Hinckley LR 1-0 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
On an afternoon of drama in the Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands, Coventry Sphinx were defeated at Hinckley Leicester Road while there were wins for Rugby Town and AFC Rushden & Diamonds to create a cluster of four teams finishing the season with 32 points.
Sphinx ultimately avoided relegation on goal difference, albeit by eight clear goals, finishing 16th in their first season as a Step Four football club. Rushden were relegated along with last-placed Gresley Rovers but news of Loughborough Dynamo’s demise immediately gave them hope of a reprieve.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas were without captain Callum Woodward, whose goal to win a point against Boldmere St Michaels proved the moment that kept his team in the division. Woodward was suspended at the last minute after a ruling relating to his sending off at Coleshill Town as long ago as January.
Alfonso Castellano got the nod in midfield alongside Luke Downes and Ashton Demulder, with Jack Downes and Jordan Hayward playing outside striker Leo Brown once more. Goalkeeper Keelan Fallows was protected by Joe Pursey, Jamie Draper, Louis Guest and Finlay Shorrock.
The match always looked likely to be settled by a single goal if at all, and the first half was a relatively low-key affair. Sphinx started it brightly and demonstrated their ability to compete with a very good side headed for the play-offs.
Both teams were able to get into dangerous attacking positions but it was the visitors who shaded the first quarter of the match. Despite that, Hinckley goalkeeper Will Highland was not tested.
Leicester Road soon found their rhythm. They tried to get from back to front quickly but their abilities on the ball were evident too. The first real effort on goal came from the home team. Harry Wakefield tried to get the better of a very tight angle and catch Fallows out at the near post, smashing the ball into the side netting with 25 minutes played.
Hinckley grew frustrated and tempers started to simmer, but attacking potency remained at a premium. Fallows had to get down well to keep the game goalless in stoppage time but that was the only meaningful shot on target of the first period.
Leicester Road started to seize the initiative after the break. Sphinx's shape was solid and they weren't without an attacking threat of their own, but by the hour mark the home team were really starting to push them back.
Their left back, Louie Gill, lashed a volley over the crossbar ten minutes into the second half. Six minutes later the always dangerous Dom Brennan drew a save from Fallows with a free kick from just outside the box.
Sphinx were defending with resilience throughout the first part of the second period but Hinckley’s next best attempt of that spell was a shot over the top in the middle of the half.
The visitors sought to finish the game strongly and went looking for the win in the last 20 minutes. They gave it a decent go, keeping the ball on the deck and moving it well – always their strong suit, even away from home.
The game was shaping up to be an entertaining and competitive 0-0 draw. With ten minutes left, there was a sense that it might go either way. The home team, though, had one more trick up their sleeve.
With eight minutes left they claimed all three points thanks to a late winning goal. It came from a corner kick that picked out Ben Humphreys, who won the header and guided it into the corner of the Sphinx net.
Sphinx brought Will Edjenguele on up front to help force an equaliser but the game fizzled out with the visitors comfortably safe and Hinckley happy enough to take a 1-0 win into the play-offs.
Step Four survival represents another piece of history for Sphinx, who stay up in their first ever season in the eighth tier. Injuries late in the season contributed hugely to a dip in results but they did what they've managed to do from the beginning: just about enough.
Woodward and Thomas can be pleased with themselves and their players on a job well done at the end of a really challenging year, and finishing with a couple of good performances after a wobble in mid-April made for a satisfactory conclusion.
There's an important summer ahead and work to be done. Sphinx accomplished their mission in 2023/24. The scoreboard resets here and they can look forward to doing it all over again after a well deserved break.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Pursey, Shorrock, L. Downes, Guest, Draper, J. Downes, Castellano (Cristofaro), Brown, Demulder (Edjenguele), Hayward. Unused subs: Peplinski, Van Den Top