Up From the Ashes

[Faramir]

1.4.06

Phoenix Sports (3) Tamworth (0)

Kevin Braniff's debut generated a lot of excitement among our fans and it was with good reason. Braniff's threaded pass sent David Poole in free and he buried the ball in the goal past Ryan Price to give us the halftime lead. Tamworth threatened to rally early in the second half, but Kevin Rapley missed the net on a pair of one-on-one chances against Tommy Lee. We put the match away when Lee Mudd laid the ball for Mark Yeates and he drilled a shot past Price late in the second half. Yeates then made a deft pass for Poole and he made it a brace with a rising shot past the diving Price to cap the 3-0 scoreline as Lee added another clean sheet.

Conference National- 38 matches played, 4 remaining

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Phoenix Sports 72 pts (+33)

2- Accrington 68 pts (+30)

3- Crawley 67 pts (+34)

4- Shrewsbury 65 pts (+13)

5- Barnet 63 pts (+14)

6- Woking 62 pts (+23)

7- Morecambe 61 pts (+14)

8- Cambridge 61 pts (+8)

9- York 60 pts (+11)

</pre>

[Faramir]

8.4.06

Burton (2) Phoenix Sports (2)

We played so well for the entire match and then allowed them to equalize in the last minute of play. It was pure disappointment on our part as we failed to clear a ball that should have been sent down the pitch and then they turned the chance into gold for their last moment equalizer. We had made a strong start to the match and held a 2-0 lead midway through the second half thanks to goals from David Poole and Mark Yeates. They drew one back on a corner when Billy Nott mis-hit a header and it dipped over Robert Elliott. Their last minute goal came from Glen Kirkwood when Adam Tann gave him a bit too much room and the snapped a shot past Elliott into the left side of the net. Accrington is back within two points of us after their 2-1 home win.

[Faramir]

15.4.06

Phoenix Sports (3) Shrewsbury (0)

Kevin Braniff came to play today and his strong work up front was the main reason we easily defeated Shrewsbury 3-0 in a match they badly wanted a better result from. David Poole's long pass was perfect for Braniff to run onto and he fired a well placed shot past Joe Hart to give us the lead early in the first half. Ten minutes later, Braniff made it a brace as he flicked a header past Hart on a cross from MOM Eugen Bopp. Shrewsbury had a difficult time breaking our defensive coverage and didn't manage many decent scoring chances- which helped Tommy Lee to a clean sheet. Paul O'Brien blasted a free kick past Hart for the lone goal in the second half as we maintained a tight clamp on the visitors and closed out a strong 3-0 win. Accrington also won over Dag & Red, which meant both we and them have clinched playoff spots and will remain locked in our duel for the top spot going into the final two matches.

[Faramir]

22.4.06

Phoenix Sports (2) Scarborough (0)

The final seconds were counted down (several times) by a stadium awash in Phoenix blue as the celebration began when it sounded. Our 2-0 win over Scarborough, combined with Accrington's 1-1 draw against Crawley at home, meant that we had captured the crown of Conference National and would receive the automatic promotion spot to Division 2 play. The match was a rough one that featured 10 yellow cards and 1 redcard, as both sides proved they were ready to scrap for the win. The early lead was ours as Mark Hotte misdirected a header and Kevin Braniff was quickest to the ball. Gareth Downey parried away Braniff's hard shot, but Eugen Bopp was moving in from the right and hammered the rebound past the diving Downey for the lead. Keith Gilroy and Chris Senior both had chances to even things, but both missed over the goal to the relief of Tommy Lee. In the opening moments of the second half, Michael Johnson- who earned MOM honours- skinned David McGoldrick of the ball. Johnson sent a pass in to Mark Yeates, who dealt it off to unmarked Braniff. Braniff punctuated the pretty passing sequence by firing a shot past Downey inside the right post. We settled into a conservative defensive style after that and our backline gave Lee solid support as he put another clean sheet on his record.

[Spav]

Congratulations on the title - that's another feather to put in your "lower leagues of football" hat, Faramir.

[Faramir]

Heh, Thanks Spav Lower League Titles are about all I have to show so far in FM 06

***

22.4.06

It is hard to believe- in the next to last match of the season- that we have completed our quest by capturing the Conference National title. The players and I are all still a little disbelieving as at times it has really been a struggle. I was happy that we could do it in front of our fans and have them celebrate with us. With the pressure off for our last match at Morecambe, we will see many of the 1st liners resting for that match.

***

29.4.06

Morecambe (3) Phoenix Sports (0)

There was no magic left today as Morecambe outplayed us and won out 3-0 in a match that wasn't close. They held the halftime lead when Danny Carlton slipped past Patrick McCarthy to deflect a long cross past Robert Elliott for his 15th goal. Our only chances were a couple that James Graham created by finding space, but neither troubled keeper Steve Corry too much. Morecambe dominated the second half and we could not get much going. All their pressure finally paid off when they added late goals from Sean O'Connor and a 2nd from Carlton to ice the strong 3-0 win.

