Match Report  |  Coventry Sphinx vs Gresley Rovers

Rovers were without three players with Kieran O’Connell away, Martin Smyth absent due to family reasons and Jamie Sleigh with an ankle injury.

There was not much to report from the first half too be honest as both sides cancelled each other out. There were a few corners and a few free kicks but no clear-cut chances of any note until five minutes before the end of the half.

On 41 minutes Sphinx beat the offside and a player raced forward but with only Rovers’ keeper Harvey Woodward to beat the young keeper made a superb block to deny the home side from going ahead.

However, a minute later it was the visitors who took the only chance they had created and went in at the break leading.

Some good play through the middle of the pitch ended with Richard Hanslow putting the perfect pass through to Nathan Banton and he gladly took the invitation firing past the helpless Keelan Fallows.

Within two minutes of the second half starting Sphinx were level. Matthew Shipman collected the ball deep in the Rovers half and with the defence backing off he managed to dribble through before hitting a shot which gave Woodward no chance.

The second half then proceeded to fall into a similar pattern as the first with neither side really threatening the goalkeepers. Banton tried his luck with a curling shot from outside the area which fizzed past the far post.

Both sides made changes with Dylan Hunniford replacing Chris Jones and Khaellerm Bailey-Nicholls replacing Jamal Adams for Sphinx.

With both side looking as if they’d decided to settle for a point a piece and not wanting to lose the game both sides made further changes as the game began to run to a conclusion, but Rovers could have snatched all three points at the end.

Hanslow got the better of his marker on the edge of the area and ran in on goal only to be denied by a good block from Fallows.

On the balance of things a draw was probably the fair result as neither side deserved to win or lose the game.