A big crowd of 98 were at the Mayplace to watch this Cup tie between Phoenix Sports Reserves and Stansfeld and come the end of the game all would have left for home entertained with what they had just seen.

After a cagey start Stansfeld were handed a stroke of luck in the 9th minute when the referee awarded them a penalty for handball. Most in the ground thought that if the ball struck the hand with the arm in a natural position that no action should be taken but the man that matters thought it was a penalty so we had to accept that, however wrong he was. Luke Rooney stepped up to score his 7th goal of the Season and the visitors had the lead. 0-1

The Reserves reacted to going behind well. Harry Wooten bravely tried to win every ball coming through the middle of the park and the older Stansfeld players looked clearly surprised how well this young side were getting stuck in.

The equaliser came in the 19th minute and was well deserved. Liam Murray received the ball on the half way line and drove forward with options on both sides. He chose to play in Kameron Mendez which proved to be a wise decision he swung his right foot to fire the ball past Lewis Collier in the Stansfeld goal. 1-1

Now level, a tactical change was made to get the dangerous Connor McCormack on the ball more and this produced a few chances for the hosts. George Whitelock went close more than once, as did Liam Murray but they were not quite accurate enough to worry Collier too much.

Stansfeld seemed to be most dangerous from a long throw routine. Their captain Joe Bannan positioned a towel on the touchline to dry the ball before each throw that would fly into the six yard box in an attempt to cause chaos. It was a very dangerous and useful tool for the visitors to have but to be fair the Phoenix defence won every header and would not be defeated through this technique causing 'Steve Backley' and his towel to have to sprint off to centre back without celebration.

Just before the break Stansfeld had another lucky break. Top scorer Joe Minter put in a free kick from the far touch line that evaded everyone and ended up in the far corner. A bit of a soft goal to concede but very unlucky and surprising that nobdoy got a touch on it to divert it's path towards Harry Hepworth. 1-2

Hepworth clearly struggled at times in the first half and as a result of a groin injury he needed to be substituted during the break. Wooten donned the gloves and went on to do well on the few times he was tested.

Chances were rare for both sides in the second half. Phoenix maybe should have done better when shooting wide following a goalmouth scramble and Liam Murray again fired close once or twice. The Phoenix forward worked very hard upfront chasing down lost causes and being the first line of the defence and deserved more rewards from his performance in this game.

The Phoenix substitutes were mainly making their first appearancesof the season for this side and fitted in well. They got plenty of minutes and fitted in well and I was particularly impressed with Billy Reavill who slotted in at right back.

With Phoenix chasing the game and searching for the equaliser Stansfeld were able to break and found what was to be the winning goal. Joe Minter found himself forced towards th corner flag but turned well and produced a great ball towards the far post that was turned in by the on-running Harry Gamble. 1-3

The Reserves pushed forward until the end but could not find a way through and are now out of the Challenge Cup.

Once again it was a good performance and they passed the ball around well. The penalty was a tough start to the game and on another day they could have got something from the game.

Oh, well back to the League and on to SC Thamesmead on Saturday.

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