Anstey Nomads 5-1 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
One of the obvious conclusions from Coventry Sphinx's first season of away games in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands is that there's a noticeable gap between the top of the division and the bottom when the leading teams have their tails up at home.
A second 5-1 defeat of the week was far from ideal as Sphinx chase safety from relegation but Anstey Nomads are in the hunt for the title and ultimately overpowered the visitors thanks in large part to two goals in three minutes in the second half.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas reverted to a back three. Jamie Draper, Louis Guest and Will Edjenguele played in front of goalkeeper Keelan Fallows, with Joe Pursey and Finlay Shorrock starting as wing backs.
Jack Downes and Callum Woodward got the nod in the centre of midfield, Ashton Demulder played in the hole, and Tyler Haddow came back into the starting eleven to play alongside striker Leo Brown.
The home team had the initiative from the start. Sphinx showed some early nerves and struggled at times to clear their lines. The resulting pressure told in the ninth minute.
Anstey opened the scoring with a goal that couldn't have been simpler from their perspective. A corner kick was delivered, Brad Wilson was wide open for a free header and the hosts were in front.
The momentum showed little sign of shifting immediately after the goal but Sphinx replied with one of their own just six minutes later. It was the highlight of a bleak afternoon.
A nice move wide on the left led to a crossing opportunity for Shorrock. His brilliant delivery was impossible to defend and was met at the back post by Pursey, who thumped in an unstoppable header to make it 1-1.
The Nomads weren't knocked off their stride. Fallows had to get down very smartly to turn away a scuffed shot in the 19th minute before a free kick drifted well wide of his post in the 22nd minute.
But Sphinx were in the game and the contest was more even for a brief spell in the middle of the first half. Haddow got in behind and rolled the ball across for Brown, who was just beaten to it by a defender and rightly surprised by the awarding of a goal kick.
The visitors instantly paid the price in the form of the subsequent second Anstey goal. A cross came in from the left, Zayn Hakeem got across his marker too cheaply and guided a stooping header past Fallows and into the net for 2-1.
The lead restored, Anstey found it relatively easy to play round their opponents. Their progress was smoothed further by the consistent refusal of the referee to apply the same standards to both teams.
In the 38th minute, Haddow was fouled in a full-blooded challenge on the touchline. Anstey were given the free kick, the Sphinx player was shown a yellow card and was unable to continue because of the injury he sustained.
Both teams had time remaining in the half to shoot over the crossbar, with more good work by Shorrock teeing up Brown to blast one high deep into stoppage time for the away side.
Sphinx made a decent start to the second half. Four minutes in, Woodward’s corner to the back post was headed back across goal by Edjenguele. Brown headed over with his shirt up around his head.
Despite better Sphinx play and that chance from a set piece, Anstey had a clear territorial advantage and Fallows had to save well with his feet in the tenth minute of the second half. Another shot went safely wide but the crucial few minutes came either side of the hour mark.
In the 60th minute, the Nomads made it 3-1. Another cross in was finished neatly, this time by Corey Armeni. His volley guided the ball into the corner to give the visitors a mountain to climb.
Two minutes later, Kyle Tomlin was played in behind and flicked the ball past Fallows with the outside of his right boot. At 4-1 the contest was beyond Sphinx but they didn’t let their heads drop and they weren’t found wanting for effort.
Brown had a couple of good looks at goal in the shadow of Anstey’s quick-fire double. A nice touch by Demulder set the ball for the striker to drill it into the side netting, before a shot from just outside the box went over the crossbar.
But, in truth, there was only really one team in it after Anstey’s third goal, at least in terms of possession of the ball and field position. To add insult to injury, the home team made it two 5-1 defeats in a row for Sphinx by adding a fifth in stoppage time.
The visitors turned the ball over on the edge of their own box thanks to Nyle Blake’s tenacity after losing possession himself, and he turned to fire over Fallows to conclude the scoring and end a difficult match for Sphinx.
It was an unpleasant afternoon on the outskirts of Leicester in just about every way but the overall performance was by no means as disheartening as the previous defeat against Shepshed Dynamo in midweek.
Sphinx know better than most that it's not over until it's over and this relegation battle is no different. Time might be on their side but form is not, and they're not out of the woods yet with two games left to play.
Thomas and Woodward’s team have work to do against Boldmere St Michaels and Hinckley Leicester Road in order to guarantee safety. Boldmere visit the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena on Saturday 20th April before Sphinx end their first Step Four season at Leicester Road a week later.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Draper, Shorrock (Hayward), J. Downes, Guest, Edjenguele, Pursey, Woodward (L. Downes), Brown, Demulder, Haddow (Wood). Unused subs: Moore, Castellano