PENMAENMAWR Phoenix boss Martyn Jones has been acknowledged for his side’s recent fine form with a special award.

The 28-year-old scooped the Queensferry Sports Welsh Alliance Division Two Manager of the Month after steering his talented squad on a lengthy unbeaten run, and the boss told The Pioneer that he has been “happy” with the progress they have made during the season to date.

He said: “I’ve been happy with the progress we have made, a good chunk of the squad moved on to other clubs in the summer but the lads that have come in have been fantastic and together with the lads who stayed on have really built up a solid team spirit which is something we lacked last season.

“The objective really was to get a side together that could improve the league position from last year and give a good account of ourselves in all the cup competitions.

“This will sound a really cliché thing to say but I genuinely believe we can beat anyone on our day.

“There’s obviously Blaenau Ffestiniog who have set the pace now but below that you have a group of three teams that are really close. It’s still early doors but we’ve probably dropped too many points to break into that top four now so I think a top 6 finish would be a good achievement from here on in.”

Jones made the transition to Saturday league football with Conwy Legion United during a hugely successful spell from 2013-15, before spending a season at Llandudno Junction.

He then took over Phoenix side that has progressed considerably in recent years under his leadership, with Jones also taking FAW coaching courses in a bid to enhance his promising young career further in the coming seasons.

“I’ve been involved in local football since a young age and it became quite evident that I was never going to be good enough to be a player at a decent standard so the next place to look was management and when the opportunity came along to take Conwy Legion United from Sunday league into Saturday league I felt it was too good to turn down,” added Jones.