ICE HOCKEY: Psurny Treble Sinks The Herd

Manchester Phoenix   8 -  3  Basingstoke Bison

Both sides reflecting on their game 

English Premier League (EPL) Champions Manchester Phoenix completed an incredible fightback that saw them overcome the EPL Playoff champions the Basingstoke Bison with five goals coming in the third period, as the Phoenix showed signs that they may have turned the corner finally. The league champions came back twice in the contest to as they took victory at the Altrincham Ice dome 8-3 thanks namely to forward Michal Psurny, as the Czech man netted his first hat trick of the season for the Phoenix in what was a crazy game.


The win looked extremely unlikely after the opening period of play when the Bison rampaged over a lacklustre Phoenix side that looked low on confidence, out of ideas and very below par at times too. Basingstoke who sat in second place prior to the game, looked as always a very well drilled side and looked to execute their game play as the opening half of the period saw the game even with no one really on top to start with.



Bison though never really got out of first gear and in all truth they didn't need to either as Manchester was having a difficult time trying to clear their zone with the Bison playing a quicker game and mainly not putting a foot wrong. On the flip side, the Phoenix was making bad decisions all over the ice and despite the hosts enjoying early possession in the opening half of the period; they just couldn't get any kind of meaningful shots on Dean Skinns as he kept a clean sheet. Basingstoke in the second half of the period saw them attack Phoenix with quick counters attacks that saw the home side having just one defender back covering and led to multiple odd men rushes for the Bison.


Eventually the numbers game told and saw Phoenix yet again being caught on a 3 on 1 rush by the rampaging Bison, which saw Tomas Karpov make it 1-0 for the visitors at 11-29 with Declan Balmer and Michael Wales getting assists. The visitors then thought they had scored less than a minute later, but referee Andy Miller washed it out for a 'man in the crease' and had the Bison's protests fall on deaf ears. As it was the Herd didn't have to wait very long for their second goal to come, as another Phoenix defensive fail saw the Bison double their lead through a Michael Wales strike at the back post to see the visitors looking good for their lead at 13-45 and the home side looking dead and buried at that point in time in the game.



Phoenix fans vented their displeasure towards the players, as they were putting in a poor display in front of their home supporters and any errors that the home side made was greeted with a collection of frustrated groans around in the stands. The hosts then got given a powerplay opportunity after Joe Baird went for Hooking and saw Phoenix unable to take a single shot in the two minutes, with passes going astray and going nearer their own goals than that of their opponents.  Play ticked down and saw the Bison seemingly having got the better of the Phoenix already in the game, after they snuffed out all attacks in the first period of the game and saw one said dejected and flat, while the other was massively upbeat and looked on course for victory, repeating a worrying trend of late for Phoenix being beaten in the opening periods of games.




In the second, it saw a better period for the hosts as they tried to find their way back in the game after a stern Tony Hand team talk seemed to work, with the Phoenix coming out and looked to be a much different side to that, that played out the opening period.  One indication of a change in the game, saw a passage of play that saw Phoenix and Bison players battling hard down towards the corner and saw no one shying away with fully blooded hits and some slightly questionable ones too, that saw the Phoenix almost make a statement during it, that they weren't going to be bullied anymore in the game.



Manchester then got given another chance on the powerplay and saw them this time make the most of it, with player coach of the Manchester side Tony Hand and Michal Psurny combining to see Robin Kovar redirecting it in at the front of the net for a 2-1 score at 26-53, then a couple minutes later at 28-25, it saw Hand and Psurny once again team up to see another Czech forward get in on the act as Frankie Bakrlik found the twine with his  blast for a tied game at 2-2.  Basingstoke hit back 93 seconds later to retake the lead after an unlucky break for Steve Fone, as the Phoenix netminder thought he had stopped the puck completely but could only take the speed off it as it unfortunately squirmed through his defences just trickling in over the line, much to the frustration for the hosts after there was a mad scramble by both sides in the crease as it seemed no one could touch it.


That lead for the Bison lasted all of 41 seconds, with the Phoenix striking right back themselves, after Michal Psurny converted from Hand to see the score tied at 3-3 and saw the hosts edging the final half of the period as the game had completely turned in favour of the home side now.  Basingstoke though did have chances, but was now getting their shots half blocked and were still getting breakaways as the hosts pushed on for goals and left the back gate open far too many times against a top outfit in the Bison, but they couldn`t capitalise now. The buzzer sounded for the end of the second and   had the game nicely poised heading into the third, with the match to close to call on who would come out the winner.



