.
Fallows had to push the ball around the post from a header from a corner inside ten minutes but the visitors certainly weren’t second best in an evenly contested opening spell.
With quarter of an hour played, a deep cross from Pursey on the right was contested by Shipman and dropped to Hayward. He settled the ball and rolled it across the box for Moore, whose shot sailed over the crossbar.
Moore had another opportunity four minutes later when Demulder’s smart play in transition led to a threatening attack and a shot from the full debutant, which was comfortably held by Dynamo goalkeeper Lewis King. Fallows matched him to field a shot from distance at the other end.
Sphinx were just about edging the play through the middle of the half but had a familiar feeling in the 26th minute. For the second game in a row they conceded from a spectacular, unstoppable strike from outside the penalty area and this time it was Dynamo’s George Ball whose terrific shot curved away from Fallows and into the top corner to make it 1-0.
The visitors kept their composure and turned the game completely on its head within ten minutes of going behind. They were given the chance to equalise when a Woodward corner wasn’t cleared and the Sphinx captain, lurking around the edge of the box in the aftermath, was needlessly clipped by a defender.
After scoring from the penalty spot in the previous match, Shipman stepped up again and got the same result in the 34th minute. King went the right way but the Sphinx striker found the bottom corner and parity was restored. It lasted a matter of seconds.
Dynamo twice coughed up possession from the restart and Sphinx’s pressure soon squirted the ball forward to Demulder, who threaded a beauty of a pass through for Hayward. In the clear, the winger prodded the ball past King and into the net for 2-1.
The first half ended with little in the way of further goalmouth action but the second started with Fallows called into action to make a very early save. The match grew ill-tempered and the officials were kept extremely busy in the second period. The same is true of the Sphinx defence.
Ball drew a good save from Fallows eight minutes into the half, the Sphinx goalkeeper getting down well to thwart a low shot as the Moes started to force Sphinx back towards their own box. The pressure grew through the first half an hour of the second half and, though the visitors generated a few openings of their own, they succumbed in the 74th minute.
Guest had been subjected to some interesting treatment behind the referee’s back but the foul he committed on the slide was right under his nose and the home team were awarded a free kick 20 yards from goal.
The central position made it a difficult one for Fallows and the Sphinx defence to judge and Dynamo captain Rob Norris chose to go right up the gut, rifling his shot in off the centre of the crossbar to level the scores.
But Sphinx were resilient and wanted the win. Again they just kept on keeping on, and again they were rewarded for their commitment and willingness to put their bodies on the line.
Ten minutes from time they had the lead again thanks to yet more pressure on the ball in the Dynamo half even when a point might have seemed appealing. The outcome was Shipman getting into the box and having the ball pinched off his toes by Moes defender Taylor Anderson, who was unfortunate to knock it past King and into the corner of the net in the process.
With ten minutes left and five additional minutes that rolled well into a sixth, there was still a ton of defensive work to do. Fallows’ handling from crosses and bravery on the deck kept Dynamo at bay. When he was beaten in the third minute of stoppage time, Pursey was on hand – not for the first time in recent games – to make a brilliant clearance off the line.
Sphinx were delighted to bank three important points and ended the day with a significant advantage over the teams below them in the league table. The time has now come to look up as well as down; there are still league places to play for in addition to ensuring they stay out of danger.
Thomas and Woodward’s team aren’t stealing points, nor are they playing out of their skins. In terms of ability, performances like this one just show that they’re good enough to be competing in these matches, and at this level.
But what they do have is attitude in abundance. Loughborough can claim to have had the better of the second half at the Newton Fallowell Stadium but they came up against a team who simply refused to settle for a point. It was a highlight of Sphinx’s season and there will be more to come.
Easter Saturday brings Sutton Coldfield Town back to Sphinx Drive for the first time since a Birmingham Senior Cup tie some years ago. Two days later, Sphinx travel to Lye Town for an Easter Monday clash between two promoted sides who’ve experienced rather different seasons. With Sphinx on the up, the Flyers won’t be taking them lightly.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Pursey, Shorrock (Draper), L. Downes, Guest, Edjenguele, Demulder (Wood), Woodward, Shipman, Moore (Castellano), Hayward.