FOOTBALL: COVENTRY Sphinx boss Stuart Dutton praised the character of his side after they bounced back from two consecutive defeats to beat Shepshed Dynamo 3-2 in the Midland Premier Division.
Sphinx travelled to Leicestershire on Saturday looking for an instant response to their heavy 5-0 defeat at home to Sporting Khalsa last Monday.
And they did just that by racing into a 3-0 lead thanks to goals from Jamie Tower, Chris Johnston and Mitch Thomson.
Tower opened the scoring on 11 minutes with a classy finish from a Thomson cross and with 35 minutes on the clock Towers turned provider by getting to the byline and pulling the ball back for Johnston to score his first goal for Sphinx.
Six minutes into the second half Thomson put the visitors in control when he side-footed home Reece Blackmore’s cross.
The hosts did start to build up some pressure and were awarded a penalty on 64 minutes but Sphinx keeper Scott Dutton dived the right way.
Shepshed’s pressure was rewarded on 80 minutes after Sphinx did not take their chance to clear their lines and Reeve pounced to get what appeared to be a consolation goal.
Shepshed continued to attack the Sphinx defence and five minutes from time they got another goal back with Read poking in from close range to set up a nervous finish, but Sphinx defended resoundly and eventually ran out 3-2 winners.
“The last 15 minutes of the game were a tough test of character and the lads stood up to and secured the three points they deserved,” said Dutton.
“Shepshed is always a tough place to come to we are really pleased to emerge with a win and a decent performance.
“We go again on Saturday at Sphinx Drive with the visit of Rocester which has been brought forward from later in the season. We played them away a couple of weeks ago and came away 4-1 winners so we’ll be hoping to get a result again.”