An old puppet show called 'Stingray', had a phrase "Anything could happen in the next half hour!" and by crikey didn`t it half.  Manchester just flat out dominated play from the drop of the puck in the third to the final buzzer, as they dismantled their opponents, though part of it was down to a lot of ill discipline within their side too and partly led to their downfall.  Frankie Bakrlik sat for two minutes in the open early stages of the period, with the Czech forward getting a High Sticks calls at 40-21 and saw the Phoenix on the penalty kill. The home side snuffed out their opponents chances and not only that, but they also took the lead too. As Joe Graham saw the spotted the movement of Tony Hand and his attempted pass up ice was stopped by Kurt Reynolds at centre ice, but Hand managed to gather the puck back and blasted one by Skinns for a short-handed goal at 42-17 to see the Phoenix lead for the first time in the contest.


Declan Balmer then picked up a needless 2+10 minute penalty for a Check from behind on Shaun Thompson, with the Phoenix forward pushed into the goal frame from behind by Balmer and that started the implosion by the Playoff champions from that point onwards.  Adam Walker made it Six for the Phoenix at 45-40 as a quick attack by the home side saw Hand slow play right down, before he found his fellow countryman and Walker fired a quick shot in the Bison net for a 5-3 lead and had the fans finally seeing the Phoenix click for the first time properly all season. Joe Greener then lost his cool with the official over something he saw, to which the forward would not let drop and saw continue on at the match official and spoke out of term to the referee and picked up a ten minute Abuse of Official call at 50-14. 



Michal Psurny then scored his second goal of the game and looked to be looking like his old self again, as the man from the Czech Republic banked the puck off the back of the net with an oncoming Bison defender coming towards him and then tried a mini wrap around and made it Six for the hosts, with the Bison quickly losing the plot big time in the game now and saw a timeout taken to gather their thoughts. The timeout temporarily halted the goals, with the Phoenix netting twice more through an excellent Ben Wood solo goal and then saw the Bison defence go walkabouts, before a 2 on 0 by Manchester saw Hand feed Psurny and the Czech forward completed his hat trick to round off the rout at 57-47 and had everyone in shock over what they saw.



No one could have predicted the outcome and turnaround in the game after viewing the 1st period and the 3rd, it was quite incredible. Phoenix had played abysmal and looked likely to ship more goals, but to then come out and by the end look like the defending league champions, no doubt that this result will have raised a few eyebrows in the league and perhaps a sign to come, that the Phoenix are rising once more and are back in business but for now the win is springboard for the Altrincham side to use now for the rest for the season.  Manchester have a weekend at home next week, as they entertain the National Ice Hockey League outfit the Dumfries based Solway Sharks on Saturday night in the EPL cup, before hosting another tough game in the Guildford Flames the following evening in the league.

 Official Manchester Phoenix Podcast:  Listen Here

RUGBY: Sharks show bite in cup victory

Sale SHARKS  32  -  29 WASPS

Sale Sharks opened their LV=Cup campaign with a win in a see-saw game against the Wasps 32-29 at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday Afternoon, the match saw the lead change hands no more than seven occasions in the contest and had the visiting side battle back from ten points down in the second half to then draw level before a Nick Macleod penalty gave the Sharks the victory in an entertaining game for the fans, but frustrating for the coaches. 


The hosts were hoping that home comforts would help them out after their last few tough weeks for the Eccles based outfit, that has seen the Sharks get beaten heavily in Clermont last weekend in the European Rugby Cup and then suffered heartbreaking defeat against Irish heavyweights Munster, with a last gasp drop goal that denied them a famous win.  On the domestic side of things they was humiliated in front of a television audience at champions Northampton and saw their last victory ironically, coming against their visitors in this game nearly a month ago in the Wasps.


Both sides had a different look to each other from the last meeting between the two, as a few players was rested by their respective teams as Sale had Magnus Lund, Tom Arscott and Danny Cipriani being the main trio of players omitted from the home squad and for the away side they had Andy Goode, Christian Wade and Ashley Johnson all missing from the Wasps line up.


 It saw a fast opening to the game in which the hosts took an early lead through the boot of Joe Ford after the Sharks driving maul them gain 40 metres up field and forced a penalty by Wasps.  Ford kicked over for a 3-0 Sharks lead after only 2 minutes of play and from the resulting kick off it seen Wasps come right back, as Will Rowlands crashed over the try line for the away side with Alex Lozowski adding the conversion for the visitors as they took their turn to go 7-3 up with less than five minutes gone in the game.  Sale then responded themselves in the 9th minute of the game, when the home side won their own line-out and with some nice passing deep inside Wasps territory and led to a gap in the defense which Alberto De Marchi ran into space and over for a try to see the Shark bite back with Ford kicking the extras.


