Nothing's won or lost on Saturday, says Phoenix Sports joint-boss Tony Beckingham

PHOENIX SPORTS’ joint-manager Tony Beckingham says his side will be in a strong position if they inflict Ashford United’s first league defeat of the season on Saturday.



The Barnehurst outfit are the unbeaten Kent Invicta League leaders after winning fourteen and drawing one of their fifteen league games.

They are eleven points clear of fourth-placed Ashford United, but Paul Chambers’ side have three games in hand, which means there’s plenty to play for during Saturday’s showdown at Homelands Stadium.

“It’s definitely the biggest game of our season so far and you could even argue it might be the biggest ever game the club have had in their history – it’s a massive game for us,” said Beckingham.

“On paper it’s the two best sides in the league if you look at how many points have been dropped.

“It’s going to be a really good game.  We’re just really looking forward to Saturday.

“We know they’re a good side. We know it’s going to be tough. Our players are looking forward to going down there. It’s a lovely set-up down there and we just want to do ourselves justice, give it a go and see what happens.”

Phoenix have scored 59 goals in 15 games and Ashford United have banged in 58 in sixteen games – but there are fears that two such attack minded sides could cancel each other out on Saturday.

Beckingham said: “It may do but I think, I’ll be honest with you, at our level I don’t think we can really go down there and play a certain way and try and nick a draw.

“I’m expecting them to play to their strengths and we’ll play to our strengths and I think both sides will go to win the game.

“I’ll tell you what it will be, in my opinion. I think it will either be a high scoring game or a boring 0-0!

“I’ll possibly go with the first one because we’re going to go down there to try to win and I know they’re going to try to win so I expect it to be an exciting game of football. It’s going to be like the game we had at Hollands & Blair. It will be excellent. It will be a big see-saw as you can imagine. Whoever plays well on the day, fair play, they come out with the win.”

But the former Holmesdale and Croydon boss insists the league title will not be won or lost at 5 o’clock on Saturday afternoon.

“Look, nothing’s won or lost on Saturday,” he said.  “If we can get a win all it does is puts us in a nice position and there’s no doubt about it. If we win we are in a strong position.

“There’s still half a season to go, anything can happen. There’s some good sides in the league and they all have a big say. At the moment we’re on a good run. Anything can happen. As quick as you’re on a good run you can be on a bad run.

“We just want to continue this big run for as long as possible and do as well as we can so when we have our bad spell it might give us a bit of a cushion to absorb any defeats that we may get.”

Phoenix suffered their first defeat of the season when they lost 4-1 at Erith & Belvedere in the Kent Senior Trophy last weekend.

“We knew we were up against it against Erith & Belvedere,” admitted Beckingham.

“They’re an excellent side and they played a strong side on the day. In my opinion it was not a 4-1 performance. The result was 4-1 and the big difference on the day was their finishing.

“We had some good chances but we didn’t make the most of them and they put theirs in the back of the net and for me that was the big difference but that’s like that at any level of football.  It’s the forwards that win you the games.

“In a way I know it seems a silly thing to say, that came at a good time for us because if anyone thought we were too good for it then that reminded them that we’re definitely not. We’ve got a long way to go and a lot to learn. They have to work hard in every game.

“It was a good reality check for us Saturday and hopefully it will give them a kick up the bum they need to come into this game against Ashford and put in a good performance.”

The club are hiring a team bus for the trip to Homelands Stadium and Beckingham said: “We are taking a coach. We took one to Lydd. We’re lucky down at Phoenix, the committee look after us really well. They don’t do it all the time. It’s nice to be spoilt now and again. 

“It’s great because no one has to drive. Win, lose or draw we can have a bit of a drink afterwards and celebrate a good win or drown our sorrows if we get beat.  It will be a good day all round and we’re all looking forward to enjoying it.”

Visit Phoenix Sports’ website: www.phoenixsportsclub.org

Ashford United  v  Phoenix Sports
Kent Invicta League
Saturday 8^th December 2012
Kick Off 3:00pm
at Homelands Stadium, Ashford Road, Kingsnorth, Ashford, Kent TN26 1NJ