RESULT: Bedworth Utd U18s 0-3 Coventry Sphinx U18s
GOALS:
29’ T’ahje Smith (Coventry Sphinx)
45’ T’ahje Smith (Coventry Sphinx)
59’ T’ahje Smith (Coventry Sphinx)

The pressure was on the Coventry Sphinx Youth team last night and they passed the test with flying colours to maintain top spot in the Midland Floodlit Youth League Eastern Division. They are battling for the title alongside Barrow Town and an away trip to third place Bedworth Utd was about as tough as it could get. Despite the absence of top scorer Dan Kelly and Captain Max Howard, they kept a clean sheet and scored three goals to firmly maintain their lead at the top of the table. The T’ahje Smith hat-trick will rightly catch the eye but this was a team performance to be proud of.

Six under 16 players made up the sixteen man squad for the visit to Bedworth and they all played their part in a crucial victory. Sphinx benefitted from the return of Callum Maspers and his return from injury was impressive with a man of the match performance from him in the heart of the Sphinx midfield.

There was a tremendous tempo to the opening half an hour with both teams looking to play quick passing football on the 3G surface. Bedworth were determined to play out from the back and retain possession but Sphinx were highly disciplined in their efforts to nullify that. They held their shape and pressed at the right times and it was that disciplined approach that helped them get the first goal. T’ahje SMITH benefitted from regaining the ball in the Bedworth penalty area and he wasted little time in dispatching the ball into the bottom corner of the Bedworth net. Sphinx were playing with confidence and were demonstrating an excellent work rate too and that combination went on to get them a second goal on the stroke of half time. Jarrod Clamp charged forward with the ball and that run created space for Smith in the Bedworth box. Clamp made the perfect decision to slip the ball to the unmarked SMITH who hit his shot on goal and despite the keeper getting a touch to it, there was too much power on the shot to stop it nestling in the Bedworth goal.

A good lead to take into the interval but Bedworth had been playing well so there was still plenty to do to make sure of the points. Just before the hour, Smith struck again and he had Callum Maspers to thank for some quality midfield play that set him up. Sphinx were working the ball well around the Bedworth box then suddenly Maspers spotted the gap and powered forward through the defence and picked out T’ahje SMITH in the six yard box who had the task of finishing from close range to complete his hat-trick.

Sphinx looked in control of the match now with their three goal lead but Bedworth kept on going and Kieran Hart had to be in good form in the Sphinx goal to make sure Sphinx came away with a clean sheet. Sphinx will be as pleased with the clean sheet as they will with the three goals. Tonight was a fixture they knew would be tough but their mind-set and attitude was excellent from the moment they began the warm up. They took their preparation into the match and got the desired result against a good Bedworth side. There are now four games to go in the league and the destination of the league trophy is entirely in their own hands.
FULL TIME: BEDWORTH UTD U18 0-3 COVENTRY SPHINX U18

COVENTRY SPHINX TEAM: HART, MACK, FRASER, BILLING, TURRELL, BULL, GORMAN, MASPERS, SMITH, PEARSON ©, CLAMP
Subs: MOORE, BILLY, BOYLE, DRAPER, WELCH

The Coventry Sphinx Youth team are next in action on Thursday 28th February. The top two go head to head at Sphinx Drive in a match that will prove to be critical in the destination of the league title.