An explosive opening ten minutes of play then brought some calm to the contest, with both sides making handling errors as the story of this contest was a attack being the best form of defence and it seemed to ring true with neither side being able to defend well in the opening quarter of the game.  It then saw Wasps quickly break through the Sale defences thanks to a break by the visiting Captain Ben Jacobs, as he made a quick dash towards the Sharks line but was brought down well by the last man and saw them quickly use the ball at the breakdown and saw Will Helu going over under the posts to give the visiting side the lead back again at 14-10 with Lozowski converting once again.


The game turned into a ‘anything you can do, i can do better’ type of contest, with Sale breaking away again down the left flank and then had Mark Easter make a brilliant offload to Josh Beaumont (son of Bill Beaumont) and he went over the whitewash for a try to see a one point lead for the hosts with Ford kicking over to make it 17-14.  This crazy match turn on it`s head once more, as Wasps attacked once more and got held up on the line by the Sale defence but once again the ball was played to Helu and he ploughed over to claim his 2nd try of the game and had the attack for both teams well on truly on top in the match. 


Sale came close on many occasions to retaking the lead but for a number of knock on`s and the ball being passed to people that wasn`t there that helped contribute to the Sharks inability to get a score.  With the time running down in the half, Sale tried to find some field position for a drop goal attempt and with three seconds remaining the ball was played back to Ford and the fly half pulled his kick wide as it drifted left of the posts to have the hosts trail by two points into the break.  



Second half saw conditions turn a tad wintery with swirly rain and wind about that saw both teams having to deal with the elements and made the kicking game almost impossible to use. Sale drew first blood in the second half thanks to a Viliami Fihaki try as the Wasps back line tried their best to stop the Tongan but his power was too much to handle and saw the Sharks man finding the line to lead 22-19,  Ford was unable to convert the kick and so it became a three point game. Both sides had decent amount of possessions but neither could get through the defences to which had finally turned up and made chances of scoring more difficult.


In the 62nd minute of play a break by Sale`s Sam James saw him cut through the visitors defences and with Charlie Ingall in support of James the Sharks man passed it into his direction and Ingall went under the posts for the fourth try to the hosts and made it a 29-19 score with Nick Macleod taking over the kicking duties and duly added the extra points for Sale with just under 20 minutes of play to go.  Wasps hit right back once again in the match with Ed Jackson making a going over after a little a sidestep move by Lozowski fooled the Sharks and Jackson was on hand to make to score and get the points.

With 10 minutes to play in this entertaining game, it saw Lozowski kicking over a penalty for the away side and saw the opponents level the game at 29 all. Five minutes later the Sharks were back in front with the Sale forwards once again putting pressure on the Wasps defense and so saw them conceding a penalty, to which Macleod kicked over between the uprights and proved crucial heading towards the end of the game with close to four minutes left to play in the match.


Wasps tried to get the ball from Sale as the hosts played tremendously well in the final few minutes of the contest as they just tried to see out the game with them eating up the clock as much as they much, but saw them gaining yards and keep the ball in their opponents half frustrating the Wasps and managed to force them to give up a penalty with less than thirty second to go in the match and despite Macleod unable to convert,  the game was won and the most pleasing factor for Sale boss Steve Diamond must be the way the side bounced back and put on a good performance as well as the players given a run out that will give Diamond food for thought on his selection process.

The hosts looked very attacking in their playing and will hope to build on their win as they look for a second successive win with a trip to Leicester Tigers next weekend in the next LV=CUP game 

ICE HOCKEY: The rocky Phoenix Horror show

Manchester PHOENIX   3 - 4  Peterborough PHANTOMS 

Thursday evening witnessed a horror show on ice by the English Premier League champions as the Peterborough Phantoms carved open their opponents with three goals in the opening period that rocked the home side in this pre Halloween game and made it very scary viewing for the home fans to watch. After the thrilling match on Sunday night that saw the Phoenix unfortunately lose out 3-2 to an overtime goal, it was hoped that the performance given that night would be seen as a bit of a jump start for the champions and that they could kick on from that game, what transpired though was the most opposite end of the scale possible.

It was a performance to forget for the home side for a majority of the game, with the Peterborough team asserting their dominance from the off and that was pretty much the story of the game. The last time the Phantoms travelled up to Manchester, it saw them edged out 3-2 that night could count themselves very unlucky not to have picked up a point in that last encounter.

