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Altrincham
Ice dome
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MANCHESTER PHOENIX S.H.C 3 - 2 CARDIFF DEVIL S.H.C
Manchester
Phoenix sledge hockey team gained a matter of revenge on their conquerors last
weekend as they beat the Cardiff Devils 3-2 in a thriller at the Altrincham ice
dome.
The
contest saw a physically bruising encounter between the sides with the knowledge
that a win for either side would see them go level on points with the leaders
at top of the table.
Cardiff had the momentum going into the game
after they defeated Manchester last week down at Cardiff Bay, where the Welsh
side won 5-2 and so clearly had their tails up rolling into Altrincham.
The game
started off with the visitors in the ascendency as they carried on their form
from the previous game, which saw the Devils test Phoenix netminder Steve
Midghall as his glove got warmed up by the opponents.
Manchester did have a couple of efforts but
saw Cardiff's goaltender in Hannah O'Connor making a couple of good stops to
see the goalies both getting tested early on.
Play in
the first half of the period saw the visitors have opportunities to take the
lead and midway through the first it saw them come all so close.
It seen panic set in for the Phoenix after the puck was sent to the back post for
a great chance for the Devils, but the puck just evaded the forward and let the
home side off well truly as it was a chance that went begging.
This
seemed to kick start the hosts into action and saw them finally manage to force
their way back in the contest, with the home side pressuring the Welsh sides
defence and led to a great chance for Anthony Booth.
It saw Karl Nicholson chase a loose puck by
the boards behind the Devils net and an attempted clearance by Jason Weaver saw
him sweep straight to Booth whose effort was stopped by O' Connor, as well as
her team mate to see the score remain 0-0.
Manchester
then had a lapse of concentration towards the end of the period and saw veteran
forward for the Cardiff Devils in Russell Willey shoot wide of the target and
let the home side off as the opening period ended scoreless.
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Devils netminder Hannah O `Connor stops Anthony Booth with help from Stephen Thomas |
In the second period it saw the Phoenix completely dominate the period as they had the Devils on the ropes for a majority of it.
The
game saw it's opening goal as Manchester's star forward Karl Nicholson made one
of his trademark dashes up ice, before he held play up and then fed his GB
colleague in Anthony Booth and had Booth squeeze the puck under the Devils
netminder for a 1-0 lead at 15.57 in the game.
Phoenix
was controlling the play and saw them go close on a couple of occasions,
firstly Booth had a chance that saw his effort well smothered by O'Connor and
then Nicholson found himself slaloming his way through the Cardiff defence and when
one on one with the goalie he lifted it too high and let the away side off once
again.
Both
sides were getting physical and that was obvious to see from the stands as the
hits were getting harder and some of them were missing along the boards with
both sets of players trying to get an advantage, on a couple of occasions it
saw the teams pushing and shoving with a few verbals being exchanged towards each
other with players bumping the goalie looking for rebounds and showing their
passion.
Cardiff had a few chances in the middle stanza, as it saw them have a few
attempts on goal but nothing that was too troubling for Midghall to be worried
by as most of the shots ended up being off target and hitting the boards behind
the net more than actual goals.
Manchester
was creating a few attacks in final minutes of play and had former GB man Scott
Turner doing a good job in defense for the Devils side as he was all over the
place, as they defended well to restrict the home side from notching up any
more goals in the period.
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Phoenix`s Karl Nicholson battles along boards with Cardiff`s Alex Weaver
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Then with 0.01 left to go in the period a long range shot by Russell Willey saw his shot bounce off the inside of the post and fall near the goal line to which the referee had deemed the puck had crossed the line and had a few displeased Phoenix players and fans in the stand over it.
Willey goal was timed at 29.59 with an assist going to Paul Furber and saw the Devils tie things up at 1-1 heading into the final period.
In the third it saw the home side strike back straight away, it saw Anthony Booth bank the puck along the boards for Karl Nicholson to go up the ice and at 30.09 the forward found the net, beating O`Connor at her far post to see the Phoenix regain the lead and see Manchester now looking to kick on from that point. The hits became more physical on both sides with them looking to find an advantage as the next goal would be vital you felt in a game such as this.
With both sides testing the keepers out it was becoming level once more and saw the Devils equalise for the second time in the game through a Paul Furber effort, as his shot beat Midghall`s from the right hand face-off circle to see the Welsh side make it 2-2 with Alex Weaver getting an assist on the goal.
The
remainder of the game saw the hitting intensify and saw some needle between the
teams with neither wanting to concede a goal, as it had a feel of an overtime type
game with the next goal looking certain to be the game winner in this tightly
and hard fought contest.
Cardiff had their chances to take the game, but Manchester had Steve Midghall to thanks as he made a couple of good stops to see the score remain at 2-2. The hosts had their own opportunities too as they went close but they came up against a brick wall in O`Connor as the netminder`s when called upon answered the call for their side.
With the
time ticking down it saw the games only two penalties called within a minute of
each other and both going against the visitors. Firstly Tim James collected a
Teeing penalty at 36.50 and then Stephen Thomas saw him pick up a 2 minute call
for Elbowing on Nicholson at 37.36 with the Devils players ruled to have caught
him with an elbow behind the Phoenix nets.
From the resulting powerplay for the home side it saw them unable to convert with the two man advantage, but just as the penalty expired on James it saw Nicholson slalom his way over the blue line, before then passing out wide to the incoming Rob Allen and the Manchester man fired past O`Connor to see the Phoenix lead 3-2 and have the home side and fans celebrate the goal at 38-55.
Cardiff looked devastated and at the same time miffed over the penalty decisions that Referee Whittle had given against them in the lead up to the goal. Manchester was looking a bit desperate in parts at defending and needed some last ditch defending to see the home team snuff out any chances that the Devils created late on, as the in the final forty seconds of the game it saw the visitors pull the netminder for the extra attacker.
Manchester was desperately trying to clear their lines and get the puck
out of their zone, but could only clear it as far as to a red shirt and saw the
Devils try as they might, unable to score and Manchester held on for a huge win
against a very tough and talented Cardiff side, to see the Phoenix move level
on points with the joint leaders in the Peterborough Phantoms and their next
opponents they face in the Kingston Kestrels.
Both
sides put on a terrific game of sledge hockey for the fans that turned up and
saw the Devils come away with mixed feelings as they put in a fantastic display
to match the Phoenix in long parts, but the result wasn`t what they were
looking for so the Welsh side will be disappointed but happy with their
performance.
For Manchester it was massive boost for them as they avenged their loss to the Devils from the previous week and now sees them face the tough task of playing the current team in first place at the moment of this blog, in the Kingston Kestrels at Altrincham early next month.
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| TAKEN FROM: SLEDGEHOCKEY.CO.UK website |
Kim McGreal blog: http://carolinakaniac.wordpress.com/2014/07/13/sledge-hockey-review-manchester-phoenix-vs-cardiff-devils-12-07-2014/
Phoenix official: http://www.manchesterphoenix.co.uk/news/2482/sledge-hockey
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