AFC Rushden & Diamonds 1-2 Coventry Sphinx
Stuart Guest
Coventry Sphinx bounced back from a heavy defeat at Corby Town to collect their third win in four Pitching In Northern Premier League Midlands Division matches.
After a series of postponements, their trip to Hayden Road proved worth the wait. Sphinx beat AFC Rushden & Diamonds 2-1 to go past them in the table and put a ten-point gap between themselves and the relegation zone.
Joint managers John Woodward and Shaun Thomas made one change to the eleven that started the three previous matches, bringing Finlay Shorrock in at left wing back. Joe Pursey started on the right, while Jamie Draper, Louis Guest and Kyle Burke continued at centre back in front of goalkeeper Charlie Woods.
Jack Downes and captain Callum Woodward played in the centre of midfield. Shorrock’s selection meant a move further upfield for Jordan Hayward, who took his place in a front three completed by Kyle Carey and Harry Wakefield.
An uneventful quarter of an hour was punctuated by a ball to the face that forced Sphinx’s Pursey out of the game and a sensational save from Woods, who got across his goal to turn a point-blank header up and onto the crossbar.
Sphinx were second best for the first 25 minutes, though not by much. Carey’s left-footed shot went over the crossbar and Wakefield’s strength made for an opening and a shot that rolled just wide, but corner after corner at the other end kept the visitors honest at the back.
They got their noses in front with 29 minutes played. A set piece dropped beyond the far post and was kept alive by Luke Shearer, on early in the game to replace Pursey.
Shearer fired in a powerful drive from a tight angle that took a nick off one defender and had to be cleared off the line by another. Wakefield was waiting and tucked the ball home to make it 1-0 on the rebound and add to his rapidly growing tally of Sphinx goals.
The game was evenly matched for the rest of the first half. Rushden had a lot of the ball but Sphinx looked dangerous going forward. Burke had to clear an effort off the line ten minutes before the break to keep his team in the lead.
Rushden squandered the first meaningful attack of the second half, a presentable chance volleyed well over the Sphinx goal. Three minutes later, a Woodward shot from 25 yards zipped just wide.
The away team had a couple of opportunities just after the hour. A shot on target came to nothing after two Sphinx players got in each other’s way as they arrived to meet the ball in the Diamonds box.
Two minutes later, Shearer’s sharp turn and threatening pass across the face of goal looked a sure bet to end up in the back of the net but Downes, on the stretch, just couldn’t get there in time.
In the middle of the half, Rushden were presented with a chance to equalise from the penalty spot when Wakefield was adjudged to have committed a foul in the box at a dead ball.
Former Sphinx man Jamal Adams took responsibility and placed his kick to Woods’ left but the goalkeeper went the right way and got a strong enough hand to the ball to divert it wide of goal and maintain the visitors’ lead with an excellent save.
Sphinx continued to work hard to protect their advantage as the home team sought to force the issue. They were holding on with quarter of an hour left but soon put themselves in a great position against the run of play after Shorrock was fouled wide on the Sphinx left.
Woodward’s free kick delivery was spot on. Having avoided a touch from anyone, it beat Diamonds goalkeeper Ben Heath too and curled in at the far post to double the lead for the visitors.
After more fine goalkeeping from Woods, Rushden got their breakthrough with eight minutes remaining. A free header from Aidan Webster made it 2-1 and the Diamonds laid siege to Sphinx’s defensive third, though they came close to putting the ball into their own net early in stoppage time.
A low free kick from Calvin Green gave the visitors a scare but flew just wide in the fourth added minute and they held on to secure maximum points.
The grit shown by the team after a setback at the weekend bodes well for the rest of the season. There was nothing straightforward about this win. Sphinx had to dig and scrap for the points. They had to hold on in the last ten minutes and they did it because they were determined to hold on.
Sphinx and the Diamonds will meet again in a week and a half when the reverse fixture is played at the Sphinx Industrial Supplies Arena on Saturday 1st February.
Before that, Thomas and Woodward’s team see out the month of January with a visit to Boldmere St Michaels on Saturday 25th January.
Sphinx team
Woods, Draper, Shorrock, Downes, Guest, Burke, Pursey (Shearer), Woodward, Wakefield, Carey (Lock), Hayward (Fuseini (Newey))