The Phantoms looked more focused and had a gameplan that they put into practice and saw them not just dominate the Phoenix in the opening period, but absolutely dismantle their opponent too in the game. To say it was a below par performance by the hosts, would be the biggest understatement of the year, as all aspects to the Phoenix game was appalling whether it was in attack, defense or even passing.

Things started badly early on for the home side, when Shaun Thompson was penalised for Tripping after just 38 seconds into the match when pushed a Phantoms player one too many times into the back by the boards and the referee raised his arm resulting in him heading to the penalty box.  From that resulting Phantoms power play it saw Edgars Bebris fire in the opening goal of the game with the home defence being pulled all over and when the home side failed to deal with the puck in their zone, it saw James Hutchinson finding James Ferrara who pass found Bebris near the front of the goal and he buried it after 1-52 in the game for a 1-0 score.

Peterborough rarely attacked much in the first period as their hosts was having a great deal of difficulty trying to find a teammate with their passing and was getting out skated by the Phantoms forwards as the away side took it to the league champions. 

Steve Fone looked a bit rattled by the goal and the fact he had no support from his defence in which saw the home side concede a second goal didn't help matters, as yet again it saw a defenseman being beaten for speed with Bebris again being a thorn in the Phoenix side, as the Latvian made a little move at the net to slide the puck under Fone for a 2-0 score. Phoenix looked lost and unable solve any questions that the Phantoms posed them in the match at that point and looked to a long night ahead for the hosts. 

The home side then went on the power play at 12-12 as Alan Lack was given a delay of game penalty for the visitors and saw the Phoenix waste their man advantage with the Phantoms killed it off without ever breaking sweat for the two minutes.  Peterborough was the only side that seemed to turn up for the game and they soon hammered home their advantage soon after, as at 16-26 a counter attack by the Phantoms that saw them move quickly up ice on a 2 on 1 that was led by Edgars Apelis , he had Luke Ferrara in support with him and the Latvian defenseman passed the puck to Ferrara and he fired top corner over the glove side of Steve Fone and gave them a 3-0 lead.

That then saw Player-coach for the home side in Tony Hand, making the decision to change netminders as Fone was pulled in place of Declan Ryan and had the home fans supporting Fone as he skated to the bench as it was a rare bad night for the shot stopper, as on Sunday he was Man of the Match and just goes to show how quickly things can change in hockey.

Adam Walker had the only decent chance in the period for the hosts, as the puck came to him unmarked at the back door with Janis Auzins stranded and with no defense about either, the Scottish forward then proceeded to strike the foot of the post from 2 foot away, to squander a perfect opportunity and pretty much summed up Phoenix as they lacked hardly any threat at all. The Phoenix fans then eventually had something to cheer as 11 seconds from the end of the first period a Tony Hand throw on net was redirected in by Adam Walker`s stick that gave the hosts a goal back and was very much against the run of play too.

In the second period it was more in the way of penalty based action, as yet again another poor 20 minutes by the Phoenix outfit saw them unable to cut out any decent chances on any of their four power play`s that came their way in the period.  Peterborough had come with a game plan to just frustrate the Phoenix forwards and make full use of their counter attacks and that worked to perfection, as Phantoms coach Slava Koulikov will have been very pleased to see his men cut out every attack that the Manchester side tried to create in the match. 

Edgars Apelis picked up the opening call in the second, with the Latvian sitting for two over a Slashing call against him at 20-28. Frantisek Bakrlik then picked a unlucky two minute call himself not long after, as he went for a Boarding call on a Peterborough player that seemed to be a clean hit, but referee Tom Pering didn`t agree and so sent the Czech forward to the penalty box.  Phantoms then picked up a bench penalty for a Face-off Violation and yet again the Phoenix were unable to create anything clear cut in the way of shooting opportunities as they took far too long setting up their power play and had next to nothing in the way of shots in the two minutes they had.

Tom Norton then took his turn to sit in the Phantoms penalty box for a Slashing call at 32-22, as a Phoenix player skated over the centre circle and Norton just hacked him a bit too forcefully for Pering liking and so he headed to the sin bin. The only time Phoenix looked threatening on the power play, seemed to come with three seconds remaining on the clock and saw Hand pass the puck out towards the front of goals where Joe Graham a former Peterborough player, then had the best effort for the hosts in the twenty minutes.

At 37-07 the final penalty against the Phantoms was called, when Marc Levers was given a two minute penalty against him for a Holding the stick call. The former Nottingham Panthers forward wasn`t too happy about it as in the lead up the penalty it saw Bakrlik seem to trip the Phantoms player up, so in retaliation Levers grabbed the stick of the Czech man and Pering caught him red handed and a furious Levers headed to the box.

