Phoenix came into the game on the back of 3 league defeats knowing that only a win would save them from finishing as the bottom team in the division. Moseley their opponents were in the same position although Moseley do have an extra game to play, however that ould be agains the league leaders who havent lost a game all season. So both teams knew this game was vital.
Phoenix were relatively unchanged, playing a 4-5-1 formation. The only change was that leading goalscorer Adam was out with a knee injury, so Dan come in at left midfield.
Moseley got the game under way, and the first 5-10 minutes saw a nervy game for both teams, however Phoenix settled the quickest and began to dominate the half. The were some nice passing exchanges in the midfield and Gibson was able to hold the ball up and bring them into play. It was Gibson who had the first shot, after his long throw came back out to him, but from a tight angle he cut accross the ball and sliced it well wide.
Moseley were struggling to get anything going and could only pass it around at the back, but Gibson Booth and Parker were chasing the down and forcing the errors to win back possession of the ball. For all that Phoenix dominated they werent producing too many chances. Gibson forced a corner from a volley on the turn, whilst he also shot from 20 yards but that went wide. Dan latched onto a lay off from Gibson but dragged it wide and Chris booth had an effort that also went wide.
The deadlock was broken though and against the run of play it went to Moseley. A throw in on the right side wasn't closed down quick enough and an attempted cross deceived Ade and went straight in in the far corner, Phoenix suffering from yet another fluke goal.
The half time whistle came and without Moseley having a single shot at goal in the half they led 1-0.
Througout the season, Phoenix have suffered from slow starts to a half and today was no different, a poor kick off saw them immediately in trouble and led to Moseley enjoying their best spell of the game. With their first meaningful chance their lead was doubled. A through ball was latched onto by the forward and he was able to slot home under no pressure and it started to look bleak for Phoenix who were no struggling to get a foothold on the game, a far different side to the one in the first half.
With 20 minutes left to play it was all but over as a ball looped over the Phoenix defence was neatly intot he path of their forward who just lobbed it over the advancing keeper and Moseley were looking comfortable and good for the three points.
Phoenix went to 3 at the back but it was too late. They only created a couple more chances the best falling to gibson who got his attempted lob completely wrong and it was easy for Moseley to deal with.
The final whistle saw an end to season for Phoenix, an end which saw a bad run of form see them come last in the standings.
However in what was their first season in the Wolverhampton Sunday league there have been plenty of positives to look at and they can work on the negatives when they start pre-season in June/July.
