Phoenix vs Wrexham | Sat 19th July | 5:00pm | RoF

Rock Hopper

Just got back from the game. First time I've ever seen the lads win at Sky Stadium well worth the brisk less than 24 hour trip to Welly. How good was the "you're just a small town in England!" Chant. Fever were on form tongiht, as we're the youngsters!

The “how shark must you be, we’re playing our reserves” chant also hit the spot.

Well done to the lads, a result to remember.

I hope that that result has earned a few of the academy players a trip to Perth next weekend. 

imanixsupporter

Was pretty enjoyable, but if you didnt know which was which, and you werent watching on an HD TV, you'd have thought the second half team was the "first" team. The first half was just a continuous series of Nix making unforced errors playing out from the back and/or through midfield, with Wrexham able to regain possession repeatedly with only the mildest of presses. A decent opposition playing well should have punished us multiple times. 

From the first team, LBS looked good, maybe Hughes? Nobody else played all that well I thought. 

The academy side blew me away, simple as that. 

game was far more open and transitional in the 2nd half - Wrexham weren't great but worse in the 2nd half

It may be off-season for (pro) football, but the fishing season seems to be in full swing.
I thought there were significant positives to be taken from both halves of this very early pre-season match.
I'm feeling better about the season to come than I was before today (low bar to be fair).

At least we know greenie is waiting in the wings with a solid group of lads if the wheels fall off early doors

From what I saw of the academy boys I think Xaun Loke is one to watch who could do a job at fullback this season from what I saw. 

Dylan Gardiner could be a squadie and good to bring along for the ride this season he’s got a big future.

Lachlan Candy he’s got to be in the plans this season as a 15-30 minute impact player off the bench he proved it in moments last year and was class tonight. 

Luke Flowerdew could be an interesting option off the bench for some minutes as a scholarship player makes some intelligent runs off the ball 

It's okay, guys. You're allowed to say that that was fun.

queenofthequail

It's okay, guys. You're allowed to say that that was fun.

The second half absolutely was.

Nothing was fun about the first half. The whole stadium was falling asleep.

LKH actually won some headers. Good signs!

MetalLegNZ

LKH actually won some headers. Good signs!

Thought he played quite well, solid in defense 

queenofthequail

It's okay, guys. You're allowed to say that that was fun.

That 2nd half was bloody brilliant.

I really enjoyed that, considering I was expecting an absolute pantsing, winning 1 nil is a timeline I can get behind.

Was hoping closer to 30K but I guess 25,399 is good and hopefully not disappointing for the promoters.  If we don't support events like this, they won't come here, simple as that. 

Never thought we were going to get shirts off tonight - wasnt too chilly for the 10 minutes though! Only preseason but it was a lot of fun and hopefully some of the casuals had a good time and want to come back for a bit more

Hey we aren't on the end of some bad press for once!

Really enjoyed that game, nothing on the line just nice to watch the full Phoenix team get a hit out including the reserves.

Also I really enjoyed Scotty Stevenson  and Paul Ifill on the commentary. Scotty seems to get a bit of bad public comments which I don't think is deserved but he's evolved from rugby to all rounder. I think he's better at football commentary than cricket so hope he hangs around

The biggest thing I noticed as well was when players aren't exaggerating contact all game, football is a much more exciting game to watch.

It was back and forth, flowed nicely, and was just a damn enjoyable game.  Even if we lost that 1 nil I would have had a great night tonight watching that game.

Going into it I was nervous we were gonna park the bus to try not losing, and wind up losing 4 nil in a dull game.  Fudge me I enjoyed that game.

I can’t stand his cricket commentary due to the number of mistakes he makes. He doesn’t make mistakes in rugby but I can’t stand his cheesy one liners.

However, to give him credit he surprised me today. I am however wondering if it is because our usual commentators are so poor, he looks good in comparison.

Sancho

Really enjoyed that game, nothing on the line just nice to watch the full Phoenix team get a hit out including the reserves.