After two periods of hockey, the Phantoms had out played, out fought and out worked the champions on both ends of the ice and looked to be a foregone conclusion to the final period. Manchester seemed to come out for the third period a different side and eventually looked to have awoken from their slumber, slowly coming in it as the game progressed in the final twenty.  Phoenix scored their second goal of the game at 43-30, when a Shaun Thompson pass found Czech forward Robin Kovar and the forward took a tumble to the ice just as his effort beat Auzins to make it a 3-2 game.

Manchester then gave away a poor turnover in their zone and despite the attempts to try and clear the danger away, it was very predictable outcome in the end as Luke Ferrara manage to gain possession in front of a crowded Manchester goal and found the back of the net for Peterborough as he netted the fourth for the travelling side and made it a two goal game again and looked to have killed the game off.  Peterborough then looked in search of a fifth goal and after Graham had cut out a pass by the away side he attempted to bank it off the boards and away from trouble, but instead he managed to clear it out of play and picked up a delay of game call at 52-38 to see the Phantoms on a power play.

Less than a minute later it saw a goal go in, but not for the away side. Michal Psurny managed to get control of the puck in his defensive zone and then had Tony Hand set off ahead of him, with the Czech man playing the puck up ice to him and despite the efforts of a Phantoms D man partly blocking the attempted pass up ice, it saw Hand drag the puck back up towards him and then blast it by Auzins for a short-handed goal at 53-26 for a one goal game.  Manchester killed off the penalty and saw them push for the tying goal and had Auzins a bit unsure at times with the Phantoms defense scrambling clear the puck as the hosts looked to have final big push in the final 3 minutes.

With less than a minute remaining the match, the home side huffed and puffed at Peterborough net and in honesty never truly looked like they would find this tying goal and after a misplaced pass in the middle of the Phantoms zone, it  was just what the visitors wanted and saw them wind time down by the Phoenix end to pick up a big two points and record only their second ever victory at the Altrincham ice dome with the 4-3 win that definitely flattered the Phoenix.

ICE HOCKEY: Tigers pounce in overtime thriller

                         

Manchester Phoenix         2          3     Telford Tigers 

 (after Overtime)   

The Reigning EPL (English Premier League) champions the Manchester Phoenix came up just short in an absolute barnburner of a game at the Altrincham Ice dome on Sunday night as they fell to the big spending Telford Tigers in overtime. 
Manchester have been experiencing a somewhat up and down start to their season so far and with some injuries to key players not particularly helping their cause either, though victories over the last couple of weeks in the shape of NIHL (National Ice Hockey League) sides the Billingham Stars and the Blackburn Hawks had seemed to inject some confidence in the side and they hoped they could transform cup form into league form against the league leaders.

Manchester came out on fire from the opening face-off and put on without doubt, their best period display of the season to date with a fantastic team effort. The Phoenix gave a stern test to their visitors the Telford Tigers, with the home side having the Tigers defence in knots a fair few times in the opening period and was their first test against their title rivals at home. 

 Tom Murdy between the pipes for the visitors was always equal to the home attack and he denied the hosts with some key saves that would otherwise have ended up in the back of the net normally. Telford's attack was dealt with brilliantly by the home side as the visitors never had a sniff in the opening 20 minutes of play, with the forwards back checking to help out their team-mates and looked solid throughout.

Manchester`s defense has been found wanting on many occasions this season so far but a solid shift by Joe Graham and fellow Nottingham-born defenseman James Neil, saw the pair making important plays in the back line.  Phoenix had been knocking more and more upon the Tigers door yet they just weren't able to beat Murdy as the netminder made save after save stopping the puck.  The hosts general play was easy on the eye and the only thing missing was a goal, that all changed then at 15-15 in the game when a quick passing move saw Captain Luke Boothroyd and Michal Psurny set up Adam Walker, who converted from close range to give the champions a deserved lead for 1-0.

Manchester carved out many chances in the opening period and saw some sublime pieces of passing and team play, that really should have seen the Phoenix a couple goals up. Telford in their offensive play was limited to their shots coming from the outside mainly, where the home defence really was well and truly on top of one of the most lethal strike forces in the league. 

The period came to an end and saw the hosts go into the first break a goal up and was very deserving of that lead due to their superb defensive and attacking play, that would have had many teams in trouble.

In the second period it saw a more even game, with the Tigers starting to feel their way back into the match as a Max Birbraer blast found the hot glove of Steve Fone and where the Phoenix netminder looked focus  in the game and letting the opposition know that the hosts were up for a battle in this game and would be a tough nut to crack.

