Lombard Phoenix Football Club

Lombard arrived in Catford to play the return fixture against FRSH United a side that have been improving recently and their form was such that they were above the mighty Phoenix in the league. The previous encounter between the sides ended in a 2-2 draw so both teams knew they were in for a tough morning. The conditions were good with the sun shinning and no snow or rain so the game would hopefully be a big improvement from the recent weeks.

The team news for Lombard was again a mixed bag with no John Spendiff or Dan Black due to injury, no Will Justice due to work commitments and no Alex Lightfoot due to non attendance at training. On the plus side there were welcome returns for influential center back Billy Beaumont and also wing wizard Charlie Justice.

The first half began with Lombard finding their feet first and a couple of early chances fell their way. Both were following excellent work down the left firstly from Charlie who managed to beat the fall back and then pull the ball back to Liam who's shot was wide and secondly, from Myles who was picked out by Jim and again Myles delivered well only to see Matt hit his effort off target.

Lombard also had further chances from a couple of set plays, firstly Bill's header was over the bar and then Nick wasted a free kick by hitting it 30 yards over the bar!

Despite Lombard's early pressure it was FRSH who had the better of the first half and Dave in the Phoenix goal had to be alert to stop 2 point blank efforts when you was expecting the net to bulge. United also had a string of corners but with Bill back at the heart of the defense these were easily dealt with.

Sub(s): Sam Harding for Nick Mews (55),James Bell for Liam Fitzpatrick (75), Jim Bryant for Jim Anderson (75)

Scorer(s): C.Justice(Godbeer),L.Fitzpatrick(M.Fitzpatrick),Bell(M.Fitzpatrick),Bell(M.Fitzpatrick)

The start of the second half was fairly even with both midfields playing out a hard fought battle. This all changed though on 55 minutes when good work down the right from Matt saw him pull off a peach of a cross which left the FRSH keeper stranded and the impressive Charlie was able to head home from 3 yards out.

FRSH then had a couple of good openings when they breached the Lombard backline but on both occassions they were wasteful and didn't trouble Dave.

They were soon punished for the poor finishing when Lombard doubled there lead although they did have to wait until the 70 minute. This time it was Myles that was the provider as he layed the ball into his brothers path, Liam still had work to do but he coolley side footed home from 8 yards out.

Lombard then really started to play some good stuff and with sub James now on the pitch they were able to add some gloss to the result. The third goal came when Myles was again the provider and layed off a neat ball to James who finished well with a left foot volley.

The icing on the cake came with 5 minutes to go when again Myles produced a fantastic cross which sailed over the keeper and James headed home from close range, it was a great double for the man who had only been on the pitch for 25 minutes.

This was a big win today against the form team in the league and although we had to rely on Dave to pull off a couple of first class saves in the first half, we done more than enough to earn all three points. Not only did we defend well and kept a second clean sheet in three games we were also clinical in front of goal which gave us our biggest league win of the season. And all of this when we were still recovering from our heaviest defeat since 2003! It just goes to show that the result against The Blues was a complete blip when everything that could have gone wrong did! It also says to me that you all have great courage and commitment, as no one whinged, moaned or felt sorry for themselves and just got on with the matter in hand to get us back on track. It was also nice to see the defensive line back in tact with Bill returning to boolster the back line.

Now for the important stuff.....the Jack Standen semi final is next Sunday and is against a team that is unbeaten this season and will provide a tough test. We will certainly need to be at our best to reach the all important final, so I expect total commitment and for everyone to turn up fit with no hangovers!!

Special Mention

Today's thanks goes to the man in the middle David Bird who was first class from start to finish. Well done!

Man of the Match

14. Myles Fitzpatrick

The little man up top is starting to find his form at the right time of the season. Quite simply when he is in this kind of form there is not many better and long may it continue. Not only was his work rate first class today but he also chipped in with 3 assists and for this reason he just pipped Charlie to this weeks vote. Well done mate!

News

FRSH United F.C 0 - 4 Lombard Phoenix F.C