3 Is the Magic Number As Phoenix Soar Into Semis

Gower Phoenix 3 – 0 Ultramarine

A depleted Gower Phoenix side powered past Ultramarine to book a place in the divisional cup semi finals. Phoenix life was not made easy going into this match - 2 late drop outs on Saturday and a no show on Sunday morning meant that Phoenix had to start the game with 10 men. Fortunately Ultramarine had similar problems & the game started 10 on 10.

Ultras are a big side but Phoenix were clearly the better in terms of quality and made show early on. A classy break culminated in a Jon Hanna goal within the 1st 5mins, his 3rd in 2 games and a great start. Although newcomer Rob was having play in an unfamiliar position at right back, the Phoenix back four looked strong & Ultras struggled to make an impact going forward. The Gower team on the other hand looked a constant threat, with Jake spreading the ball wide to Bolu & Lucas who were breaking dangerously either side of Jon Hanna up front. It was one such break that led to the Phoenix second. Bolu powering down the left and finding Hanna who squared for the in form Lucas to slot home and make it 2-0. A succession of good chances followed that Pheonix were unable to take and we then witnessed the most bizarre yellow card in football history: Bolu, who had gone off the pitch to chase last minute recruitments was booked by the absurdly pedantic ref for being on his mobile during the game. It was an odd moment & an utterly underserved booking but during the break in play, Ultra’s 11th man arrived so when the game restarted they had a man advantage. Things got almost immediately worse as Adam Lucas went down with an ankle injury and Phoenix were down to 9 men. Ultras pushed on but the Gower defense was resolute, with newcomer Graeme Walker breaking up play well alongside Jake in the middle. Against all odds the 9 men (still the better side mind you) nicked a 3rd when a Jake free kick from deep on the left caught the swirling wind and looped over the hapless keeper and into the top corner. 3-0 and the Phoenix were further buoyed by the arrival of old gower Jabiz who took up Lucas' place on the right. Half time soon came & another of Bolu’s reinforcements, Ed, arrived to establish a full Phoenix complement for the 1st time in the match.

A quick reshuffle saw Ed coming in at left back, Jab joining Jon Hanna up front and Rob moving to the right wing. In fairness to Ultras, they improved second ½ and pushed on with more purpose. It was a credit to the back 4 & Greg however that they retained their concentration despite being 3-0 to the good and limited Ultras (who had moved their giant centre back up front) to little more than half chances. Throughout the 2nd half it was Phoenix who looked the more dangerous with Bolu & Jab combining well on the left to carve out a series of chances. Due to some fairly labored finishing combined with some quite appalling offside decisions by the ref , Pheonix failed to stretch their lead. As the match wore on however, the resolute Gowers sapped the Ultra’s flagging spirit and ended the match in the ascendancy. A good victory was capped by a very satisfying clean sheet.

In fairness, it would have been a travesty to lose to this team but the job was not made at all easy by a series of personnel problems and it was a real testament to the Gower spirit that we didn’t let the numerical disadvantage stop us playing a positive game and claiming a convincing victory. Very pleasing too that we remained tight and alert at the back even when in a commanding lead. With that in mind well done to the defense – top stuff. A big shout out too to Jake & debutant Graeme, who dominated the midfield.

The attacking trident with Bolu & Lucas either side of big Jon Hanna has looked increasingly handy over the last couple of games & bore fruit once again on Sunday. Fingers crossed that Adam Lucas’s ankle injury is not too serious.

A big thank you to Jabiz, Ed, Graeme & Rob who all stepped in late and delivered good performances for the Pheonix.

MOTM – Bolu, whose performances have been improving match on match and was a constant threat on Sunday. He even combined his left wing trickery with a fat slice of mobile phone wizardry (thank god he did as we’d have been 9 men if not) to bag himself Phoenix’ first booking of the season.

Well done all.

Outclassed Outfought Outmaneouvred Outback basically get battered

Match report - Outback vs Gower Allstars - Mar 2nd

"In the struggle for survival, the fittest win at the expense of their rivals because they succeed in adapting themselves best to their environment.

In the times of great adversity, legends are born. That heroes prevail.

And each and every one of the Gower Allstars became a hero on Sunday, when they stood tall and annihilated an experienced strong Outback team at Market Road, to leave them within a whisker of clinching the Premier league title.

Despite an OTT Glyn psyche-up team talk pre-kick off, the Gowers started on the back foot, with Outback controlling the play and passing the ball around and even through the Gower midfield.

A free-kick awarded 25 yards out from the Gower goal, was taken quickly, whilst the wall was being lined up, and curled into the corner of the net, surprising the Allstars and giving Outback a 1-0 lead.

