MANCHESTER PHOENIX 6-3 BRACKNELL BEES
Manchester
Phoenix booked their place in the English Premier League Playoffs finals at
Coventry next weekend, with a 8-6 aggregate win over the battling Bracknell
Bees for the second successive post-season to see them progress through to
Final Four.
It means that the League Champions face an equally
tough challenge against the Swindon Wildcats in the opening Semi final after
the Wildcats defeated the Milton Keynes Lightning 5-4 on aggregate their
respective tie.
Manchester had to overturn a one goal deficit after
the first leg down in Bracknell at the Hive, that game saw the home side
bringing up a 3-2 lead from Berkshire to take up to the North.
Scott Spearing drew first blood for Bracknell
before goals by Richard Bentham and Robin Kovar saw Phoenix move into the lead
at 2-1, that was till Spearing added his second of the game with Jan Bendik
scoring the go ahead goal for 3-2 soon after to see them confident of defending
that lead on the Sunday evening.
For Phoenix this was like deja vu all over again, as a couple weeks
previously they found themselves in the same predicament, when on that occasion
much like this game they need a victory by two clear goals or more as that
would see them through the finals weekend.
From the opening face-off it was a plain to see
that one side was happy to soak the pressure up with out really being tested
too much. Bracknell was trying to play a defensive game and saw Manchester
struggling to get any type of attack or move going what so ever in the contest.
The first note of the game came at 6:06 in the contest, when Richard Bentham was penalised for Abuse of Official as well as Tripping when Tony Hand got flattened by a Bees player in the build up and saw Bentham upended to, but neither incident drew a penalty.
Prior to the penalty that was awarded there was
numerous incidents involving Scott Spearing on Robin Kovar off the puck which
saw the Czech man Hooked, Slashed and Tripped up, yet unbelievably all
appeals fell on deaf ears by the two referees and was in front of one, who
was in perfect position for all three incidents but ignored all.
However this angered the Manchester team and saw Bentham skate around
one of the referees who instantly raised his arm for a penalty and then seconds
later he tripped up a Bees player and saw the other referee then call him for
the Tripping.
The whole passage of play perfectly spotlighted the
poor officiating in the EPL this season, with blatant stonewall calls not being
made, but then the softer calls for the opposition would be made and has seen
many players in this league voice their opinions on social media over how bad
the officiating has got to.
As it was, Bentham was correctly called and picked
up 2 plus 10 minute penalty for Abuse of Official, those two calls were the
only correct incidents that the officials had got right in the opening period.
So after a stale opening period by both sides, we then moved to the
Second period of play and saw a coming together of players after Bentham was
roughed up behind the play, after he gave a shove to the Bracknell player and
in doing so saw him claim a Roughing penalty at 22-45 and saw the Penalty kill
unit doing their job very well.
The Visitors then had a man sent to the box for
High Sticks after James Archer took an opponent`s stick to the face and drew a
bit of blood, but neither official wanted to call it until one of the
linesman`s intervention highlighted the blood and so saw a Bees man headed to
the box at 25-56.
With the penalty on Lewis Turner having expired, a
minute later saw Scott Spearing finally get a call against him as he went for
Slashing, when it seemed to be a stick into the body, but he sat for two
minutes any how.
Andy McKinney then went for a high sticks call but
saw his team mates hold out and saw score remain scoreless.
With the home side still unable to make any head way into drawing the
tie level , it need a moment of brilliance to break the deadlock and it came in
the shape of Michal Psurny as the Czech Republic forward used skill to get by
the Bracknell back line, before he then made a nifty move to squeeze it through
the tightest of gaps left by Alex Mettam at his left hand post to see the
Phoenix draw level in the tie and lead 1-0 on the night at 34-04.
Phoenix then found themselves with a powerplay opportunity after Sam Oakford had Cross Checked a Manchester man into the back and saw him head off to the penalty box at 38-24.
From that penalty Frantisek Bakrlik blasted home a
one time shot from the Point after work by Michal Psurny and Tony Hand created
the goal that saw Manchester take a 2-0 lead and go 4-3 into the lead
overall.
Over a minute later at 37-36 it seen Defenceman Joe
Graham pop up from nowhere to increase the lead for the home side as a nice
flick at the near post saw the puck roofed past Mettam for 3-0 after Tony
Hand`s vision and pass picked out the Nottingham born Graham and he made it 5-3
to the Phoenix in the tie.
The tie seemed to be all over but over you thought,
as Bracknell was looking tired with their short bench, but they managed to get
back in the game, when Lukas Smital put his effort in on a delayed penalty goal
to make it 3-1 to the home side, but saw the Bees now within one goal overall
at 5-4 down with the goal coming at 45-26.
Manchester came right back, as a poor defensive
clearance came straight to Tony Hand on the blue line and he skated on goal
before firing past Mettam for a 4-1 game at 46-24, Phoenix may have thought
that the fourth goal would kill off the Bees hopes, but it didn`t.
Tempered then began to fray between the two sides
with at 48-03 in the game, Scott Spearing was playing his usual agitating role
perfectly as he gave a slash on the glove of Steve Fone after the whistle which
then drew a couple of players over and it was fair to say they didn`t look too
kindly, notably Bakrlik and Kovar. They had a coming together with Lukas
Smital and who else..but Scott Spearing, which seen all four men sit for two
minutes.
At 51-41, James Galazzi scored for the Bees to make it a 4-2 game and
saw the visitors living up to their nickname, as they were annoying the Phoenix
with the Bees constantly hovering and thus staying in touch with the overall
score at 6-5.
Scott Spearing just couldn`t avoid putting himself around enough and saw him collect a Hooking penalty on Robin Kovar at 53-28, that then saw Phoenix make it 5-2 on the night after James Archer flicked it in over Mettam while the forward was tied up near the front of the net and saw Phoenix looking like they had sewn it all up now with Tony Hand and Robin Kovar grabbing assisting at 54-59.
Phoenix looked to be cruising now as a Frankie
Bakrlik howitzer flew by Alex Mettam and took everyone by surprise as the
sounds of the loud pings off the pipework, saw the puck nestle in the back of
the Bracknell net for 6-2 and Phoenix were heading to Coventry.
However the coach had to be temporarily pulled up, with the
plucky Bracknell side not give up hope of a miracle and so at 56-27, it saw the
Bees get a slight bit of good luck as Luke Boothroyd lost his stick while
the Bees were 'buzzing' round the Phoenix nets and saw the puck fizzed across
the front of Fone`s crease and got diverted in by Bakrlik skate for a 6-3 game
set up a tense finale. Manchester managed to hold out with the two goal
advantage and saw them progress in a great game of hockey which saw them swat
the Bees for a second straight year and make it back to the finals weekend in a
thrilling playoff series too.
Phoenix official: http://www.manchesterphoenix.co.uk/news/2461/phoenix-head-coventry-defend-play-title
Phoenix TV :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=to22q7mFF08
The Angry Budgie blog: http://theangrybudgie.blogspot.co.uk/2014/04/phoenix-v-bracknell-bees-30th-march.html
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