Selston 1-3 Coventry Sphinx
Report by Martin Sutton.
Sphinx had to wait two weeks to build on their victory against Worcester City and they did that with another three points at Selston. Sphinx went behind early on but a dominant second half performance got them maximum points in Nottinghamshire. Two Callum Woodward penalties either side of a Scott Hammond strike did the damage and they returned to Coventry with consecutive victories under their belt.
Just one change was made to the starting eleven with Captain Callum Woodward returning from suspension to replace young striker Mo Billy. Charlie McConnachie and Louis Guest returned to the squad but they had to settle for a place on the bench after the impressive win against Worcester last time out.
Sphinx found themselves behind after just five minutes after a bit of sloppy play gave Selston possession in midfield. A simple ball over the top caught out Sphinx and the ball broke for Carl Moore to dispatch a good finish into the bottom corner. Not the start Sphinx would have wanted but that removed any ideas of a comfortable afternoon against a Selston side with only one league victory to their name this season. The following half an hour saw Selston create the best chances and they will have been disappointed not to have taken at least one of them. Sphinx had plenty of opportunity to have spells of possession but their lack of patience on the ball ensured they couldn’t sustain any significant pressure. Towards the end of the first half, Sphinx had their best spell of the game and it was no coincidence that came when they started to pass the ball to feet. That should have been a good indicator on how to proceed in the second half as they looked to recover a one goal deficit.
Sphinx were immediately on the front foot after the break and they were clearly looking to prioritise possession to get themselves back in the game. They were dominating territory and the ball but clear chances were hard to come by against a resolute home defence. The breakthrough came midway through the half with Joel Grandison brought down by the keeper and skipper WOODWARD tucking away the spot kick. The ascendancy was now with Sphinx and they quickly retrieved the ball from the net to crack on with looking for a winner. The next goal came within five minutes after a ball in from the right was thumped home by Scott HAMMOND. A rapid turnaround was completed when another penalty was dispatched by WOODWARD in the 87th minute and that was enough to secure the points.
A lesson to learn from today is to believe in your ability on the ball and be brave in possession. That was the difference in the second half as Sphinx turned the game around and took the points. Sphinx soon return to action with a home match against Haughmond on Tuesday evening.
COVENTRY SPHINX TEAM: CROSS, DRAPER (Blackham 64 min), FAULKNER (Billing 88 min), CAIRNS, FORD, TUFAN, RAWLINGS, NOON, GRANDISON, WOODWARD ©, HAMMOND (McConnachie 75 min)
Unused Subs: Guest and Pearson

MAN OF THE MATCH: LEWIS NOON
Reece Ford took control of the Sphinx back line and is settling in well. Patsun Tufan is well established in the Sphinx side after stepping up from last season’s youth team and he again put in a solid performance. Charlie Faulkner was his usual energetic self and kept on going despite some of the rough treatment he was suffering. Callum Woodward led the team and demonstrated a cool head to dispatch too crucial penalties. My Man of the Match was Lewis Noon who pulled the strings in the Sphinx midfield and was instrumental in their second half comeback.