Match Review: Phoenix vs Clissold Thistle

Phoenix turn up the heat with a 4:1 victory against league minnows

With the pitches still frozen rock solid, there was some ambiguity about whether the match would kick off or not. After a cursory examination of nearby pitches we opted to move onto a slightly more thawed pitch, but it would prove to be a very difficult surface to play on, and a difficult game in general.

With the referee late again, we benefited from the entrepreneurial exploits of a gang of loveable rogues, who were more eager to ref the match than many of us were to play. With only eleven men on the team sheet, Pheonix were buoyed by the return of Sam, whose outstanding form this season has been a large reason for our recent success. Ahead of him was the steady defensive line of James ‘Bo’ Bradley, Jamie Wood, Jamie Davies and Dens. Ben and ‘The Babymaker’ looked to continue their excellent centre midfield partnership, and two newbies, Sam and ‘T’ provided our width. Upfront were the dynamic duo of Jules ‘the Speedster’ Slazenger and Fernando Denselow.

The game started brightly, Fernando Denselow tested the keeper early on, and saw his long shot touched over the bar by the Clissold keeper. Ben also had an excellent long shot saved, as Phoenix looked odds on to score first. The deadlock was broken very early on, a corner from Sam found its way to the far post, where ‘T’ calmly slotted the ball inside the near post. Despite going ahead, Phoenix immediately found themselves on the back foot, and Clissold had several goal scoring opportunities denied by Sam, the pick of the bunch being a one-on-one, which Sam got out quickly to smother.

Half time came quickly and allowed the team to analysis their first half display. The general consensus being a lack of patience going forward, this often meant looking for the killer ball when other options were available.

This did seem to have some impact on the team’s second half performance, and ten minutes in we had doubled our lead. A corner from Sam was turned in by Jules, who showed immense composure to control the ball in mid air before powerfully volleying it past the keeper. The second goal seemed to spur on Clissold even more, and Phoenix again started losing possession across the field, allowing the oppo a series of chances to score. Sam again proved his worth, with save after save, including a remarkable reaction save from close range, which he managed to turn around the post for a corner.

With Clissold committing men forward, it was no surprise that Phoenix managed to grab a third from a classic counter-attacking move, Ben striding forward with the ball released Fernando Denselow, who nut-megged a defender before finishing clinically into the corner of the goal. Three nil up, and Phoenix temporarily took their foot off the pedal, allowing Clissold briefly back into the game. Some scrappy play saw the ball ping pong inside the Phoenix box, unfortunately falling to a Clissold striker who couldn’t miss from 6 yards out. But the match was put beyond doubt five minutes before the end, courtesy of another great counter-attacking move. Jules sprinting down the left drew the Clissold defence out of position, and he found Fernando Denselow unmarked in the box, who side-footed the ball into the far corner of the goal.

An interesting game, the score line doesn’t give justice to the oppo, who played well, and were only kept out the game by the hands, feet and face of Sam. Phoenix should possibly have scored more, Jules had a great opportunity saved, ‘T’ hit the post, and ‘The Babymaker’ dragged a shot wide early in the first half.

Man of the Match: Sam: A great goalkeeping display, on a hard frozen pitch. With the low sun shining into his eyes for the first half, Sam showed exactly what the difference a good keeper can make at this level.