WALTHAM FOREST II 5 PHOENIX 2

East League division 3SE

It was another away day and another loss for Phoenix men’s first-team.

The pattern of home and away games has become a concern for coach Cowen, who has seen tight disciplined play at home but a lack of it when the team leaves the district boundary.

A tale of 28 goals conceded in five games tells its own stark story.

Yet it could and should have been a different result against mid-table Waltham Forest.

Phoenix were the brighter team from the off.

Forest played a high tempo game but left space in abundance at the back and Phoenix exploited this early so that Forest were penned in, using a high ball out.

Even going down to ten men with a sin-bin offence, Phoenix were more dangerous and took the lead on ten minutes through Andy Luxton, who was first to react as a penalty corner was saved but arrived in a melee of players.

It may have been the issue of a second yellow card that started the rot, though, and more steel was needed as Forest gathered themselves and delivered what would prove to be the winning passage of play.

They were fast and direct and pulled Phoenix apart to score four goals in 20 minutes.

Phoenix contributed to this however with lame passing and decision making, trying to make wonder passes that simply gifted possession back to the opposition.

Rather than playing as a compact side down to ten, too many players thought it appropriate to run the ball, which played directly into the hands of the rampant home side.

Mercifully half-time arrived and Cowen was able to offer frank advice and it worked for the main part.

Phoenix were on song for much of the second half, notably pulling a goal back in the first minutes with Gareth Luxton slotting away a well-worked corner.

However, aside from the set pieces, the game equalled out with Forest scoring a breakaway.

The rest of the game was more balanced, well contested by two sides who probably deserve upper-middle-table status. Unfortunately any higher ambition for Phoenix will only arrive when the side achieve a much higher degree of resilience.