Phoenix Made To Work Hard For The Win

Phoenix went into today’s Friendly game giving starts to three players who been training with the club and we had a further three new players on the bench. The club also had a few other players away most notably Adam Houghton. Penistone Res are a very capable side who are always in the mix for the county senior premiership title and have won the Sheffield Hallamshire cup for the past two seasons and are sure to be in the mix for more trophies this season.
Phoenix started the game slow which was understandable with the new players getting used to the way we want to play and us trying a new tactic. Penistone were playing some good two touch football but weren’t penetrating the well organised Phoenix defence. Despite Penistone having the lion share of possession we nearly took the lead against the run of play. A superb cross field pass from Davis found Gordon and his cross found Lane who laid it off to Fatty but his shot was well blocked. Phoenix had the next big opportunity to take the lead again around the 12 minutes mark when Gordon put pressure on the defender , the defenders attempted clearance was blocked by Gordon and it sent Fatty through but his chipped effort from a tight angle went just over.
From their Penistone again began to boss the possession through the midfield three this resulted in three corners in the space of 5 minutes one shot was on target from the resulting corners but this was a routine save for Caley. Phoenix new formed defence were holding strong against Penistone direct play and movement off the ball this was due to Hackett, O’Brien and Hatfield communicating well and good positioning play and tight man to man marking. Phoenix to their credit were still trying to playing passing football but were being closed down and were struggling to keep possession at times. Penistone had the next two chances one came from a corner and this was blocked on the way through and the other was a long range effort that flew well over the bar. Around the half an hour mark we made six changes ( Orr, Fatty, Gordon, A. O’Brien, Lake and Coates made way for Sykes ,Fonse, Patterson, Corbett, Baines and Garlick ) We stressed to the players to keep playing football and get the ball wide and use the pace we have in that area, we got back on top of the game which was great credit to the lads, Patterson had a few purposeful runs and Sykes and Fonse were linking up well. Within 5 minutes of the changes we were in front great play down the centre by Davis & Lucas fed in Sykes his shot was blocked for a corner. From the resulting corner Sykes put in a dangerous cross Hackett header was well blocked with the ball falling to Hatfield to poke home 0-1.
The goal gave us renew confidence and we was now in the driving seat Davis, Baines, Sykes, Patterson and Garlick started to boss the midfield and the defence were solid throughout the 1st 45 minutes. Before the break we threatened to extend our lead with a mazy run from Fonse this saw him skip past two but his shot just drifted wide. Penistone were still very much in the game and had over 60 % of the possession but had struggled to break down Phoenix hardworking midfield and well organised defence. 0-1 HT.

Half Time Penistone Res 0- 1 Phoenix
We expressed to lads how we were pleased with the shape and work rate but we just needed to keep possession a bit better and use the simple pass in stead of forcing it. Hackett & Hatfield were replaced by Coates & Powell and Grant replaced Caley in goal.

The second period was full of Phoenix possession and territory with Penistone having to play on the counter. We near doubled the lead with great work out wide by Patterson his cut back was put just wide by Corbett. We had a couple more strikes at goal but these were well blocked or comfortably saved by Penistone keeper. The defence & midfield of Phoenix were bossing the game and starting off good attacks with nice passing moves. Powell, O’Brien and Coates had got to grips with how Penistone liked to play and had squeezed the play up the pitch to stop them having possession in the midfield this forced Penistone to go long and most of their play went through to Grant .
That said Penistone were still creating the odd cross and long range efforts which Grant handled well. Penistone had not been bossing possession as much and the fitness we had been working on at training was now paying dividends. A.O’Brien & Sowden replaced Davis and Patterson on the 60th minute mark. The best move of the game came in the 65 minute some good link up play by Fonse, Baines and Lucas ended with a strike from Sykes from 20 Yards which was destined for the top corner but the Penistone keeper managed to get a cross and tip the ball over a great save. From the resulting corner Sykes deep corner was headed towards goal by Baines this was cleared off the line and the rebound fell to Sowden who strike beat the keeper all ends up but Penistone were saved by the cross bar.
Lucas was replaced by Hoppy in the 65 minute, it was then was Penistone who came close to an equaliser when a miss placed Phoenix header was latched on too but the effort went just wide. In the 75 minute mark Gordon, Orr, Lane & Hackett replaced Fonse, Garlick, Sykes and Coates The game was stretched now with Penistone trying to get the back into it this lead to half chances for both teams Penistone forcing Grant to tip one over at the front post and Hoppy having a long range effort that was straight at Penistone keeper. The 2nd goal came in the 88th minute a direct ball from Hackett was well chased down by Hoppy who blocked the keeper clearance at the edge of his box the ball fell to Gordon about 30 yards out he took a touch and fired the ball into the roof of the net over the back peddling keeper and defender 0-2. Penistone kept plugging away and forced a good save some Grant in the last minute from a corner but we got the clean sheet the lads deserved.

Full Time Penistone Res 0- 2 Phoenix
Today was a fantastic end to end game with both teams working hard, Penistone edged the possession with Phoenix looking very tight and organised at the back and exciting going forward. We toughly deserved the win and played some good counter attacking football. To Penistone credit they made it hard for us and both teams will take lots of positives from the workout. Penistone are a decent team and I’m sure throughout their season they will challenge for honours in the county senior league. Thanks to Penistone for the hospitality and all the best for the season lads. U.T.P