Conference National Table- Final Regular Season

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

1- Phoenix Sports 79 pts (+35)

2- Accrington 78 pts (+36)

3- Shrewsbury 71 pts (+14)

4- Crawley 70 pts (+33)

5- York 70 pts (+17)

6- Barnet 70 pts (+15)

7- Morecambe 67 pts (+17)

8- Woking 65 pts (+21)

9- Cambridge 64 pts (+6)

</pre>

[Faramir]

2005-6 Phoenix Sports Selected Stats

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

GK

Tommy Lee 23 matches 19 conceded 11 CleanSht 1 MOM 7.04

Robert Elliott 22 matches 27 conceded 9 CleanSht 0 MOM 7.36

DR

Paul O'Brien 35 matches 3 goals 4 assists 0 MOM 7.36

DL

Ryan Garry (L) 26 matches 0 goals 0 assists 3 MOM 7.73

Liam Coyne 18 matches 0 goals 2 assists 0 MOM 7.22

Michael Ellison 5 matches 0 goals 1 assist 0 MOM 7.20

DC

Adam Tann 33 matches 3 goals 3 assists 1 MOM 7.48

Patrick McCarthy 34 matches 0 goals 2 assists 1 MOM 7.12

Zak Whitbread 13 matches 0 goals 0 assists 0 MOM 7.41

Phil Bolland 15 matches 0 goals 0 assists 1 MOM 7.07

Gary Sucharewycz 7 matches 0 goals 0 assists 0 MOM 7.00

DMC

Andrew Wright 29 matches 0 goals 2 assists 0 MOM 7.17

Richard Field 24 matches 0 goals 0 assists 0 MOM 6.92

Sean Ardley 10 matches 0 goals 0 assists 0 MOM 7.00

ML

Michael Johnson 16 matches 1 goal 6 assists 3 MOM 7.63

Paul Parle 20 matches 1 goal 1 assist 1 MOM 7.20

Lee Mudd 20 matches 0 goals 1 assist 0 MOM 6.80

MR

Eugen Bopp 32 matches 5 goals 7 assists 5 MOM 7.69

Philip Gilder 14 matches 0 goals 1 assist 0 MOM 6.93

Anthony Pulis 11 matches 0 goals 0 assists 0 MOM 6.27

AMC

Mark Yeates 31 matches 12 goal 13 assts 5 MOM 7.68

Anthony Jackson 17 matches 5 goals 4 assists 1 MOM 7.06

Adam Hammill 7 matches 0 goals 0 assists 0 MOM 6.53

SC

David Poole 32 matches 18 goal 10 assts 1 MOM 7.22

James Graham (L) 31 matches 15 goal 7 assists 3 MOM 7.23

Kevin Braniff 4 matches 3 goals 2 assists 0 MOM 7.75

Stuart Noble (L) 17 matches 4 goals 0 assists 0 MOM 7.00

Daniel Bent 17 matches 3 goals 2 assists 0 MOM 6.95

</pre>

***

3.5.06

Lots worth celebrating now- even beyond still basking in the happiness of promotion. Eugen Bopp was selected April Player of the Month and Mark Yeates was selected as Young Player of the Month. I have been trying to rework the contracts we still have minimum fee releases on and have been able to get new contracts minus the dreaded clause with Kevin Braniff and Zak Whitbread.

***

8.5.06

Liverpool clinched the EPL championship over Chelsea and Arsenal with one match remaining.

***

17.5.06

Dortmund upset Real Madrid 2-1 to win the Euro Cup.

***

21.5.06

York upset Crawley 3-2 to win the other promotion spot to Division 2 play. The playoffs was a bitter disappointment for Accrington as they faltered and lost to York on an away goal. Crawley knocked out Shrewsbury to reach the Final.

***

23.5.06

Adam Tann was selected to the English Players' Conference Select- our only selection on the squad.

***

24.5.06

I can't wait for the opening of the transfer window again on June 6th. Will have to keep mum on the additions, because I don't feel like jinxing myself- but we have some very good players joining us.

***

24.5.06

Liverpool did the double as they defeated Milan on penalties after battling to a 1-1 draw in regulation.

***

27.5.06

Liverpool missed making it a treble as Chelsea defeated them 2-1 in the FA Cup Final.

THE END

MD- This was my final FM 2005 story and this was as far as Phoenix Sports went. It was fun, but I liked Harrow Hill better (likely obvious by my other story ) Thanks to everyone who read along, I appreciated the comments along the way.