Match Report: Phoenix vs Virgin
Early kick offs are often troublesome affairs in Sunday League football. Numbers usually diminish, and the people who do turn up still smell of stale vomit from the night before. This provides a rich excuse for poor form, lazy shooting and general malaise, symptoms seldom aided by excessive consumption of alcohol and/or crack cocaine.
Despite a sterling effort by Jules ‘The Speedster’ Slazenger to procure enough manpower to cover one or two subs, by Saturday night Phoenix were only eleven strong. This situation was made even worse by a major pull-out Sunday morning, and despite a determined attempt to boost numbers, Phoenix approached the game with only ten men. Crucially, the man missing was the keeper.
After some asking around, a randomer caught smoking on the sideline was eventually persuaded not to watch his 13 year old son play football, and in stepped Devon between the sticks. We now had eleven men, a cause for celebration in itself, but although a battle had been won, the war was yet to start.
Phoenix lined up with ‘The Wall’ and Bradley as centre backs, flanked on both sides by Dens and Alex. Pete returned from injury to play right mid, Pat looked to continue his excellent form on the left, and Miles and Henry ‘The Babymaker’ occupied the centre midfield roles. Up front was the formidable pairing of Jules and Fernando Denselow, two of the most prolific strikers the Musical Association League has ever seen.
Despite a meticulous and methodical warm up, Phoenix conceded a goal in the opening minutes of the match. A speculative ball over the top was met by the head of Virgin striker, who looped the ball calmly over Devon. Phoenix responded well to going behind, and a few minutes later the scores were level. A mazy run by Alex was followed by a venomous cross low into the box, and the virgin players could do nothing except watch the ball career off one of their own defenders into the goal.
With the scores level Phoenix turned on the style. Miles and the ‘Babymaker’ started bossing the midfield, spreading the ball quickly across the pitch to the wide men, who were having lots of joy against their opposite numbers. A few minutes before half time, Phoenix wasted an excellent opportunity to take the lead, yet the usually prolific Fernando Denselow saw his shot saved from close range.
The second half saw a different phoenix team on the pitch. Passing was sloppy, our shape was spasmodic, and Phoenix looked tired. With our attacking options in short supply, Virgin started to look dangerous. Cue the Phoenix defence. Never in the history of the Musical Association League has so much been owed to so few, and the four at the back repelled attack after attack to ensure a hard earned draw against the league leaders. Dens especially made two excellent sliding tackles in the box, and Devon was vocal in goal, constantly comparing the Phoenix defence to Fort Knox.
Men of the Match: The Defence. Difficult to single out anyone really, Bradley and the Wall had the Virgin strikers in their pockets, and Alex and Dens were equally solid on the flanks.