Also I really enjoyed Scotty Stevenson  and Paul Ifill on the commentary. Scotty seems to get a bit of bad public comments which I don't think is deserved but he's evolved from rugby to all rounder. I think he's better at football commentary than cricket so hope he hangs around

That was a bloody gutsy effort, interspersed with plenty of skilful touches. Hughes and LKH, Nagasawa, Conchie and LBS impressed me in the first half. Quite a few of the academy team are now pushing hard for places in the A team. Good on them. 

Bloody good turnout, and a bloody good result to boot.

Room for cautious optimism ahead? Had a few too many brews to accurately recount the game blow by blow, but I thought the kids were bloody excellent. Won't get too far ahead of myself given its only pre season stuff, but what a great moment for Luke Flowerdew celebrating in front of YF and the stadium like that. Great stuff.

Awesome night out. Hopefully we've all put in a shift at the pub and managed to pull some establishments out of some tough economic times after tonight too. 🍻

Well that was fun surprise. Well done to all the youngsters.
Wrexham....meh!
Why would Libby want to join that rabble apart from being on reality TV? They are going to get humped in the Championship

That was awesome. Contrary to some posts above, I thought there was room for optimism with how the first team guys played in the first half. Amid a bit of rustiness which is to be expected, there was a lot more intent to make forward passes, particularly from Nagasawa and others in midfield to link to the attacking line. LBS was industrious, and LKH finally played as a wing back again (thank goodness the midfield experiment is over). Early days, but there was signs of a shift from last season, where we were passing backwards and resetting via the back line almost every opportunity we got. Up the Nix. 

Nommag

At least we know greenie is waiting in the wings with a solid group of lads if the wheels fall off early doors

Exactly what I'm thinking. If we're no good by Xmas, I'd love to see Greenie in next

In baseball you have a closer- or a closing pitcher. In football do you think we can have a closer manager? Worked today 🤷‍♂️.

InsulinMachine

Nommag

At least we know greenie is waiting in the wings with a solid group of lads if the wheels fall off early doors

Exactly what I'm thinking. If we're no good by Xmas, I'd love to see Greenie in next

Got the required coaching badges now hasn’t he?

He’s yes the obvious guy to step in if Chiefy does get the sack. Even to replace him longer term. He has done a long apprenticeship 

Optimistic about how his U20s will go in Chile

Phil Parkinson is a serious man.
Those two MCs were an abomination.
Central League players are decent.
Yellow Fever make a shed load of noise.👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
The two Welsh people sat next to us were from Wrexham and have Wrexham season tickets.
The queues at those merchandise stalls. 😱

"you're just a small town in England"
😉🙂

Well that was a fun evening, mabe now the negative nellies out there will turn te corner and se the positivity that the rest of us see and hope for.
From the first team perspective, 
Hughes looked great, he has definately matred and too the leadership of the back line by the scruff of the enck ad controlled everything. Best performance by him I think I've seen.
Josh O. - one little whoopsie early on but he made up for that a did very well for the rest of his minutes.
Ishige and Nagasawa looked decent against the bigger bodies, albeit for 45 mins but they loked happier with what they were being aske todo.

The academy and central league kids looked brilliant, the future is bright if we can keep them at the club and bring them into the 1st team as time allows. From front to back they loked agile, fast and good with the ball.

As much as it is preseason for everyone, this should at least show that our league is top level League 1 to mid level championship. Two out of three wins for the league is enough to prove that the league is doing well as far as development of players and being able to foot it with the upper leagues in Europe. The coverage of this trip will get eyes on the league for transfer options

That was great fun. Well done all. Won't forget that work by Ryan Lee to get the cross in for while - right down in front of me.   

When the Nix beat West Ham, did you also think they were at a standard that were bottom half of the premiership?

