MANCHESTER PHOENIX 6-4 PETERBOROUGH PHANTOMS
Hand, Kovar x2, Archer,
Psurny, Schnabel Piatak, Ferrara x2, Koulikov
Manchester Phoenix remained top of the EPL
table with a below par 6-4 win over the Peterborough Phantoms at the Altrincham
Ice Dome. The game was far from an easy two points for the Manchester hockey
club as the Phantoms shown they were far from pushovers in the contest .
Peterborough were coming off the back of a
good victory down in their own barn against fellow strugglers, in the Telford
Tigers the night before.
Phantoms have undergone a bit of a change
in the last few weeks or so, as new head coach Slava Koulikov has swapped the
uncertainty of troubled club Slough Jets, for a move across to the East of
England in Peterborough and has brought a few of his men from Slough with him
too, notably Lithuanian forward Darius Pliskauskas.
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| Ice dome v Phantoms |
Another big crowd at the Altrincham Ice dome , saw the Manchester Phoenix from the opening face off dominate the first period of play, as they put the Phantoms under
a good deal of pressure and got given an early powerplay opportunity with James
Ferrara taking the trip to the box at 0-28 gone in the game for Cross Checking.
From that resulting powerplay the Phoenix
scored the game opening goal after Tony Hand pass towards goal, saw the puck
diverted in off Marcel Petran skate for a 1-0 lead at 1-16 as it beat Damien
King in the Peterborough nets.
James Neil then sat for 2 minutes in the
box over a bizarre Hooking call at 6-55, which saw the home side kill off the
penalty and rejoin his team mates just before Robin Kovar skated into the
Phantoms zone and fired high over King to make it 2-0 at 8-58.
Marc Levers then headed to the penalty box
for the visitors after he got called for Cross Checking a Phoenix man into the
board from behind, but was called Cross Checks nevertheless at 13:04.
Phoenix made it two from two on the
powerplay, after James Archer strike at 13-15 saw Manchester score three
unanswered goals and Peterborough were starting to look down the barrel of a big
defeat coming their way.
Minutes later the visitor`s scored a well
worked goal to get themselves on the scoreboard, as some quick passing between Darius
Pliskauskas and Marcel Petran found Slovakian forward Erik Piatak at the side
of the net, who then found the angle to score past Steve Fone for a 3-1 game at
14-26.
We then witnessed a scrap between Phoenix
Jacob Corson-Heron and Phantoms player Will Wheldon, with the Peterborough man
getting the better shots in and flipped the Manchester player over for the take
down too. Heron picked up a extra 2 minute call from the officials for Slashing,
as Peterborough were awarded a power play at 14-48.
Phoenix increased their lead through a
shorthanded effort from Czech forward Michal Psurny, after Tony Hand
intercepted a pass just outside the Phantoms zone and then fed Psurny who then waited
for King to commit himself and at that point Psurny took the puck round the
netminder and slotted home for a 4-1 lead at 16-48.
Harry Harley then went for Slashing at
16-58 and with that, no further action took place as the home side took a
comfortable 4-1 lead into the first break.
The play was completely turned on it`s head
from the Second period onwards, with the Peterborough Coach Slava Koulikov certainly
given his men a stern talking to during the period break, as they came out a much
different side from that of the first.
Peterborough seemed to camped in the
Phoenix end for a majority of the Second period with Phoenix thankful of Steve
Fone between the pipes, as without him the home side would have been in deep
trouble as he pulled off some very important saves.
If trying to contend with the Phantoms
attack wasn`t enough for the home side, then they were also getting into penalty
trouble with Phoenix seemingly getting the rough end of some of the calls, as some
calls not being called against their opponents was and a couple on Phoenix were
dubious at times.
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| Kovar cracks on over the post |
On that powerplay a blast on goal was stopped by Damien King`s Helmet, as the crack of the puck on the helmet saw it break and then we then had a delay, with King trying to sort the problem out, before borrowing his team mates helmet for the rest of the game.
Peterborough then made the game 4-2 as
player-coach Slava Koulikov scored to give the Phantoms a deserved goal for all
their good play as Levers and Pliskauskas saw Koulikov score for the visitors
at 31:40.
Ben Wood picked up another call for the
home side this time for a dubious Hooking call at 32-13, that was followed a
couple of minutes later by a 5 on 3 advantage to the Phantoms. When Messer`s
Hand & Kovar was called for Tripping and Hooking, with the Kovar penalty Levers
went down in stages while glancing at the referee and angered the crowd as it
looked a dive to draw the extra man.
