COVENTRY Sphinx came from two goals down to beat a young Aston Villa side 4-3 and advance in the Birmingham Senior Cup.
Villa led by two goals at the break as Rodrigo Fortes netted a brace while Omar Khedr also found the net for the visitors with Finlay Shorrock on target for Sphinx at the Cameron Slater Arena.
However, Coventry staged a stirring comeback after the break as the home side scored three goals in the space of 13 minutes to stun the visitors.
Goals from Jamal Adams, Patrick Zito and Ryley Nicholson completed a remarkable turnaround to send Sphinx into the third round of the competition.
Villa raced into a two-goal lead after just seven minutes before the game was stopped due to a power outage on the 20-minute mark.
Sphinx halved the deficit when play resumed as Shorrock found the net on 35 minutes.
However, Villa restored their two-goal advantage five minutes before half time to leave the home side with work to do after the break.
And Coventry eventually reduced the deficit on 70 minutes when Adams struck before Zito levelled the game seven minutes later.
The home side completed the comeback on 83 minutes as Nicholson scored to stun Villa and send Sphinx through.
Coventry are next in action against Lichfield City on Saturday, December 6 with kick-off at 3pm at the Cameron Slater Arena.