Fone was on call (no pun intended) for the hosts in the middle stanza, with the Telford forwards beginning to find their rhythm finally and looked a much stiffer outfit than the one in the first. In truth Telford didn't really play that badly at all it was just mainly that Manchester played at a much higher tempo and executed their game plan better and was something the visitors didn`t deal with it.

Luke Boothroyd then almost gave the Tigers a great chance at coming back in the game early in the second, as the Phoenix captain started an attack from behind his own goal and then lost an edge skating out towards the front of his own goals and saw the defenceman hit the deck, but had Telford unable to capitalise on the slip up so to speak, with the home side rescuing the situation. 

 Telford`s travelling support was making their voices heard in the far corner of the rink as they tried to push their side on as they looked to get back into the contest. At 32-24 that was just what happened, when play down by the corner saw both sides fighting for the puck and when Jason Silverthorn gained possession of it he fired home from the tightest of angles and managed to somehow beat Fone at his near post tying the game at 1-1.

Telford then began to edge play and saw them starting to have the momentum swinging their way with the closing stages of the period fastly approaching. With less than a minute of play to go it saw the Tigers go on quick rush with Peter Szabo skating on goal before then making a drop pass to former Phoenix man Joe Miller and the Welshman was stopped by Fone, play then quickly went up the opposite way where Psurny cleared to Tony Hand and his pass from his own zone found Frantisek Bakrlik, whose wrist shot found the top shelf to beat Tom Murdy and have the home side regain the lead with 30 seconds left on the period.

In the 3rd period a tightly contested match ebbed and flowed between the two sides which had both teams having chances early on, Phoenix then reverted to their old ways in defence and left a huge gap at the back after being caught out far too high up the ice too often that then led to a 2 on 1 break for Telford and saw them make full use of it.  Joe Miller broke down the left side and then passed across goal and the evading block of Boothroyd to see Silverthorn net his second goal of the game with a simple tap in at the backdoor with Fone pulled out of position to draw level for the second time.

The leaders then thought they had gone 3-2 ahead in the match very soon after, when Jason Silverthorn put the puck in the net only to see the goal washed-out by match official Steve Brown who had ruled that Peter Szabo performed a hand pass in the lead to the goal being scored. 

From the replays the match official called it correctly and despite Silverthorn trying in vain to argue his case against it being a no-goal, it fell on deaf ears.  Telford grew more in the contest with the Phoenix seemingly showing tiredness in their play and led to them making a couple of mistakes, one of which led to the Tigers tying goal. 
Steve Fone then made a string of top draw saves to stop thwart the Tigers attack performing a double save whilst on a penalty kill that saw him stopping a near certain goal from Sam Zajac and then a rebound off Silverthorn to keep the game level at 2-2.

Both teams were unable to find the winning goal in regulation so the game headed to an overtime period to see who take the extra point on offer and take one off their rivals. Phoenix tried to find some energy from their reserved for the extra period as the short benched champions were hanging on for the final five minutes of the game and wished they had the luxury of extra men on their bench something that the visitors had.
Phoenix though did start the brighter of the two sides and had a couple of chances on Murdy, but nothing that was really going to trouble the Tigers goaltender in reality.

With the scoreboard signalling less than a minute of play to go in overtime, it saw an attempted clearance by Bakrlik knocked down towards the middle of Phoenix zone where upon Jason Silverthorn was fed by Dan Davies and the former Hull Stingray had enough time to flip it high up into the Phoenix net for the game winner and saw the Tigers beat the champions 3-2.

Steve Fone won Man of the Match for the home side as the Phoenix number one, played an absolute blinder to keep his side in the game late on, of that there is no doubt.
His team mates certainly tired towards the middle of the third and that loss means now that Fone has recorded only one win on home ice this season for the Phoenix and will be something he is keen to turn around. 

 For Telford it sees them opening up a 4 point gap at the top of the EPL table and for Manchester, it`s a case of dropping more points against their rivals and are now 10 points behind the leaders with a game in hand.

Phoenix will look to bounce back to winning ways this coming Thursday night at the Ice dome, when they take on the rejuvenated  and surprised package in the league this season the Peterborough Phantoms, Phantoms currently occupy third place in the table and sees Manchester sitting in sixth position two points behind the Guildford Flames and will be a tough game for the Phoenix as well.

ICE HOCKEY: Phoenix Bring Down The Hawks

         

MANCHESTER   PHOENIX    12   -   5   BLACKBURN HAWKS

Manchester Phoenix picked up a confidence boosting win in the English Premier League Cup on Sunday night when they beat local rivals the Blackburn Hawk 12-5, Czech Forward Frantisek Bakrlik bagging four goals for the hosts and saw youngster Jared Dickson scoring a 2nd period hat trick too in the big win.

