A trip just north of the Thames to Ship Lane saw Phoenix Sports all at sea, as they crashed to a heavy defeat against a rampant Thurrock side.

Hard to believe that in the opening salvoes of this Ryman First Division North season the side from Barnehurst had forced themselves up to the dizzying heights of the promotion play off places, because the up-to-now rather more lowly placed Essex side were totally dominant in this encounter, warming their supporters on a shivering Thames-side evening.

It seems to be that this football season the tactic of a three-at-the-back with two attacking-style wing backs has become the flavour of the hour and what was good for a couple of the south-east’s really big boys at the weekend proved equally satisfactory for the ‘The Fleet’. The team in yellow lined up with numbers four, six and ten as three centre halves across a back line and had their number five, the imposing figure of former Luton Town player Mark Onyemah leading the line up front.

It was a master stroke by Thurrock team boss Mark Stimson and paid almost instant dividends, when Ryan Andrews lost possession (having already began to endure a torrid time at the hands of Thurrock’s marauding left wing back Remi Sutton) with Sutton’s pass finding Onyemah’s strike partner Charlie Stimson in space just eight yards out and able to fire smartly past Steve Phillips.

It was in truth the host’s first foray inside the Phoenix box but wasn’t to be the last in what was really just about as totally dominant a display as one is ever really likely to see – or in the Kent club’s case, endure.

It had started more brightly for Steve O’Boyle’s boys – with Christie Pattison looking lively early doors, looping a cross in which Ben Francis just failed to make contact with after just two minutes; and then after the ever hard working Jason Goodchild won the ball in the middle, Theo Fairweather-Johnson hit the ball over the bar on seven minutes. Such attacks though became a distant memory as the home side puffed up by registering early on the score board, grew visibly in confidence.

None more so than Mark Cowley who had a quite exceptional game – his wand like left foot spraying passes around and beating opponents at will. Back in a second spell at the Essex club, the one-time West Ham United trainee was combining particularly effectively with Onyemah – beating several hapless Phoenix defenders to lay the ball off to the converted striker only for the resulting shot by the big number five going just wide of Phillips’ post on 22 minutes.

Onyemah didn’t have to wait long though for his first goal in his new position and to double his side’s lead. The very dangerous Sutton was involved again down the fertile right side of the Phoenix more traditional back four, receiving the ball from the motoring Cowley and laying it across for Onyemah to hammer the ball into the net from just inside the box on 23 minutes.

A minute later and it was nearly three but Stimson hit the side netting. The tide needed to be stemmed and after a good defence-splitting ball by Fairweather-Johnson, the still lively looking Pattison made good contact but his shot lacked accuracy. The lifeline back into the game spurned – there was again a narrow escape from doing three down when the up to this point immaculate Cowley fluffed his lines in front of goal, slicing wide just past the half hour mark.

A spell of end- to-end action saw the Phoenix custodian Phillips do well to block Stimson’s goal bound shot after more excellent work by the deadly duo of Sutton and Cowley; and then Bobby Mason was called into what was to a rare piece of action for the homesters’ keeper, pawing away an on target effort by Fairweather-Johnson.

The half ended with frustrations getting the better of Goodchild, fouling Sutton and being perhaps rather fortunate to escape an entry in Mr. Franklin’s notebook; and when the whistle blew for much needed respite for the visitors, it can’t have escaped their attention that the ball was on the foot of their chief tormenter Cowley.

The dressing room may have been warmer but one imagines a frosty reception awaited the men in green and a change was made at half time with Francis replaced by Alistair Gordon as Phoenix aimed to produce more attacking threat and get back into the game. And a freakish incident almost saw their goal duck broken.

Ashley Probets’ cross into the Thurrock box caused really unnecessary and on the evidence of the rest of the game uncharacteristic panic and a mistimed clearing hearer instead went back over the slowly advancing Mason; but the ball hit the underside of the bar and bounced away from the line.

It was unquestionably the closest the visitors came to a goal all evening and just three minutes after their narrow escape, Cowley and Onyemah combined for the big man to fire home his second and establish a now decisive three goal lead.

Phoenix did attempt to battle back and efforts by Ben Hunt and Jack Hopkins weren’t too far off the mark; but actually there was to be only one effort on target by the visitors all second half, coming right at the death, and that didn’t exactly sting the hands of Mason: a stoppage time header by the sub Gordon.

Before that it had become four, of course. The wing back Sutton clearly fancied getting on the score sheet and after a great surge forward followed by a thirty yard shot on 62 minutes he nearly succeeded; coming back for more just a minute later, to see another tasty effort deflected over the bar.

It was the prelude to the near inevitable fourth – Cowley was playing deeper and more centrally now but was as fleet of foot as his side’s nickname and after the former Harlow Town man (back at Thurrock for a second spell) combined dangerously with Reece Morgan on the right, the ball was played to the unmarked Stimson who had a tap-in to complete his brace.

A couple of fouls were then punished by cautions – Phoenix skipper Jack Barry unceremoniously upending his opposite no. 5 and shortly afterwards George Winn joining him in the book for a foul on the visitors’ Goodchild.
Cowley was producing a full repertoire of trickery now – attempting to score from 40 yards when he spotted Phillips a little off his line and then an outrageous ‘keepy-up’ trick balancing the ball on the back of his neck.

The tormenter in chief who doubtless learnt some of these skills in his sojourn in Spanish football at Recreativo Huelva, finally departed the action to a deserved ovation; but there was still time for no. 16, Dajon Golding to cross deep into stoppage time andOnyemah to head agonisingly over – agonising for the big no. 5 who was searching for a career first ever hat trick.

On a night later to be remembered for surprising events Stateside, back here in Blighty this was clearly an occasion when the Kent side were Trump-ed – they need to quickly get up from the deck after this defeat.
Teams:

Thurrock

Bobby Mason, Reece Morgan, Remi Sutton, Richard Halle, Mark Onyemah, Hussain Jaffa, Jordan Clark (Joe Christou 73), Glenn Poole (Ronnie Winn 73), Charlie Stimson, George Winn, David Cowley (James Goode 88)

Unused subs: Connor Wheatley, Michael Pindy, ,

Phoenix Sports

Steve Phillips, Ryan Andrews, Ashley Probets, Jason Goodchild, Jack Barry, Aaron Sekhon, Jack Hopkins, Theo Fairweather-Johnson (Dajon Golding 67), Ben Francis (Alistair Gordon 46), Ben Hunt, Christie Pattison (Jordan Campbell 71)

Unused subs: Calvin Poku, Danny Kemp
Goals:
Thurrock 4 (Stimson 10, 66; Onyemah 23, 53)
Phoenix Sports 0
Officials:
Referee: Stuart Franklin; Assistants: Kane Woods & Brett Grant

Attendance: 114