Thursday 15th November - Sphinx Drive, Coventry
RESULT: Coventry Sphinx U18 12-1 Rugby Town U18
Attendance: 31
GOALS:
1’ (Rugby Town)
5’ T’ahje Smith (Coventry Sphinx)
19’ T’ahje Smith (Coventry Sphinx)
23 Dan Kelly (Coventry Sphinx)
24’ Callum Mack (Coventry Sphinx)
27’ Alex Pearson (Coventry Sphinx)
45’ Dan Kelly (Coventry Sphinx)
66’ Dan Kelly (Coventry Sphinx)
69’ Dan Kelly (Coventry Sphinx)
73’ T’ahje Smith (Coventry Sphinx)
77’ T’ahje Smith (Coventry Sphinx) -PENALTY
80’ Dan Kelly (Coventry Sphinx)
82’ T’ahje Smith (Coventry Sphinx)
The Coventry Sphinx Youth team have been in fine form recently but tonight’s display was the best of the lot with 12 goals put past a stunned Rugby Town. Rugby opened the scoring inside the first minute but once Sphinx equalised minutes later they were off and running. A blitz of 4 goals in 8 minutes midway through the first half effectively ended the game as a contest but Sphinx were in no mood to settle for that. They went on to score 12 and without some good saves from the Rugby keeper it could well have been more. Strikers Dan Kelly and T’ahje Smith got 5 apiece and will rightly take the headlines but an excellent team performance backed up the finishing of the strikers.
Sphinx were caught napping in the first minute and Rugby did well to make inroads from the right. The low cross-shot found its way into the Sphinx net and Rugby had the lead. The Sphinx response was almost instant and it was T’ahje SMITH who finished off the spell of pressure by dispatching the ball into the net. Sphinx continued to threaten but had to wait until the 19th minute to go in front. The goal came from good work by Alex Pearson and T’ahje SMITH was the one to convert the cross for his second of the game. Minutes later it was Owen Gorman with good wing play that set up Dan KELLY for his first of the night when he tucked away a low cross. Sphinx were flying now and a minute later Callum MACK strode forward from defence and dribbled his way into the box and finished with a cool strike past the keeper. A goal of real quality for Mack and his first for the Under 18s. Sphinx had got a big grip on the game now and soon it was five with Alex PEARSON’s swinging and dipping cross-shot too much for the keeper as it nestled in the back of the net. The dominance was confirmed on the stroke of half time with Dan KELLY through on goal and a lovely reverse finish past the keeper made it six.
HALF TIME: COVENTRY SPHINX U18 6-1 RUGBY TOWN U18
Sphinx continued on the front foot but had to wait a further 20 minutes to add another with Dan KELLY completing his hat-trick with the aid of a deflected shot from the edge of the box. That sparked the reopening of the floodgates with KELLY sweeping home his 4th minutes later. T’ahje SMITH then stepped it up a gear with a marvellous run that highlighted his strengths perfectly. He used his strength, speed and balance to twist and turn his way into the penalty area and buried his shot past a thoroughly exposed keeper to complete his own hat-trick. Minutes later Smith was powering his way into the box again and the only way to stop him was to bring him down for a penalty. SMITH took the penalty and as cool as you like, tucked it into the top corner to make it ten goals for Sphinx. Smith was proving to be unstoppable now and he was soon laying it on a plate for Dan KELLY to score again. The final goal came with SMITH showing another side to his game with an absolute rocket leaving the keeper with no chance.
Dan Kelly and T’ahje Smith ended with 5 goals each and took their personal tallies to 23 goals from 12 appearances for Kelly and 12 goals from 5 appearances for Smith. Sphinx have now scored 29 goals in their last 4 fixtures with Kelly responsible for 14 of those and Smith getting 9 in his three appearances. The performances of their team mates shouldn’t be underestimated and central midfielder Callum Maspers has been exceptional alongside Max Howard. Other attacking players such as Alex Pearson, Owen Gorman, James Semwanga and Calvin Kuatche have more than contributed to the goals. Defensively Sphinx have provided a solid base and Mack, Fraser- Walters and Turrell have provided solid support to keeper Kieran Hart. Tonight’s substitutes such as Danny Bull and Cameron Whitehouse also performed well and highlighted the importance of having a squad of good players available to manager Dave Bull.
FULL TIME: COVENTRY SPHINX U18 12-1 RUGBY TOWN U18
COVENTRY SPHINX TEAM: HART, MACK, FRASER-WALTERS, HOWARD ©, TURRELL, SEMWANGA, SMITH, MASPERS, KELLY, PEARSON, GORMAN.
Subs: BULL, WHITEHOUSE, KUATCHE, SESAY, MOORE
The Coventry Sphinx Youth team are next in action on Wednesday 21st November. They will travel south for a league match at Racing Club Warwick.