Serious question based upon your logic. 

theprof

Well that was a fun evening, mabe now the negative nellies out there will turn te corner and se the positivity that the rest of us see and hope for.
From the first team perspective, 
Hughes looked great, he has definately matred and too the leadership of the back line by the scruff of the enck ad controlled everything. Best performance by him I think I've seen.
Josh O. - one little whoopsie early on but he made up for that a did very well for the rest of his minutes.
Ishige and Nagasawa looked decent against the bigger bodies, albeit for 45 mins but they loked happier with what they were being aske todo.

The academy and central league kids looked brilliant, the future is bright if we can keep them at the club and bring them into the 1st team as time allows. From front to back they loked agile, fast and good with the ball.

As much as it is preseason for everyone, this should at least show that our league is top level League 1 to mid level championship. Two out of three wins for the league is enough to prove that the league is doing well as far as development of players and being able to foot it with the upper leagues in Europe. The coverage of this trip will get eyes on the league for transfer options

indeed - the top level Wrexham line up might survive in the Championship but the line up last night would have been hammered by the better Championship teams.

Well done to the Phoenix last night but no way are they top L1 to mid level Championship. Currently its hard to see any of the squad getting a start at that level.

With this crop of youngsters coming through however . . . 

AucklandPhoenix

When the Nix beat West Ham, did you also think they were at a standard that were bottom half of the premiership?

Serious question based upon your logic. 

theprof

Well that was a fun evening, mabe now the negative nellies out there will turn te corner and se the positivity that the rest of us see and hope for.
From the first team perspective, 
Hughes looked great, he has definately matred and too the leadership of the back line by the scruff of the enck ad controlled everything. Best performance by him I think I've seen.
Josh O. - one little whoopsie early on but he made up for that a did very well for the rest of his minutes.
Ishige and Nagasawa looked decent against the bigger bodies, albeit for 45 mins but they loked happier with what they were being aske todo.

The academy and central league kids looked brilliant, the future is bright if we can keep them at the club and bring them into the 1st team as time allows. From front to back they loked agile, fast and good with the ball.

As much as it is preseason for everyone, this should at least show that our league is top level League 1 to mid level championship. Two out of three wins for the league is enough to prove that the league is doing well as far as development of players and being able to foot it with the upper leagues in Europe. The coverage of this trip will get eyes on the league for transfer options

indeed - the top level Wrexham line up might survive in the Championship but the line up last night would have been hammered by the better Championship teams.

Well done to the Phoenix last night but no way are they top L1 to mid level Championship. Currently its hard to see any of the squad getting a start at that level.

With this crop of youngsters coming through however . . . 

AucklandPhoenix

When the Nix beat West Ham, did you also think they were at a standard that were bottom half of the premiership?

Serious question based upon your logic. 

theprof

Well that was a fun evening, mabe now the negative nellies out there will turn te corner and se the positivity that the rest of us see and hope for.
From the first team perspective, 
Hughes looked great, he has definately matred and too the leadership of the back line by the scruff of the enck ad controlled everything. Best performance by him I think I've seen.
Josh O. - one little whoopsie early on but he made up for that a did very well for the rest of his minutes.
Ishige and Nagasawa looked decent against the bigger bodies, albeit for 45 mins but they loked happier with what they were being aske todo.

The academy and central league kids looked brilliant, the future is bright if we can keep them at the club and bring them into the 1st team as time allows. From front to back they loked agile, fast and good with the ball.

As much as it is preseason for everyone, this should at least show that our league is top level League 1 to mid level championship. Two out of three wins for the league is enough to prove that the league is doing well as far as development of players and being able to foot it with the upper leagues in Europe. The coverage of this trip will get eyes on the league for transfer options

theprof

Well that was a fun evening, mabe now the negative nellies out there will turn te corner and se the positivity that the rest of us see and hope for.
From the first team perspective, 
Hughes looked great, he has definately matred and too the leadership of the back line by the scruff of the enck ad controlled everything. Best performance by him I think I've seen.
Josh O. - one little whoopsie early on but he made up for that a did very well for the rest of his minutes.
Ishige and Nagasawa looked decent against the bigger bodies, albeit for 45 mins but they loked happier with what they were being aske todo.

