Alfie Evans scored the only goal as Phoenix Sports ground out a vital win against Lancing in their fight to beat the drop leaving manager Steve O’Boyle pleased.

The three points gained by Steve O’Boyle’s side took them out of the bottom two at the expense of the visitors and they now have a realistic chance of beating the drop.

After the game, O’Boyle said “It’s the biggest game this club’s ever had. It’s seven years to the day we won the league to get in this division and that was a performance to keep us in this league. It wasn’t pretty but I wasn’t expecting anything different. We’ve come a long way, we’ve picked up points and my only criticism of the team is that we haven’t beaten the teams around us and today we have.”

Scoring shortly before break changed the emphasis of O’Boyle’s half time team talk. “I asked for a boring second half to win the game one-nil.” He revealed. “I don’t think my heart can take much more of it, my blood pressure level must be through the roof but it’s because I love the club so much. I was brought in to save the club, to keep the club up, and it’s the first time since I’ve been here that we’ve climbed out of the relegation (positions) but that’s not the end of it yet. We’ve still got two games to go. We’ve got to make sure that we finish the job now.”

It was difficult to recruit players when  he first came into the club but he is happy with his squad now. He said “They’ve been a pleasure to manage, the players, they really have. No-one wanted to come to this club. We were so far gone that no-one wanted to come and join this club. The players wanted out. They didn’t want it, they didn’t want to fight. We brought a team together, they’re all good lads, but it doesn’t mean anything if we don’t stay up. 

“Today’s a very, very good day for the club and we’ve got a massive week ahead. If we do stay up it will be a massive achievement and that’s our aim. We’ve got to win on Monday. Can we win on Monday? Why not?”

Alfie Evans scored a contender for goal of the season with a spectacular aerobatic strike. O’Boyle purred “The goal by Alfie was an absolute screamer. It was a magnificent strike. He has got that in his locker. He’s had a fantastic season. He’s going to have a decent career ahead of him. I just hope that we can keep him for another year, maybe.”

Should safety be achieved, O’Boyle promised that the Phoenix supporters will have a more enjoyable season next time around. He said “If we do stay up, this won’t happen again. We won’t be where we are now next season, I honestly believe that but we’ve still got hard work to do, and we’ve got hard work to do on Monday and we’re ready to go.”