On New Year’s Day, Phoenix Sports host a local derby when they entertain Corinthian for an Isthmian League South East Division match.  

Although Phoenix are currently at the foot of the table with just two league wins so far this season,  there is more optimism for them now following an upturn in performances in recent matches. Manager Steve O’Boyle has made some changes to the squad and is starting to see the results. 

When last at home at the Mayplace Ground,  they beat Burgess Hill Town five-two with debutant Calvin Poku scoring four. They followed up with a one-one draw at VCD Athletic, courtesy of a second half equaliser from Connor French on debut. The one negative for them was that Poku went off injured after only fifteen minutes and Sports fans will be hoping that he recovers quickly to resume his new partnership with French. 

After winning their first game following promotion in the summer, Corinthian went five games without a victory. However, they have now settled in well and will be looking to push on. Their last home game was on Monday against one of the league favourites Cray Valley (PM). 

Although the Millers enjoyed the better of the first half the nearest that they came to scoring was when Rory Hill hit the post. After the interval it was a different story and it was against the run of play when Hill opened the scoring. The equaliser came just five minutes later when Louie Clarke scored from close range. Harvey Smith almost won it for the Hoops with five minutes remaining when his header hit the bar.     

This will be the first league meeting between the two clubs for over five years so it should be an intriguing encounter. 

Picture supplied by Dave Budden.