The Bears hit the ground running and after only 4 mins Jamie Subat finished a great passage of play and slotted home a perfectly placed shot after cutting in from the left to give the Bears an early 1-0 lead.
Rhys Tippett looked to have given the Bears another goal in the 9th min but unfortunately for the Bears his header just drifted past the post and out for a goal kick.
The law of averages would have to mean that Mick Holt isn't far away from seeing one of his rocket shots from distance break the net but this game wasn't it and his scud was denied by a fumbling save from the Phoenix keeper in the 11th min, unfortunately for the Bears no player followed the shot in and the defence cleared to safety.
Phoenix first real chance of the match was not until the 13th min and this was from distance that sailed high above the goals to safety.
The Bears were completely dominating the game and playing wonderful football, knocking the ball around and completely controlling the play. Jamie Subat was one of the main reasons for this with his never say die attitude and large work rate. He should have been rewarded for his efforts with another in the 28th min but his attempt on goal somehow never found the net.
Only a minute later Rhys Tippett battled for the ball with a Phoenix defender and gained the ball 50mts out from the Phoenix goal, Tippett's pace saw him leave the defender behind and looked certain to score with just the Phoenix keeper to beat, only to see his attempt rebound between the keepers legs and bounce out in the opposite direction to where Tippett was heading.
2 failed clear cut chances in 2 minutes was difficult to watch but it was hard to believe that the Bears had a 3rd opportunity go begging a minute later after the Phoenix keeper's wobbles continued and he dropped the ball from a corner, a goal mouth scramble was a result and the Phoenix defence won out and cleared to safety.
Last season the Bears lost at Phoenix after wasting many chances on goal and things were looking like a repeat was on the cards with Phoenix starting to take control of the match. Tim Pratt has started to find the form that saw him earn representative honours in 2008 and if not for Pratt making some fine saves in the 32nd, 40th & 41st minutes the score could well have been different to the 1-0 lead that the Bears took to the sheds for the break.
The Bears may have started the first half with a bang but the second half was a different story and Phoenix only took 1 min to find the net to level the scores at 1-1 after 46 mins.
The woes in front of goal for the Bears continued in the 51st min when Rhys Tippett found himself with a free header in the centre of the Phoenix goal and only 6 yards out. Tippett misread the flight of the ball and his attempted header bounced harmlessly to the Phoenix keeper.
The fear that all the missed chances would come back to bite the Bears came to reality in the 54th min when Chris Cousins made a mistake that every defender dreads. Cousins miss hit his attempted switch pass and passed straight to a Phoenix attacker who did what the Bears couldn't, find the net. The goal put the Bears behind 1-2.
By now the match was being dominated by Phoenix and they again capitalised on another poor option from the Bears when the build up broke down and Jamie Subat found himself under pressure and played the ball back to Carl Thornton. Thornton failed to deal with the ball and was out muscled by the Phoenix attacker who then put the ball past Pratt to push the score out to 1-3.
Coach Boogaard made some changes taking off the hard working pair of Chris Cousins and Jamie Subat to give the fresh legs of Joel Page and Simon Rankovitch a run with 15 minutes remaining. The fresh legs aided the Bears and although Phoenix still controlled the game, the changes gave the tired Bears some spark and the side started to create some chances.
Mick Ryan gave the Bears a rough chance of salvaging a point when his 86th min shot found its way past the Phoenix keeper but in the end it was not enough and the Bears paid the price for the earlier missed chances and were dealt their 2nd defeat of the season.
To put a positive spin on the match it would be that the Phoenix are a quality side with talented players spread across the park, so while the Bears played their worst football of the season for 2/3rds of the match they still pushed a quality Phoenix side to the final whistle and created far more chances. This alone shows that the Bears have what it takes to be one of the top sides in the State League.
In recent years the Bears have struggled in player depth but the club have been working hard to develop the talent of the local juniors and now the hard work is paying off with both the lower grades having great starts to the season and this continued today with both grades getting the 3 points.
U/23's had a great 2-0 victory with Luke Campbell and Joel Page netting the goals for the Bears. The boys were clearly inspired by Max Wallington who is threatening Micky Ryan as the clubs pin up boy. Max's latest hair cut has made him a look-a-like for the boy band The Back Street Boys, add this to his lilac and mauve boots and Max will be an obvious target for the Claw in future Bear facts.
U/18's played a great match and deservedly took the points with a 1-0 win. Daniel Toohey was on the spot once again to bag the winner.
Next week the Bears are back home at Thomas and Coffey Park against a strong Olympic who are hurting after the Bears smashed them 3-0 a fortnight ago at Darling St Oval.
C'MON YOU BEARS!!!!!!!!!!!!!
