Phoenix blown away by Malin

The final game of 2014 saw Division 1 challengers Ecclesia Phoenix visit for the 3rd round of the Cup. The wind was blowing a gale but despite the recent rain, the pitch was pretty decent.

Confidence was high after the recent good run but changes were required with MATTY and HIRSTY both out of action. LEE BENNETT came in at right back with Stanno Village big hitter DEANO making a special guest appearance up front.

With Ecclesia recently lacking games and form, FERGIE gave out instructions to take it to the opposition early. His words seemed to hit home as we shot out of the blocks, putting them under pressure from the word go. The midfield and forwards were working their nuts off and the team from the top division didn't like it.

Before long we started to take control and it was from more good work in the middle of the park that the first chance arrived. MITCHELL picked it up and threaded a perfect pass through to right wing dynamo SPY. The full back was nowhere to be seen and he had all the time in the world to pick the right pass. Thankfully he did, delaying until DEANO had found space in the box before laying it across for the former Ronan Keating lookalike to sidefoot home into the far corner.

It was the perfect start and they were rattled. After the restart, the game continued in the same fashion with plenty of pressure and chances coming the way of the home side. They managed to launch a couple of counter attacks but one in particular was stopped well in it's tracks by DEE whose hefty challenge saw their winger hobble off.

The second goal soon came but this time the route to goal was slightly different. DAN played the ball out to to LEE B who assessed his options. With the winger closing in, he made the decision to HOOOOOOOOF it play a perfect ball over the top for the forwards. The keeper was stuck in two minds, which was to prove disastrous. Showing the type of pace you'd expect from a top level Sunday league striker, DEANO charged through and beat the keeper to the ball. Despite pressure from the centre half, the result was inevitable as he slid it home.

Half time arrived. What a half. FERGIE didn't have much to say other than "finish the job".

After half time, the 1st division side started to show why they'd had a good start to the season with more attacks coming the way of the Malin back 4. Despite having more of the ball, clear chances were few and far between. That was until a free kick from the half way line. A big boot into the box caused confusion and their midfielder stole in to win the header. From so close, DAN had no chance, despite getting a hand to it and it went in off the post. The whistle blew but it wasn't for a goal, thankfully, it was offside. What a let off.

The opposition felt hard done to and we felt pretty lucky. Whether the referee was in two minds whether the goal should've stood, who knows but not long after their lightweight winger found his way into the box and went down under pressure from GAV. Never a penalty. Unfortunately, it was, as the ref gave it.

Up stepped the big number 5 from the back. Not many of us expected him to be the penalty taker and he faced the usual abuse about centre halves being sh*t and unable to shoot (ME and DAVE being the obvious exceptions). Although the former maybe true, it turned out he could shoot as he put his considerable beef behind it and hammered it home. 2-1. The pressure was on.

After the goal we expected a bit of an onslaught but it never really came. Slowly but surely we got back into it and started to take control again. NATH and MITCH were winning the battle in the middle of the park but not only were they winning the challenges, they were also taking the game to their back 4. NATH resembling a giant version of Lionel Messi as he dribbled his way through their back line on a couple of occasions.

With time running out, the scorer of their penalty was shoved up front to add some extra height but it did nothing other than give us more space on the counter attack. After good work on the left, DEANO opened up the space to finish off his hat trick but a slip at the last second saw his shot slice into the trees. Many thought the hat trick was sealed when BROWNY worked his way into the box and unselfishly laid it into DEANO to finish. Bizarrely, the ref blew for offside.

The 3rd never came but we didn't need it. 2-1, job done, into the next round.

Another top performance which showed that we're more than capable of taking on the better teams in the league. MITCHELL took another Man of the Match against some tough competition, keeping things very tight at the top of the points chart!

The 2014 record ended up as P12 W10 D1 L1. If we can match or better that then the league and cup double could be ours...