After last weekend’s disappointing postponement, Phoenix Lions were in Selkent League Cup action this week with a Second Round tie against Orpington from B North of the Selkent League. Orpington were top of their league and had won their last 3 games 7-0, 8-1 and 7-0 so would look to be tough opposition.
As with the last few weeks, the weather was poor with rain starting to pour down on players and parents alike and with 2 games already having been played on an already terrible pitch, conditions were not going to be easy.
Kick Off
A full squad of 12 available this week so Phoenix lined up with Tom in goal, in front of him a back 3 of Ben, Charlie and Euan. In front of them George and Cameron, with James and Jack providing the width. Henry was in his usual position up front. Oscar, Jai and Josh would be on the bench waiting to join the action.
From the start it was clear that the conditions were going to be difficult and Phoenix didn’t start well. They could not get hold of the ball and Orpington were putting them under pressure. The Lions were not being given space to play their passing game and when they did, passes went astray thanks to the increasingly difficult pitch.
An early Orpington attack showed their forward was going to be a real handful but the back 3 marshalled him well early on.
An early corner from Orpington, swung in from the right hand side was defended poorly by Phoenix – not uncommon from set pieces in this and recent years – and the ball fell kindly for an Orpington player to stab home and give his side the lead. 0-1.
Phoenix were struggling in the conditions and every awkward bounce and loose ball fell to an Orpington leg or toe and allowed them to clear any danger.
Orpington were nearly through again midway through the first half but the striker was flagged off-side, much to the disgust of the Orpington manager – and his various cohorts. In fact it was difficult to know exactly who their manager was!
An altercation then played out involving the so called Orpington ‘management team’ and the linesman which ended in threats to the linesman and some very unpleasant language being thrown his way.
Jack then injured his knee and had to come off to be replaced by Oscar. Shortly after, Euan was felled and replaced by Josh.
A Phoenix corner led to a chance for Charlie but he leaned back to get some distance on the shot and it was always rising over the bar.
James had a few runs down the left but was well marked by their right back and was unable to get any space to run into.
Half Time – Phoenix Sports Lions 0 Orpington 1
At half time, Phoenix were told to use the slight slope to their advantage, make sure of their passes and for Henry and Cameron to work the back line harder.
It worked as Orpington started making mistakes and chances started to fall to Phoenix.
The equaliser came thanks to some excellent interplay between George, Cameron and Oscar. George played in Cameron who skipped past a couple of tackles before sending a lovely ball through to Oscar who seemed to glide over the sticky surface and unleash a superb shot which just evaded the Orpington keeper. It was nothing more than Phoenix deserved. 1-1.
Both sides then tried to find a winner. Orpington relying on the pace of their forward but the Phoenix back line managed to back each other up well and cut out any danger.
They were backed up by Tom Wray who was having a superb game in goal, cutting out the through balls and getting plenty of distance on his clearances.
Phoenix continued to press with Henry and James having chances but their shots were easily saved or wide of the target.
It was then Phoenix turn to deliver from a set play. A corner from the right was swung in well by Cameron and as the ball was headed out, Charlie was lurking on the edge of the box. It was almost a carbon copy of his chance in the first half, instead this time he made sure with a bullet shot straight through the crowded box and in for 2-1. The release of frustration from all the Phoenix team was evident as they clearly felt they deserved to be in front.
However, they really needed a third goal to be sure but it wouldn’t come and Orpington threw caution to the wind by leaving 2 at the back and playing 2 strikers.
It was Tom who first kept Phoenix in front. An Orpington player unleashed a long range shot which looked all but certain to go in, Tom leapt up like a salmon and got a hand to the ball to divert it over the bar. A superb save.
Then Charlie stopped another potential goal from Orpington’s main threat who had gone past the other defenders, unleashed a shot only to see Charlie fling himself in front of it and divert it wide. A real piece of old school defending.
As the clock ticked down the pressure was evident. One last corner from Orpington saw George rise above the crowd and head away to clear the last of the danger and the ref blew his whistle for full time.
Full Time – Phoenix Sports Lions 2 Orpington 1
A real battle in the rain and after finding their feet and starting to play like a team, Phoenix deserved to win. They covered each other’s backs with James and George from midfield in particular covering a lot of ground and helping out the defence. They will travel to face HF Sports Adders from Selkent A league in the third round due to be played 14th December with a quarter final place up for grabs against either Welling Wanderers - their old enemy - or AFC All Stars.
Before that they will face Real Gima in the league and then a real test against Bromley in the London Cup.
Come on you Lions!
