Following the drawn game with Corinthian Casuals, manager of Phoenix Sports, Paul Byron, looked back on what has been an eventful 2017.

It was a year that included their highest ever league finish and their best ever F.A, Cup run. In the summer they were moved from the Bostik Isthmian League North to the South Division in a geographical reorganisation before losing manager Steve O’Boyle in late October.

O’Boyle’s assistant manager Byron was given the manager’s position as a caretaker role initially, but has now appointed to the role permanently, his first management job at this level. “It’s been a good year for Phoenix.” he said.

“We’ve moved from the North (division) to the South. We heard that the South was stronger. We finished eighth last season in the North. We’re eighth in the league here now. We’ve held our own well. Everyone knows that we haven’t got the biggest budget. We’ve got a settled squad now and I would say, so far successful.

“There’s been two or three games that could have gone our way but didn’t. If they had done we’d have been a lot closer to the play-offs but I’m not too disappointed.”

When O’Boyle announced his resignation it came as a surprise to many but was not a total shock to Byron. “I’ve spoken to Steve every day all my life that I’ve been here.” he said. “He’d been making murmurs about it and I was involved in meetings that he was in. I knew that he wasn’t happy.

“It came as a shock that he did it when he did it. I didn’t actually think that he would because he loves his football but this is what happens in football and you’ve got to get on with it and move on.”

On the match itself, Byron admitted that he was disappointed with the attacking side of the Sports game with Corinthian Casuals explaining “The movement wasn’t as good as it has been, especially in the first half. It was a lot better second half, but the composure once we were in there was what was lacking. It was a little bit rushed, a little bit panicky and normally we’d have that composure and a little bit more running off balls which can really hurt teams and we didn’t manage that today.”

However, he was delighted with the defensive side stating “Defence was outstanding today, and the two centre mids (Jack Hopkins and Tony Robinson) brilliant. At the end of the day we’ve got a clean sheet against them and they are good going forward. We’ve kept them quiet today.

“Jack Barry, one of our usual centre halves was out today. Lewis Mingle, coming back from a long term injury, has come in and done a superb job. We lost him with ten minutes to go. I think he’ll be alright on Monday but we’ve got Jack back. Youngie (Danny Young)’s carrying a knock but I’m over the moon with our defence. I’ve got three top class centre halves who are easily comfortable at this level.

Looking at the year ahead, Byron said “I’ve just been given the job full time. That was last week. We’re going to get the next six to ten games out of the way. Once we’ve done that we’ll start looking depending on where we are. We’ll either be pushing for the play-offs or we’ll be looking to see what we can do for next year.

“We’ve got to sit down with the board, sit down with the sponsors and see what’s happening. I know exactly what I want to do but I don’t want to give that away.”