Phoenix 40 Pts - Littlemore 10 Pts

Phoenix retained their unbeaten record in the 2012-13 league season with an emphatic victory over Littlemore at Institute Road on Saturday, 29th September. With this victory, Phoenix has registered one of its best starts to a league season for many years, with the club also having secured two victories in friendly fixtures.

However Phoenix were slow out of the blocks, and seemed out of sorts during the first half against an energetic Littlemore side, failing to secure as much ball as they had in previous matches. Littlemore were keen to drive the ball on but had little to offer outside the tight phases.

Phoenix got off to a disastrous start, fluffing their kick-off by failing to make 10 meters, gifting Littlemore possession in good field position. This led to play being contained inside the Phoenix half for the first 10 minutes, during which Littlemore drove and recycled well but were unable to break a secure Phoenix defence where the back row of James Taylor, Iain Watkinson and James Dixon prevented any progress. Conversely, Phoenix possession was only gained whilst deep in defence, where it was quickly lost to Littlemore following kicks to touch in an effort to clear their lines. The Phoenix lineout, which has generally been strong this season, was also under pressure during the first half. However, the Phoenix defence was firm and Littlemore struggled to break them down. An early shot at goal took the visitors into the lead entirely with the run of play. But Phoenix struck back at the end of the first quarter when Jason Townsend entered the line and touched down between the posts, his own conversion taking Phoenix into a seven points to three lead. But in reality, Phoenix were struggling to create many scoring chances. The clean, quick ball that had so often been fed to their three-quarters during previous matches was sadly lacking. Ironically for Phoenix, a sustained period of pressure on the Littlemore line ended with a try for the visitors beneath the posts from an interception close to their own try line. The Phoenix cover defence was good in this period of the match but was unable to stop the marauding style of the Littlemore attack. However at the break, Phoenix found themselves only down 10 points to 7.

Shortly after the restart, Phoenix gained a penalty which Townsend kicked to bring the scores level, followed by another successful penalty 2 minutes later to take Phoenix back in to the lead, 13 to 10. This was closely followed 5 minutes later by Rob Innes skinning the Littlemore defence, which combined with the conversion from Townsend, took Phoenix comfortably into the lead. Townsend extended the lead to 23-10 with another successful kick at goal, quickly followed by a try for the returning Watkinson, who crossed untouched having embarrassed the defence with a blatant dummy. By this stage Littlemore were struggling as the Phoenix pack took control and the team threw everything at them. They conceded two tries in quick session: the first by Lar Turner, one of the lightest Phoenix players, who touched down after several beefy forward drives; and the second from Symonds after he made one of his breaks count as he stretched his legs and raced through, curving to touch down beneath the pots for a Townsend conversion. 40-10. From here there was no way back into the game for Littlemore, and Phoenix secured 5 points yet again for the third time in as many games.

Club Captain Dave Harris was pleased with the result and slightly embarrassed by the current top of the league position. The season had barely started he said and although he was pleased that Phoenix had taken advantage, there was much to do as the season progressed. The restarts were particularly good with Neil Wincomb taking the majority in the box and Watkinson taking any deep kicks. And the team continued to dominate even after the premature departure of Turner in the second half. He also praised Littlemore for their effort in attack and said that everyone had performed well for Phoenix on the day and refused to single anyone out for extra praise. Three victories in succession were down to the hard work put in during the summer training sessions, with some great coaches helped by the strong core of players currently at Phoenix together with the new and returning players this season. Next week Phoenix play a friendly at Institute Road, kick-off 3.00 p.m. Everybody is welcome.

Phoenix: E Dibb, R Gill, J Willis, N Wincomb, M Symonds, J Taylor, J Dixon, I Watkinson, L Turner, K Roach, D McMillan, C Varey, M Lloyd, R Innes, J Townsend.

Subs: D Harris, B Coomber