retired_pimpim

Just wondering what reputation do you use for an edited club into the conference north because im thinking of doing it ?

retired_destiny1124

taylor7- I didn't bother editing anything with the actual club- nor did I when editing in Harrow Hill in FM05 and again in FM06- only swapped it into ECN. So very obscure, which makes it more challenging- but that is the way I prefer it.

***

23.11.04
My scouts wanted me too, and when he agreed to none-too-pricey contract, I was glad to add 18 year old DL Liam Coyne from Leigh RMI on free transfer. I had been looking for a leftback to pair with Michael Ellison, since Sean Daly had not played that well when forced to fill in for Ellison while he was injured.

***

24.11.04
We are now currently 1/3 of the way through the ECN season (13 matches) and our latest surge has moved us up into 9th place (mostly based on our very positive 8 goal differential). 1st place Worksop is at 27 points- 7 above us at this stage of the season. If we can continue our improving play, we are going to be an opponent no one wants to face later in the season.

retired_destiny1124

24.11.04
Alfreton (3) Phoenix Sports (1)
So much for our improving play. Our backline played an awful match and left Alan Williams to fend for himself as we fell to Alfreton 3-1. We allowed Mark Sale an easy header to put them in the lead, and then allowed Chris Dolby to cruise unmarked into the far post to flick a header in as we fell behind 2-0 by the midway mark in the first half. We showed some life and drew a goal back when Daniel Bent scored on a rebound after MOM Lee Butler stopped Anthony Jackson's initial blast. That was the only thing Butler allowed us as he played a rock solid second half. Sale scored his 2nd after Adam Hart strolled away to leave him all alone in front of Williams. It was a loss that we deserved and we will have more of these if the backline plays like this.

retired_destiny1124

27.11.04
Corinthian Casuals (0) Phoenix Sports (1) FA Trophy 2nd Round
Our advancement in FA Trophy was the direct result of Lee Mudd's unwillingness to quit working. After Lawrence Yaku ran down a ball before it went out of bounds, he crossed it back to Mudd in the area. Mudd blasted a shot, but MOM Ryan Wright parried it away. Mudd kept moving and reached the ball in time to fire it past Wright as he dove to smother it for what would be the only goal in a close contest. Our backline again gave away many chances, but Corinthian wasn't able to capitalize as Chris Taylor earned his clean sheet with a couple key second-half saves.

retired_destiny1124

30.11.04
Southport (2) Phoenix Sports (1)
It was the bitter taste of defeat that we took him from our trip to face 5th placed Southport. It was a struggle from the opening whistle as they were much sharper than we were in their execution. They took a first half lead when Terry Fearns slipped in behind Sean Daly to flick a long centering pass by Alan Williams. We equalized in the second half when David Poole scored after a fantastic individual effort with a well placed shot inside the far left post past Steve Dickinson. The match winner came when they dissected our backline by swinging the ball to the open left side and then crossing it back for Chris Price to deflect the ball past Williams. Southport could have conducted a tackling clinic with the several saving tackles they made in their area to ruin our best scoring chances. We didn't make good decisions with the ball today- a bit too much passing- and it cost us a better result.

retired_destiny1124

7.12.04
Stuart Wright and Ross Irvine made quite a pair as neither of them showed up for yesterday's training sessions. No warnings, etc... this time- I placed both of them on the transfer list (free transfer) and offered them to every club I could think of. We don't need this kind of 'spoilt child' attitude at the club- so they can find a new home. For now, they are on the reserves- the only contracted players on there.

***

8.12.04
Worksop (1) Phoenix Sports (1)
I guess I should be satisfied with a draw against the top club in ECN, but it was another match that was agonizingly close to being a win for us. Kristian Rogers was brilliant in the first half in their net as he made three terrific one-on-one saves. Twice he parried away point blank headers from David Poole and then he also stopped Anthony Jackson on a nice chance. They took the first half lead when Paul Parle and Michael Ellison combined on a youngster's mistake- as Parle headed the ball down, but then neither of them cleared the ball from the six yard box and Adam Muller swooped in and blasted it past Alan Williams. We finally managed to even the match when David Poole broke in clean and blistered a rising shot. Rogers tried to snare the ball, but instead put it into the net for an own-goal (though to my mind, Poole deserved the goal for it). Rogers righted himself with a dazzling save on Adam Webster (on for tiring Bent) and Williams was also called on for a save to preserve the 1-1 draw. A worthy result, but if we execute a bit better it is a win instead.

