Phoenix earn brilliant win over play-off chasing Deal Town
Phoenix claimed a huge three points against play-off-chasing Deal Town to keep their hopes of Step Four survival well and truly alive.
A penalty from Isaac Thompson and a late second from substitute Richard Pingling were enough to secure victory on an eventful afternoon in DA7.
Darren Anslow made one enforced change to the XI that held Margate on Saturday, with Bradley Pritchard coming in for Kiye Martin, who was unavailable. Pingling returned to the bench, having missed the trip to the Kent coast last time out.
Deal started quickly and forced Sam Freeman into two early saves within the first 11 minutes, including an excellent stop from a Tom Chapman header.
Phoenix posed their own attacking threat, with the pace of Thompson and Tyler Anderson causing Deal major problems on either flank. Henry Griffin looked to have unlocked the door for Anslow’s men when he broke into the box and won a penalty after going down under a heavy tackle.
With regular penalty taker Pingling off the pitch, Perri Iandolo took responsibility but saw his spot kick well saved by Adam Molloy in the Deal goal.
Earlier in the season, Phoenix might’ve crumbled, but they continued to put Deal under pressure and remarkably earned another penalty three minutes before half-time when the tricky Thompson was hauled down in the area.
The striker stepped up to take it himself and, despite a lengthy wait, sent Molloy the wrong way to give Phoenix a deserved lead at the break.
The second half was a scrappier affair, with Phoenix sitting back and picking their moments to break. Deal came close to levelling just after the hour mark when a corner was headed against the crossbar before heroic blocks from Jack Turner and Henry Griffin denied certain goals.
As the game wore on, it looked like Phoenix were in for a tense finale, but a break from the freshly introduced Pingling appeared to have sealed the victory.
The forward picked up the ball in space on the right, drove at the Deal defence, and cut inside. A loose touch seemed to have ended the chance, only for the ball to ricochet off him towards goal. In a brilliant bit of quick thinking, Anderson dummied the ball past the keeper, allowing Phoenix to secure a crucial second.
The game wasn’t over, though, and with three minutes left, Deal struck back. A cross from the right was half-cleared before falling to Ash Miller, who smashed the ball home from ten yards out.
A tense final few minutes followed, with six minutes of injury time played. Deal forced one last chance at the back post, but the header went wide, and Phoenix held on to claim three vital points—moving them just three points away from safety and securing four excellent points from two tricky games this week.
Next up for Phoenix is a trip to table-topping Ramsgate, fresh from a 5-0 victory over Littlehampton Town this afternoon.
Phoenix Sports: Freeman, Belford (Clarke 86), Griffin, Grieveson, Turner, Pritchard, Morgan-Griffiths, Iandolo, Anderson, Thompson, Elliott (Pingling 78)
Subs not used: Efambe, Quintyne, Campbell
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