Everyone expected Manchester to come out and
play better in the final twenty of the game, after their poor second period
display. However for the home side, it never really got going at all with the
home side seemingly to be stuck in 2nd gear and never got to the standard of
the first period.
Peterborough got a bench penalty called against
them, for an Icing Infringement at 43-32 and it saw Phoenix score on the
powerplay through Robin Kovar, as the Czech forward saw his shot fly in the net
after good work by fellow Czech line mate, Michal Psurny and player coach Tony
Hand at 43-26.
Richard Bentham a former-Phantom then got called
for Hooking at 44-15 with the visitors looking to try and find a goal back on
the man advantage. Not long after he came out, Bentham was quickly back in the
penalty box this time, he was called for Boarding by the referee at the far end
of the rink.
Though the young forward hit on his
opponent seemed to be a good clean hit, but not in the officials eyes.
Manchester then made it 6-2 at 50-16, with
Rob Schnabel one timing a blast from the left circle that saw the puck bulge
the net and seemed to have killed the game off now.
Peterborough though, can certainly say they
were unlucky with bounces going their way, as they struck both posts and the
cross bar on numerous occasions in the final period. The sound of the puck
pinging off the pipe work was a godsend by Phoenix and seemed like the worst
noise in the world for those donning the red shirts of Peterborough.
Phantoms was certainly hitting the Phoenix
goals, sadly for them it was hitting the metal work once again and seemed like
Manchester`s net was living a charmed life to say the least.
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| Phoenix attack |
Peterborough cut the arrears to just three
goals then, as James Ferrara made it 6-3 to Phoenix as he put home around the
Phoenix nets after a scramble, with Luke Boothroyd trying to stop the
Peterborough man from scoring and couldn`t, then saw Ferrara and Boothroyd have
a little coming together after the play.
With Boothroyd slightly losing his cool
after the way Ferrara celebrated the goal in front of him, assists on the
powerplay goal went to Darius Pliskauskas and Erik Piatak coming at 56-35.
The visitors made it a bit more closer with
25 remaining in the match with James Ferrara grabbed his second goal of the
night, as a lapse at the back saw Peterborough punish Phoenix with a Pliskauskas
pass going across the front of the net and past back up netminder Paul Maudsley
in the Phoenix nets, with Ferrara making it 6-4 at 59-35.
The win saw Phoenix consolidate top spot in
the table and with them playing closing out 2013 away tomorrow night (Monday) against
Milton Keynes Lightning it means 2013 will end with the Manchester side top of
the EPL no matter what.
In the new year, they have a tough weekend ahead
where they face joint leaders, the Basingstoke Bison down in Hampshire before
returning home on the Sunday to face Stevie Lyle and his Swindon Wildcats.
Phoenix also as off Monday morning have drafted in Former Bracknell and in recent weeks ex-Peterborough player Jaroslav Cesky to help out the Phoenix, as he comes in to replace fellow Czech Repulic forward Frantisek Bakrlik who is currently injured. The Czech forward will hope to make his debut tonight in Milton Keynes for the traveling Phoenix.
English
Premier League
|
GP
|
W
|
OTW
|
OTL
|
L
|
GF
|
GA
|
Pts
|
|
1
|
Manchester
Phoenix
|
28
|
19
|
3
|
2
|
2
|
135
|
71
|
46
|
2
|
Basingstoke Bison
|
31
|
18
|
4
|
2
|
7
|
123
|
86
|
46
|
3
|
Guildford Flames
|
32
|
20
|
1
|
3
|
8
|
141
|
103
|
45
|
4
|
Milton Keynes Lightning
|
30
|
15
|
4
|
0
|
11
|
121
|
103
|
38
|
5
|
Sheffield Steeldogs
|
32
|
10
|
2
|
5
|
15
|
110
|
140
|
29
|
6
|
Bracknell Bees
|
31
|
9
|
3
|
3
|
16
|
98
|
123
|
27
|
7
|
Slough Jets
|
29
|
12
|
1
|
1
|
15
|
104
|
118
|
27
|
8
|
Swindon Wildcats
|
28
|
8
|
3
|
1
|
16
|
86
|
105
|
23
|
9
|
Telford Tigers
|
30
|
9
|
2
|
0
|
19
|
91
|
122
|
22
|
10
|
Peterborough Phantoms
|
31
|
8
|
0
|
6
|
17
|
103
|
141
|
22
|
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