Match Report  |  Gresley Rovers vs Coventry Sphinx

This was not a game for the purists, but it was entertaining, nevertheless. Both sides found it difficult to create any clear-cut chances w ith both defences doing well helped by miss placed passes.

It was half an hour before there was an attempt on goal with Bradley Maslen-Jones firing over the bar followed with a shot that was well parried by the visiting keeper.

Rovers were applying some pressure and a flick on to Lewis Belgrave maybe should have been closer, but he put his shot wide.

The home side went behind on 37 minutes when a throw in was wrongly given to the visitors and Dylan Parker picked out Matthew Shipman with a through ball and the front man cooly finished slipping the ball past the exposed Lewis Fenney.

Rovers came out firing for the second half looking far more dangerous in attack and solid in defence and dominated the play from the first whistle.

However, they could or rather should have been further behind on 48 minutes when Parker missed a wide-open goal skewing his shot well wide of the target.

Rovers settled after the early pressure and began to apply their own pressure with some devastating runs down the left from Jayden Cotterill leave defenders in his wake. Ste Hart was finding his range with a shot on the hour mark which just cleared the bar.

Rovers made their first changes with Jaden Forrester and James Spruce replacing Dexter Dudley-Toole and Lewis Belgrave respectively.

Against the run of play Sphinx went close flashing a shot across the face of Rovers’ goal but no-one was on hand to get the final touch.

On 81 minutes Rovers got the break they’d been pressing for when Alby Lansdowne’s superb ball into the are found James Tague whose powerful header left Keelan Fellows grasping at thin air.

Rovers were looking for a winner with a shot just over but with all their players pushing forward they almost allowed the visitors to snatch all three points late on, but a free header was just over.