A one goal deficit knocked some sense into the Gowers, and they started to play the ball around on the deck, and interchanged play well from flank to flank. It was Botterill who looked the most dangerous on the left wing, creating several chances for him and his team.

However it was a throughball from Chittenden, dummied by Kelly, that sent Ricky through with just the centre back to beat from 30 yards. Taking no chances, he just walloped it, low and hard past the keeper to equalise for Gowers.

Gower dominance began to take shape, with the back four, notably Capone at left back, thwarting each and every Outback attack.

It was from a Blandy corner that Gowers took the lead via their Captain, who sprinted in losing marker, and it needed just a tap in to take the lead. The celebration was far from cool and calm.

2-1 Gower, and it deservedly remained that scoreline, up until halftime, with Gower in noticeable control, demonstrated no better than by a Botterill spin, round two players, sending him into 30 yards of space, and he ran on to the edge of the area and cracked a great shot just wide. Nearly goal of the season.

“More of the same, never give up, dig deep til you can’t breath any more” were the inspirational words by the Gaffer in the break,

And his words were fulfilled, with Gowers defending heroically as two banks of four, led by no better than by Chittenden, Ossack and Glyn at the heart of the defence and Paley sweeping up, which nullified the Outback possession, time after time.

Mitchell came more into the game, breaking up any Outback play in the centre of the park, and Ricky was just ridiculous.

Abnormally long throw ins, giant headers, sliding tackles, controlled possession and composed passing – all the assets you can possibly want in a player and Ricky displayed them in abundance, leading his team by example.

Outback pressure, was continually thwarted and time after time, transformed into a speedy counter attack, using Blandy and Botterill on the flanks to great effect.

And Blandy could no wrong. He repeatedly beat his full back, with some top skills and created numerous opportunities for the likes of Medley, Kelly, and Botterill who all squandered one on ones with the keeper.

It was becoming tense, as the chances kept being squandered, one by one.

2-1…..75 mins gone, and a build up of both Gower anxiety and lack of fitness, began to creap in with the back four, leading to the odd mishap here and there……….

But it was the desire and belief of the Gowers as a team, that kept Outback at bay.

You could sense it. The Allstars had a determination, a work ethic that became their backbone. They simply weren’t going to falter….today was to be a Gower day.

A substitution introducing the new and hugely talented Johny Hurly, gave the Gowers another outlet, an added dimension. And they didn’t have to wait long to seal the game, when some great skill sent Hurly free down the wing, and rather than take the full back on, he cleverly squared it to the onrushing Ricky, who controlled the ball, shifted to his right, and screamed an unstoppable finish into the very top corner from 25 yards.

3-1 – and you could see the relief on every one of the Gowers faces.

It then became samba stuff, when the Allstars started playing the ball round, from right back, to centre back, to left back, to Hurly on the left wing again, who this time, took on the full back with ease, cut inside on to his right, and curled a powerful shot into the top corner.

4 -1 and even a random onlooker from the street, clapped that one.

With 1 minute remaining, almost a déjà vu, led to Hurly cutting inside yet again, only this time for his shot to be parried, and it fell to an unmarked Medley, who slotted home to make the final scoreline a delightful 5-1 !!

What a performance. Having not been at the races for the past few weeks, it was so important for the Gowers to get back to playing classy winning football, and with a practically full Gower Allstars squad for the first time in weeks, it returned with style.

But this was not only about nice football, this victory came down to hunger, to desire. And on that performance every one of the Allstars, deserves to be a champion.
It is now 3 pts from a possible 9 that mathematically secures the league title, all against lower league opposition.

This win was monumental, mesmeric and arguably the most important in the clubs history. Proud does not even begin to describe the feeling.

Bottle it up. Remember it. Store it away. It really is one of your greatest achievements.

MOTM = Huge shouts have to go to Blandy, for his blissful wing play, Botterill for a stunning come back after a month of injury, and Capone, who put in a picture perfect left back performance, but there was only one winner today. And that was the beast himself. I don’t know how you play against him, when he performs like he did today, but Ricky Warren (yes he does a surname) put in one of the best performances ever seen in a Gower shirt, and he was instrumental in this victory. Not only in scoring two great crucial goals, but also his all round dominance of the midfield. He was a machine today and when he is like this, he is without the question the most influential player in the whole MA league. Needless to say, well done amigo – and one last point, Ricky, please don’t every tackle me, coz I don’t think I would ever play again.

Amazing stuff. What a team.

Captain Proud