Compact City race away to pre-season victory over Phoenix

South West Phoenix officially opened their 2022 pre-season preparations with an 8-0 friendly loss against Mandurah City on Saturday at Onside Sports Stadium. City, who were intent on keeping their shape from the opening kick-off, dictated terms early and raced to a 4-0 lead inside the opening 15 minutes. However given how much youth was at his disposal, Phoenix boss Nick Carter quickly put the negative result into perspective. “It was great to give them exposure,” he said. “At the end of the game our front three strikers age ranged between 16 and 20 years of age. It’s great for the future of the club.” With the result gone by half-time, the hosts were able to break the shackles in the second half and eventually gained a foothold of dominance in general play. “We changed things up a bit and gave instructions for the lads to drop into the spaces they (City) were overloading,” Carter said. “We didn’t want the players to worry about the scoreline — it was important they understand we are expecting them to make mistakes at this stage. But of course, we hope they can learn from these mistakes. “The second half was much better and I felt we were the better team in some spells.”