retired_destiny1124

11.12.04
Phoenix Sports (5) Gainsborough (3)
It wasn't exactly an ideal match, as our backline again left much to be desired, but we managed to put a win in our column thanks to a sterling offensive effort today. We leaped into the early lead when Adam Webster blasted a shot past Jamie Holmshaw. They pegged us back immediately when Gareth Grant turned Gary Sucharewycz into a pretzel as he eluded his marking to score past Chris Taylor. We marched to a 3-1 lead midway through the first half when Lawrence Yaku scored two goals in a three minute span. On the first he made a strong move past the defense after Webster headed the ball down for him. On the second he ran into space and took a through ball from Richard Field before slotting it home. We quickly gave away the two-goal lead as Grant beat Sucharewycz again for his 2nd goal and then Carl Alford slipped past our backline to score early in the second half to even things at 3-3. A good sign of maturity from our club came when we battled right back into the lead. Anthony Pulis made a deft pass that found Lee Mudd alone in the area and Mudd drilled a shot past Holmshaw for his 1st goal. Pulis then made a terrific play of his own as he skinned the ball from Adam Valente and made a powerful shot into the left side of the net for his 1st goal at Phoenix. We played better with this two-goal lead and completed an eventful and entertaining 5-3 win.

retired_destiny1124

15.12.04
In no time at all, we had takers for our two malcontents- Stuart Wright and Ross Irvine. Wright is headed to Forest Green as he selected them out of 7 bidding clubs. Irvine is on his way to Lewes after he picked their offer out of the three bidding clubs. Though Anthony Pulis is a bit out of his normal position on the left side for us- he played really well in our last match, so I may not worry about finding a true replacement for Wright- at least for the remainder of this season.

***

18.12.04
Phoenix Sports (3) Droylsden (1)
Another very strong and encouraging showing for us as we parlayed three first half goals into a 3-1 home win over Droylsden. David Poole took advantage of the space afforded him in the area and fired a midlevel shot past Paul Phillips in the early moments of the match. Martin Ridley then added to the visitor's woe as he curled home a 25 yard free kick midway through the first half. Daniel Bent then repeated Poole's feat by firing a quick shot past Phillips after finding himself unmarked just beyond the six yard box. Droylsden got their only glimmer of hope when John Spicer was called for pushing David Cameron in the area and Jody Banim converted the penalty kick past Alan Williams to ruin his chance at a clean sheet. We allowed them little after their goal and saw a lot better work from our backline in support of closing out the 3-1 home win.

retired_destiny1124

20.12.04
I did decide that we needed another right back to alternate with Paul O'Brien- asking Martin Ridley to play out there seemed to not work as well as I had hoped. My scouts both thought that 20 year old DR Craig Clark was an excellent candidate and he agreed to a contract after Kings Lynn accepted a free transfer offer on him. He will tutor with the veteran O'Brien for now.

***

21.12.04
Harrogate Town (1) Phoenix Sports (0)
One bad defensive mistake and our inability to take advantage of our own scoring chances doomed us as we lost a close 1-0 match in Harrogate. They took the early lead in the match when a bad clearing pass by Adam Hart went right to MOM Michael Cole. Cole headed it strongly back into our area and Paul Shepherd slipped the ball to unmarked Leigh Wood for an easy marker. We had plenty of good scoring opportunities in the match, but Nick Buxton came up with some big stops for them and we just missed the net with other chances. David Poole fired a wicked low shot off the post and Lee Mudd's header bounced back off the crossbar in a match where we couldn't seem to find the break we needed. I was pleased with the effort, but we still have to play better defensively to get results in this type of close match.

retired_destiny1124

22.12.04
I have to say that I am pleased with where we are at the midpoint of the season. After 19 matches played, we are currently 10th and still in contention for a playoff slot. If we can get more consistent backline play, we should be able to avoid any hint of relegation and that would be a major step in our first season.

ECN 2004-5 Midseason Table
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">1- Barrow 38 pts (+16)2- Worksop 37 pts (+17)3- Lancaster 33 pts (+9)4- Hinckley 31 pts (+8)5- Altrincham 31 pts (+8)6- Nuneaton 31 pts (+7)7- Southport 31 pts (+3)8- Bradford PA 30 pts (+3)9- Worcester 28 pts (+5)10- Phoenix Sports 27 pts (+8)</pre>