By Tara Murray
Melton Phoenix finished its season on a high in FFV state league 5 on Saturday afternoon.
Playing for pride, the Phoenix stormed home in the second half against Wyndham United, to win 7-1.
Phoenix coach Mark Parnis said it was a bit of a weird game, with play stopping in the first half because an ambulance was called.
“One of their guys dislocated his shoulder in the 30th minute and they were winning 1-0.
“They wanted to wait for the ambulance. We were discussing whether the game was going to get called off.
“We waited for the ambulance and then played the last 15 minutes of the first half and scored.
“The first 30 minutes we had been pretty average.”
With scores level at half-time, Parnis said he told the group to continue what they had done in the last 15 minutes of the first half.
He said everyone wanted to finish on a high note.
“We had to try and break them down,” he said.
“We had to deal with their speed. Jason Moody was on fire and found the back of the net four times.
“He settled us once he found the net a couple of times to make it 3-1. I then took our goal keeper out and put him up the field.
“I gave a few of the younger guys experience and the older guys kept their heads.”
The match was Parnis’ last in charge after coaching the side the past two years.
Parnis said it was really good to finish on that note.
Melton Phoenix finished the season in sixth place overall.
“I wanted to go out on positive note,” he said.
“We had six wins, five draws and a loss the last 12 weeks. To have one loss in the last 12 weeks, it was pretty good.
“If we went by that we would have been finishing second or third.
“We set a target of getting 36 points and we reset that to 34 and to hit that target.”
Parnis said after a long involvement in the sport, he needed to step away for his own health.
He said he knew from half way through the season that he would likely not continue on next season.
“This was my 25th year and it’s been a rough season personally,” he said.
“I want to have a bit of a break and look after myself.
“I don’t know what will happen in the future.”
Parnis said he was proud of what he had achieved in his time at the club, including doubling the number of the players at the club from the start of last year to the start of this year.
