Cold, wet, damp and dreary start to today's away game to Shepshed Dynamo. On a pitch that had a resemblance to Beacon Hill and the added pleasure squelchy turf, we took to the field not quite realising how heavy the turf was trying to play at our normal fast pace.
The ball was slow across the ground and coated in a film of mud which both teams found hard to maintain accuracy in passes.
But thanks to a break along the left and a switch of play over to the right, Olli found himself just outside the edge of the penalty area to fire in a corking shot over the top of the goalkeepers fingertips into the left corner.
The first half was very much a Phoenix barage of attacks but unfortunately, the boys weren't on form and just could not find the back of the net.
Again we were most unfortunate that we accumulated 9 offsides in the first 30 minutes.
On a fast free kick form an offside we were unfortunate to conceed an equaliser.
Into half time we were playing up the mountain this half and once again dominated most of the game play but again most unfortunate that we just couldn't hit the target.
Dynamo had a few attacks but thanks to our new goalkeeper Finn making some fine saves and having good vocals with his defense, showing a good command of his area.
Defensively a solid performance from the back line great coverage by all. Jack should get a special mention as he was everywhere today and showed a confidence in play and progressively played forward balls with good runs to support the front line. This helped earn him Man of the Match today.
Midfield wise, we were solid with some excellent play and individual runs. Strong performance from Evan who worked very hard.
Upfront we struggled the balls did make it through but we just couldn't finish. If it wasn't shots off target or slipping with the ball it was a defensive line that often had 9 men back to clear away.
Today's match was hard work for our boys, not that the opposition were a better team, but more that we struggled with the pitch and mudded heavy feet resulting in loss of focus and frustration.
Some of our best work was on the one two's and fast pass play. Frustration from us, led us to do more runs with the ball and not pass and move. A real shame as the boys have worked so hard to learn new patterns of play and understandably, it's so easy to forget new tactics when playing under difficult conditions.
As I said at the end of the game to the boys, it is still a good result we didn't lose and no one is to blame, we are a team and we all have a responsibility to each other regardless of how we perform individually. They worked hard, battled on and kept us entertained, which says a lot of who they are and I'm always proud of each and everyone of them.
They sometimes forget this as they're young men developing, I truly hope they realise how far they have come together as OUR PHOENIX ARMY.
Big thanks and welcome back to Danny for running the line and thanks to our fan base parents who always support us so well.
Our Phoenix Galactico's did well today after taking an early lead of 3 nil in the first half.
Second half saw the opposition manage to scrape 3 to equalise and leading on to a penalty shoot out. Fantastic performance by all and a special mention to Kaamil who came back to save 4 penalties resulting in us going through to the next round of the Duncan Warner Cup.
Well done boys great result and great performance.
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