Over the years matches between the Blackburn Hawks and the Trafford Metros or Manchester Storm, always produced physical and gruelling encounters and the start of this game saw that trend continuing. The atmosphere in the rink certainly had that feel of a derby occasion with a big crowd inside the Altrincham ice dome and had plenty of Hawks fans making the journey down the M61 to renew an old rivalry. Despite the fact the teams are separated by one league, it saw the league leaders in the National Ice Hockey League North Moralee (NIHL) division, taking on the reigning English Premier League Champions and the opening period saw them evenly matched and made a thrilling opening period.

It witnessed incredible start to the game, that saw the visitors take the lead with just 10 seconds gone in the match, after a mix up involving Phoenix Captain Luke Boothroyd and netminder Declan Ryan, that led to the puck going through the legs of the netminder as he was unaware of where the puck was and it stunned the home fans. Blackburn had a little purple patch, in which they were extremely dangerous going forward and had the nonexistent Manchester defense getting caught out on numerous occasions. Phoenix though levelled the game up at 4-36 when Frantisek Bakrlik scored his first of the night with a lazer shot that went over Daniel Brittle shoulder and pinged in off the pipe work to make it 1-1.

One soon became two, as fellow Czech forward Robin Kovar grabbed the 2nd Manchester goal at 5-01 with Shaun Thompson picking up an assist to help the hosts go in front. Blackburn though wasn't going to cave in after shipping in two quick goals and so saw the top scorer for the NIHL side in Adam Brittle, fire in an equaliser that tied the game up and saw a crazy opening to this derby clash. Manchester then seemed to use the second Hawks goal as a big wake-up call in the game, and from that point onwards they seemed to be focused more in the contest. Bakrlik then made it 3-2 to Phoenix with 7-32 gone in the game, as Bobby Chamberlain and Luke Boothroyd were credited with assists as the import forward grabbed his second goal of the game and saw him displaying his deadly finishing ability.

Blackburn much to their credit never gave up and had a couple of chance on Declan Ryan, with the netminder seemingly to be a bit rattled by the early goals conceded at the start. The Hawks had a bit of family affair in their ranks, with Daniel between the pipes and had Adam and Luke causing trouble upfront as they were connecting well and saw Ryan and his defence, having to make some defensive blocks. Jack Watkins then slipped the puck under the goalie for 4-2 to the hosts at 9-50 in the period, after a lovely pass by Adam Walker across the face of the goal saw the young British forward skate to the front of the net and push it goal wards for a nice Phoenix move, that saw them open up a two goal cushion.

Ollie Lomax of the Hawks then picked up a Hooking penalty and saw the Phoenix have a powerplay opportunity, to which Bakrlik fired into the back of the net to see the Czech man complete his hat trick with the assist on the goal going to Thompson at 16-00. In truth the score line seemed to be a tad harsh on the Blackburn side, as they weren`t getting outplayed totally by their rivals, they was punished by the EPL side who just had too much quality for them and jumped on the errors. The opening 20 minutes of the game saw a very entertaining game of hockey and had the Phoenix lead 5-2.

If there any questions about the difference in quality between the EPL and the NIHL sides, that question was answered in the second period when the Phoenix blitzed the Hawks with Six goals during the period that all but finished the Hawks off.  The period also witnessed an unlikely hat trick hero in the form of Jared Dickinson, as the young Salfordian forward bagged his first hat trick in Phoenix colours, in just under 8 minutes to see the crowd erupt for the Phoenix forward. In the remodelled EPL Cup tournament, the format is a good way to give extra ice time to the younger players in the squad that may not have been given much playing time so far, and blood junior players too. Dickinson however made full use of his ice time and grasped it with both hands, as his second goal shown he had grown in confidence a lot and saw a nice little move on Brittle that made it 7-2 to the home side .

Adam Brittle then launched a bolt from the blue line that nearly took Ryan head off in the Phoenix goals, as the puck struck the underside of the bar and bounced in to give the travelling Blackburn fans something to cheer in the middle period, as it was one a painful one to watch for the Hawks, as the strike made it 7-3 at 28-55 with Chris Arnone picking up an assist. Dickinson then scored his hat trick goal at 29-52, with Thompson picking up his third assist of the game along with James Neil, to see the hosts moving towards double figures. Manchester scored three further goals in the period, with Bakrlik, Kovar and Chamberlain all netting for the hosts, and saw the score at the end of the second period reading 11-3 to Phoenix and was very much all one way traffic in the middle stanza.  We did see a little tiny bit of needle between the players, as Adam Walker and Pavel Slowik had a little disagreement and saw Walker clearly annoyed with the Hawks import defence man as they tangled going for the puck and led to him shoving the Blackburn player on his derriere and led to both being penalised after the whistle.

