COVENTRY SPHINX 1-0 WALSALL WOOD
Sphinx: O'Neill, Sullivan, Sockett (Dainty 65), Dyke (Webb 83), Fletcher, Fowler, Galdins, (Slinn 77) Bannister, Wilks, Rhodes, Jackson. Subs: Wright, Hill.
Walsall Wood: Faultless, Carruthers, Hayles, Boothe, Stretton, Juxon, Biligimer, Forrest (Cooper 77), Taylor-Boyce (Burns 62), Hancox (Harris 65), Gonzales. Sub: Ashfall, Alalade
HT CSFC 1-0 WWFC FT CSFC 1-0 WWFC. Goal Matt Bannister 16
Booked Fowler. Stretton
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Coventry Sphinx picked up their first home Midland Alliance victory of the season with a 16th minute Matthew Bannister goal being enough to beat Walsall Wood.
A bumper crowd at Sphinx Drive of 156 which was double the gate for the equivalent fixture on a Monday night , saw Sphinx open the scoring in the 16th minute when Ash Wilks had a shot which Faultless parried. The loose ball fell to Matty Bannister who drilled the ball low into the net from fourteen yards.
Walsall Wood, who had lost two and drawn one of their three League matches so far, played some decent football but in the final third, they struggled and their best chance of the opening period came in the 33rd minute when Steven Hayles curled wide.
Sphinx started the second half winning a free kick and a corner before Ahmet Bilgimer got in a 50th minute shot which was cleared off the line.
In the 71st minute, Sphinx were awarded a free kick for a foul on Rhodes. Matty Bannister stepped up and hit a cracking shot but Dale Faultless dived high to his right to push away for a corner.
Faultless was to deny a Sphinx hard working side who put on a good performance for their supporters, before the end with three more world class saves after Stretton had cleared a Webb shot off the line. Faultless’ first save saw another dive high to his right to push away a Bannister effort and that was followed by another save pushing the ball over the bar before a brilliant diving save in the 88th minute.
Thanks to some brilliant goalkeeping, Sphinx who travel to Bewdley Town in the FA Cup on Saturday, had to settle for a 1-0 on a night when the score could have been a lot higher.
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