Sons of the Phoenix announced themselves into the Xpert League on Tuesday evening, by smashing the reigning double winners 5-1 on their own turf. Last seasons Xpert League winners and Xpert League Cup winners Dunarea Braila were given a big surprise by last seasons Division 1a winners Sons of the Phoenix.
The new boys to the top flight were not fancied by anybody to grab an opening day win and this was reflected in the Xpert pools where 17 participants went for a home win, 5 for the draw but no-one predicted an away win. Not surprising really as Braila were so fantastic last season.
This was obviously a massive result for the Sons and their manager Mark Murray had this to say:
"We went into the match as massive underdogs for obvious reasons. Your first ever match in the top flight doesn't come much harder than away to the team that won the double last season. However this worked in our favour as the pressure was off us to get a result and I told the boys to just go out and play and enjoy themselves. I'm not one for big tactical discussions really, I just like my players to go out and express themselves."
Sons of the Phoenix face Team Blitzkrieg at the House of Ashes next in the league, and there will be no surprises here as the two teams played in the same division last season and have faced off four times in total. Blitzkrieg lead the way with two wins to the Sons' one, with one draw between them. It should be interesting encounter as both teams won their opening games and will be looking to cement their places in the top division this season.
One thing is for certain though, people will be sitting up and taking notice of the team called Sons of the Phoenix.