Phoenix 5-0 Beckenham Town

Five-star Phoenix sweep Beckenham aside for first win of the season.

Chris Wood ©

Phoenix Sports produced a superb attacking display to secure an emphatic 5-0 victory over Beckenham Town under the Friday-night lights at the Christopher Russell Stadium.

Tom Borders struck twice, with Jamarie Brissett, Steve Townsend and substitute Isaac Hadlow also on target as Phoenix claimed three points in front of an excellent crowd of 286.

Richie Hamill, Ricardo Johnson and Dami Olusesi were all handed their Phoenix debuts. The hosts were without defender Will Samways, who had been recalled by Chatham Town, while Taylor Fisher completed a move to Sutton Athletic earlier in the day.

Phoenix made the perfect start, opening the scoring after only two minutes. Olusesi marked his debut with an excellent assist, curling a delightful pass through the Beckenham defence for Borders to poke beyond goalkeeper Hegarty.

The advantage was doubled nine minutes later through Brissett. The winger raced beyond Dan Vaughan, kept his composure as he advanced on goal and neatly tucked the ball past the goalkeeper to make it 2-0.

Beckenham looked for an immediate response and won a free-kick on the edge of the Phoenix penalty area, but former Phoenix midfielder Henry Griffin could only fire his effort into the wall.

Instead, it was Phoenix who struck again in the 17th minute. Townsend collected possession on the left, cut inside and unleashed a brilliant 20-yard effort that flew beyond Hegarty.

The hosts continued to create opportunities. Lee Bird broke down the left and squared for Borders, who was unable to get his shot away quickly enough, before Hegarty denied Khayrie Harris with his feet shortly before the interval.

Phoenix went into half-time holding a commanding 3-0 advantage following an outstanding opening 45 minutes.

Beckenham improved after the restart, but Phoenix remained in control and added their fourth goal in the 67th minute. The visitors failed to clear a free-kick delivered into the penalty area, Joe Denny made the first contact and Borders reacted quickest to finish from close range for his second of the evening.

Jake Goodman made a triple substitution six minutes later, introducing Louie Procopi, Harry Barnes and Hadlow in place of Borders, Harris and Johnson.

Hadlow required only nine minutes to make his mark. Brissett produced another excellent piece of attacking play before squaring the ball across goal, allowing Hadlow to guide a composed finish into the net and complete the scoring.

A difficult evening for Beckenham was compounded in the 85th minute when Vaughan received his second yellow card, reducing the visitors to ten men.

Kadmiel Amnipong came close to grabbing a sixth for Phoenix when his free-kick rattled the post, but Phoenix settled for five to round off an excellent night at the Christopher Russell Stadium.