Coventry Sphinx 3-0 Shepshed Dynamo
Stuart Guest
The 2024/25 Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands season started with a thumping home win for Coventry Sphinx, who beat Shepshed Dynamo 3-0 to put their FA Cup exit behind them and bank three vital points.
Sphinx showed massive improvement from their defeat against Ashby Ivanhoe and dominated from start to finish in the sunshine at the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas made minimal changes for this opening league fixture. Captain Callum Woodward was unavailable and made way for a Sphinx debut for Callum Ballinger, while Jac Redhead was replaced by new signing Shay Willock.
Willock started at centre forward, allowing Andre Williams to move to the right flank. Stan Dube started on the left, with Kyle Carey operating behind Willock and ahead of Ballinger and Jack Downes in the centre of the midfield.
Jordan Hayward moved to left back in place of the injured Finlay Shorrock. Joe Pursey started at right back, Louis Guest and Pat Zito in the middle, and Keelan Fallows in goal.
The match had a lively start and Dynamo goalkeeper Alex Akers had to get off his line smartly to block Carey’s progress at the end of a promising direct run at goal as early as the third minute. Ballinger shot over the top in the aftermath.
Sphinx were confident and looked dangerous from the off, taking the game to Shepshed in the first ten minutes and looking capable of creating something at any moment. The balance of the home team was good and they were playing in the right areas.
Willock was a big contributor to Sphinx’s dangerous start and squeezed a shot just wide of Akers’ goal under pressure with ten minutes played. As the half reached its mid-point, a decent display had evolved into an excellent one and individual performances all over the park were vastly improved from those of seven days earlier.
Set piece delivery was good but Downes and Carey opted for another approach in the 19th minute. Downes rolled the ball short for Carey, who forced Akers into a save but didn’t get all of the shot.
Five minutes later and entirely against the run of play, Shepshed went close to an opening goal. James Shaw tried his luck and his low shot thudded the base of the Sphinx post.
That scare dealt with, Sphinx had the lead with 27 minutes played. Dube picked up the ball on the left and set it inside for Ballinger, who composed himself well and fired a fabulous strike from outside the box across Akers and into the top corner. Ballinger and Sphinx were off the mark and there was more to come.
The first half was among Sphinx’s best since promotion and the chances continued to flow after the goal. Willock went close three times. First, he drew a save from Akers after showing great individual strength. Then, he blasted one just wide from 25 yards that had the Shepshed goalkeeper concerned. Finally, he had a sharp low shot deflected wide for a corner.
Hayward had the last and best of the late first-half chances. He started his run deep inside his own half and tore up the left at speed before dragging the shot wide of Akers and the far post.
Sphinx had to settle for a one-goal lead at half time but the game was won nine minutes into the second half thanks to a brutal suckerpunch with the visitors in the midst of a slightly better showing after the break that had the home team working hard defensively.
Dube was the architect, cleverly lobbing a pass out to his left for Carey at the second time of asking. Carey drilled a left-footed shot beyond the goalkeeper and into the far bottom corner in a flash. Sphinx deserved their extended lead and Shepshed were rocked by it.
The visitors did start to dig in but their resistance was immediately spiked again thanks to Carey’s second goal. Willock was fouled right on the edge of the box and Carey’s technique was faultless as he sent a brilliant free kick into Akers’ top corner to make it 3-0.
Dynamo’s goalkeeper had no chance with any of Sphinx’s goals and the same would have been true if he’d been beaten by substitute Callum Martin. The left back’s venomous first-time cross was reminiscent of his first goal for the club but whipped just over the angle to keep the difference at three goals.
Sphinx had to ride out a spell of late pressure but demonstrated exactly the right attitude, hunting down a fourth goal even in stoppage time. It would have been no more than this performance deserved but it wasn’t to be. Willock’s piledriver on the break went over the crossbar.
Winning with a clean sheet and their biggest margin of victory in the eighth tier was a perfect way for Sphinx to kick off the 2024/25 league season. As a response to going out of the FA Cup, it couldn't have been much better.
The challenge is the same as last season: consistently pick up points in a division full of very difficult matches. Three right out of the blocks could go a long way with a quick turnaround and a visit to Sutton Coldfield Town to come.
Sphinx team
Fallows, Pursey, Hayward (Martin), Downes, Zito, Guest (Draper), Williams (Newey), Ballinger (Redhead), Willock, Carey, Dube (Pryce)