BANBURY UNITED 1-0 COVENTRY SPHINX BY KEV MONKS
Coventry Sphinx put in a battling performance but went down to a single goal defeat at Banbury United.
Paul Charnley brought a number of trialists to the Spencer Stadium and his side started well against a side two divisions higher. It was not until the 2oth minute that the home side had their first meaningful effort which Sphinx custodian Callum Harrison pushed over for a corner.
Robbie Stevenson and Wayne Pulford both had chances but in the 38th minute, a mistake between Harrison and Winterbottom allowed Andy Baird to tap into the net for the only goal of the game.
As the game on a warm day progressed, Craig Martin had a backheel from a corner cleared off the line just before the break.
Charnley and his backroom staff made five changes at the break and the new boys helped to keep The Puritans in check.
Scott McGregor, Carl Winterbottom,Kyle Rhodes, Carl Hind and Adam Knibbs all worked well whilst Jerome Murdock up front was as lively as ever.
With five minutes left, Sphinx nearly snatched a draw when Dixon parried a Wilson header from a corner.
Despite the defeat, Sphinx boss Paul Charnley was a happy man, saying: "I was pleased with them. We were very good and I was happy. The new lads who have come in all did well and I'm looking forward to the season."
HT BUFC 1-0 CSFC FT BUFC 1-0 CSFC ATT 130
Team
1 Callum Harrison (Pickering 45),2 Scott McGregor,3 John Woodhouse,4 Adam Knibbs,5 Kyle Rhodes (Heywood 59),6 Carl Winterbottom (Winterbottom 63),7 Carl Hind, 8 Dan McSheffrey (Wilson 46),9 Craig Martin (Murdock 46), 10 Robbie Stevenson (Stevenson 46),11 Wayne Pulford (Hegaty 46)
Subs 12 Jamie McAteer,14 Tom Haywood, 15 Chris Harris, 16 Ian Wilson,17 Pete Hegarty, Jerome Murdoch SK Dan Pickering
Banbury United
John Morrell, Murray Nicholls, Tommy Kinch, Wayne Blossom, Mark Essex,Chris Jackson, Jon Crockett, Stuart Bridges,Andy Stidder,Andy Baird,Lewis Treven
Subs Troy Bryan,Darren Beckett,Jody McKay,Dave Rose, Matt Dixon