The academy and central league kids looked brilliant, the future is bright if we can keep them at the club and bring them into the 1st team as time allows. From front to back they loked agile, fast and good with the ball.

As much as it is preseason for everyone, this should at least show that our league is top level League 1 to mid level championship. Two out of three wins for the league is enough to prove that the league is doing well as far as development of players and being able to foot it with the upper leagues in Europe. The coverage of this trip will get eyes on the league for transfer options

Except the positivity wasn’t from the players in our first team, or even the first team coach…

I gotta say: This game, the result, the new home kit and the youngsters on the pitch all did a lot for my enthusiasm about the new season. It was on an all time low before last night but now I'm pumped for the new season!

So awesome to see some positivity for a change still seeing some miserable buggars around on social media though.

Great to see our young guys getting some deserved acknowledgement and its going to be great to see some of them introduced over time. Big difference from doing it in half a game pre-season and week in week out during the season
Do hope people are prepared to give EVERYONE a fair go and not expect everything to be running smoothly from the start of the season.
Just hope we can be competitive against what looks to be an improved Perth this weekend.

theprof

Well that was a fun evening, mabe now the negative nellies out there will turn te corner and se the positivity that the rest of us see and hope for.
From the first team perspective, 
Hughes looked great, he has definately matred and too the leadership of the back line by the scruff of the enck ad controlled everything. Best performance by him I think I've seen.
Josh O. - one little whoopsie early on but he made up for that a did very well for the rest of his minutes.
Ishige and Nagasawa looked decent against the bigger bodies, albeit for 45 mins but they loked happier with what they were being aske todo.

The academy and central league kids looked brilliant, the future is bright if we can keep them at the club and bring them into the 1st team as time allows. From front to back they loked agile, fast and good with the ball.

As much as it is preseason for everyone, this should at least show that our league is top level League 1 to mid level championship. Two out of three wins for the league is enough to prove that the league is doing well as far as development of players and being able to foot it with the upper leagues in Europe. The coverage of this trip will get eyes on the league for transfer options

I love the A-League, it genuinely is my favourite league in the world and I'll harp on about what makes it great to anyone who listens - but it's not mid-level championship, nor even bottom half. Most teams would be about league one level, with a few exceptions. The Sydney FC squads from 2016-2020 would probably have been alright in the championship, and of late some Melbourne city seasons would've given it a good go. Other than that in the last decade the standard has definitely been well below the championship.

If anyone knows who these folks are with the FCC flag, please tell them I know some people who would really appreciate its return :)

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I think some of you were a bit generous to Scotty Stevenson, most of the time it felt like a cricket commentary, where two guys are discussing all things football.

I personally prefer a commentary dominated by the commentator with occasional input from the comments person.

claytonn

If anyone knows who these folks are with the FCC flag, please tell them I know some people who would really appreciate its return :)

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Hope you have shared on other platforms pretty sharkty thing to do if they have taken it.

Re. Scotty Stevenson. The trouble with cricket is his simple mistakes. The most simple task of determining which player is on strike he constantly gets wrong. Even if one is left and the other right handed. He also preempts things too early by screaming in his boisterous voice, the outcome which is often wrong (I.e. that’s out as the ball sails over the boundary)

Both are so infuriating and you gain the impression he tunes out and is watching someone in the crowd and then tunes in half way after the ball is hit. Maybe this is because cricket goes for so long and he struggles with concentration.

In football however he seems to be able to focus on the play as it is constantly moving,
.
He also doesn’t need to fill gaps in play with cheesy one liners like he does in cricket and rugby.

So I actually really enjoyed his work last night and was surprised. That however is also because the local commentators are crap and the bar is so low. 

31 Ryan Lee was a work horse on the left. Credit due to him for the smart cross allowing Flowerdew to score.

tonya

That was great fun. Well done all. Won't forget that work by Ryan Lee to get the cross in for while - right down in front of me.