Having observed a minutes silence to mark the tragic death of former Sphinx defender Paul Gibbons, the game was held up less than four minutes in for twelve minutes when the assistant referee went over and twisted his knee.

Thankfully one of the Sphinx support, which was equal in numbers to the homes fans, took over so the match could continue.

It was a tight first half with much of the game played in a tight midfield battle.

Terry Ward, who had two hours sleep after flying back in from Florida, was a rock at the heart of the Sphinx defence and marshalled the his troops to keep Kevin Charley and Adam Cunnington quiet.

At the other end, Sphinx were restricted to one real chance in the half when Kelvin Phillips got a 19th minute shot on target.

Former Sphinx defender Adam Knibbs was in fine form for Marcus Law's team who have been running away at the top of the Midland Alliance this season and with both defences and midfield's cancelling each other out, it was not until the 45th minute that Barwell showed their intent with a header that hit the far post.

Barwell were always first to the second ball in the second half and six minutes after the restart, Liam McDonald beat the offside trap only to fire into the side netting.

Danny McSheffrey's team went up the other end and Kyle Rhodes volleyed over from a McAteer free kick and in the 58th minute, James Halton sent a low drive just wide of the far post.

The game changed on the hour mark when Aaron Donaldson conceded a penalty as the ball was going across the penalty area. Leading scorer Kevin Charley made no mistake from the spot.

Although Callum Woodward and Donaldson both had chances before Adam Kinder was sent on for his second spell at Sphinx, Barwell took the points in the 73rd minute when former Sphinx and Leamington winger Jamie Towers was not picked up inside the area and tapped home from close range.

Adam Cunnington had a couple of chances late on but Barwell's unbeaten run continued.

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Sphinx: C. O'Neill, T. Muldoon, J. McAteer, A. Fisher (J. Ruff 86), T. Ward, L. Kay, J. Halton, K. Rhodes (A. Kinder 66), K. Phillips (M. Martin 80), C. Woodward, A. Donaldson. not used  A. Wilson-King, C. Daffern.

 

Barwell: Castle, Lower (Wykes 45), Knibbs, Green, Francis, Dutton, Towers (Julien 80), Hadland, Cunnington, Charley, McDonald. SNU Green, Sanders, White.
 

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