Alveston returned to Coventry Sphinx and avenged last month’s league defeat with a well deserved 3-1 victory in the 2nd round of the Knock-out League Cup. A determined gritty attitude was evident right from the very beginning as Alveston grabbed an early initiative when Josh Humphries was able to send a fiery cross into the Sphinx box that was turned onto the post by the keeper and then poked over the line by an alert Jamie Stephens.
Whilst every Alveston player displayed a desire to chase and close down their opponents, the key accolades would surely go to the back line of Dan Malone Jake Greaves and Jordan Pace who worked tirelessly to protect GK Isaac Downes from being tested. With the score at 1-0 Greaves and Pace could both lay claim to some important covering and interceptions and with the bold unflinching tackling of Malone the script was set for Alveston to push forward and look for a 2nd.
This duly came when Humphries again found room on the right flank and fired a screaming shot high and across the keeper into the far corner and at this point Sphinx looked beaten and disconsolate. Alex Connor began to find room on the left wing was able to stretch the defence with a some penetrating weaving runs but this endeavour went un rewarded first when Humphries screwed the pull back just wide and when Connor himself just failed to connect after some neat interplay in the penalty area.
As expected Sphinx brought more determination to the 2nd half and the game sunk into a muddy competitive mire in the middle of the park. This meant the midfield trio of Mattie Rickett, Roshen Foley and Billy Dingley had to labour hard but to their credit they sustained themselves against some crunching tackles and held the resurgent Sphinx to a stalemate. Up front Harry Spencer and Alan Mackinnon chased down every ball over the top and Sphinx found they could not settle.
It came as somewhat surprising that with the last quarter of the game to go Sphinx were able to capitalise on a speculative ball over the defence and make the score 2-1. However Alveston’s heads never dropped. Joe Vose pushed further up the right flank to assist Humphries and Mackinnon pushed on higher up the left and it looked like Spencer would surely profit from one of these sources but the ball just never broke kindly.
However, as the tension began to grow Mattie Rickett was to secure the game when he seized upon a poor clearance to send his hot souring over the keeper and into the net. Sphinx then came again but Alveston's tenacious defending was underlined when Pace headed off the line. Alveston then pushed forward for a 4th goal and this looked likely when first Spencer went close after Vose drove hard into the penalty area and again when Mackinnon just failed to get his cross through to an unmarked Harry Coleman . For all this though Alveston’s tenacity and concentration was summed up when the mainly untested GK Isaac Downes was able to crown a thoroughly satisfying team performance to produce a fabulous diving save in the dying minutes to thwart the Sphinx centre forward.
