PHOENIX Old Boys went all guns blazing in a 9-0 thrashing of OVS in Division Two of the Thames Valley Sunday League.

Old Boys manager Lee Wallace used the match at Farnham Park to rotate his young squad ahead of the Mary Wells Memorial Cup semi-finals this Sunday and a home tie against FC Laleham.

Phoenix won that cup last year and would dearly love to retain the trophy, but still they were far too good for struggling OVS.

Jamie Smith was the star on show with four goals while Toby Crouch bagged a brace. Jason Houghton, Luke Mann and Mike Bevan also found the back of the net in the win.

“We knew it would be easy. That’s no disrespect to OVS, they’re a new side but struggling and shouldn’t be in our league, although they do turn up and compete every week,” Wallace told the Observer.

“It started fairly even and they gave us a good game for 20-25 minutes. They kept their discipline and possession when they got the ball, but we pressed a bit more and had most of it.

“It was hard to play on the rock hard pitch and the game shouldn’t really have been played to be fair, but we controlled the second-half and it was all guns blazing.

“OVS lost their shape trying to press us but it was a goal fest. It’s no disrespect to them, they gave it a good go, but lost their shape entirely and we rolled them over.

Slough Observer:

PHOTO: Phoenix Old Boys (black and white) beat OVS 9-0 in Division Two of the Thames Valley Sunday League.

“It was probably our biggest win of the season but we have a big semi-final this week so I didn’t put out a strong side. But I’m not criticising anyone that did play because they all did their jobs.”

The win sees Old Boys climb up to sixth in the league table and Wallace would be disappointed if they did not finish in the top three this season.

“We’ve got a few games in hand so if we can keep the squad together, we’re very tight, we can either win it or finish in the top three. I would be very disappointed if we didn't.

"I've got nine players under the age of 18 which is why I started the side. We're all going to Benidorm together so hopefully we will have something to celebrate, but it's to early to say too much because anything can happen."

Looking ahead to the cup tie with Laleham, Wallace said: "In any cup tie with give the opposition total respect. They've done their job to get through to the semi-finals so we will take them seriously.

"We will never go into it thinking it is already won and we will put a proper side out because it's the semi-final of a cup.

“I've got total respect for them because they won through their quarter-finals, and we will definitely be up for it."