With some people wondering if the Phoenix would ease up or try to aim for their club record score, it then saw the Hawks make a mini fight back as Blackburn struck back twice quickly in succession with Adam Brittle netting at 43-15 and then Jared Owen making it 11-5 to the home side at 43-27, as Luke Brittle grabbed an assisted on it. Less than a minute later, the Phoenix responded through Bobby Chamberlain who put in a excellent shift during the build up to the goal and seen him make it 12-5 to the EPL Champions. It saw also the under 18`s getting more ice time than in previous games, as it gave them gain valuable experience with Mike Gilbert going close a debut goal at the back of the second period. Richard Ravey was then called for Hooking at 47-06 and looked a very poor decision by the match official, which led to Luke Brittle talking out of line to the Steve Brown and subsequently saw him pick up a 10 minute misconduct call for Abuse of official.

Overall, a good confidence boosting win for the Phoenix saw them end the weekend on a high note, after they suffered a 4-3 loss down in Basingstoke and sees them next weekend making the trip up north to Scotland to face the Solway Sharks, before the hosting the big spending Telford Tigers at home. Man of the match went to Adam Brittle of the visiting Hawks and Jared Dickinson for the home side, as it saw the forward lead the traditional ‘Phoenix wave’ as they send their fans home happy with a win over their long time rivals.

RUGBY: Last Gasp Drama Robs Sharks Of Famous Win

SALE SHARKS                       26 - 27           MUNSTER RUGBY

Sale Sharks suffered a heartbreaking loss to their opening group game of the new European Rugby Cup competition, as a last gasp drop goal by Munster`s Ian Keatley, saw the Irish club take victory in what was a thrilling game of rugby at the AJ Bell stadium with the visitors taking the win 27-26.

Depending on which side of the fence you sit on, you could arguably make a couple of cases for the loss for the Sharks. Either they let the game slip away from their grasp or it was the opponent experience of these games that let two-time winners of this competition in its former format, finding their way to victory. The game also saw the biggest crowd for a Sale Sharks game since they moved to the AJ Bell Stadium last season from Edgeley Park, but also saw a lot of travelling red shirted Munster fans, as they made the trip over from Ireland for this big clash. It saw the hosts make their traditional good start to the match, when they were awarded an early penalty for foul play by the visitors and saw the Sharks attack from the kick off. 

The Sharks then found a gap in the Munster backline when a pass by Danny Cipriani found Johnny Leota and the Samoan broke free, but then tried to offload to the wrong player up in support with him, and saw a knock on by Sale to see an opportunity goes begging.

Munster was then penalised at the scrum and had Cipriani slot over with a kick to give the Sharks a 3-0 lead after 5 minutes into the contest. Munster tried to strike back straight away and had Irish International Simon Zebo using his pace to cause the Sale defence problems and saw him help his side move up field.

This then led to the visitors getting points on the board, as their strength and power in their pack saw them driving a maul towards the Sale try line, and from there Dave Kilcoyne forced his way over for Munster to take the lead with Ian Keatley converting the extras. Sale then cut the lead to just one point, when Cipriani kicked over a penalty for a 7-6 lead to their opponents after quarter of an hour gone in the match.

Referee Mathieu Raynal then picked up a freak injury, when Michael Paterson accidently clipped the back of the officials leg as he was retreating for the restart and saw Raynal in lot of discomfort. Raynal was coming back from a horrific injury he sustained last during a French league match, in which he broke both his legs in a sickening incident, he was then replaced by fellow Frenchman Laurent Cardona as Raynal was helped off the pitch to signal the end of his game

Sale then went back in front with another penalty by Cipriani, with the English fly half moving the Sharks 9-7 in front and reminding the England selectors about a possible recall with his kicking game. In the 23rd minute, the Sharks moved ahead by 9 points as the home side was forcing Munster back to their own goal line and then saw Magnus Lund who was the only surviving member of the last time these teams met, quickly pick up and plant the ball over the line for a try to see them 14-7 up with Cipriani kicking superbly.

It got better for the home side soon after, with the Sharks side dominating Munster in the entire first half and led them to score another try, with Johnny Leota dummying his way through the opposition and going over to see the score move onto 23-7 with another kick converted by Cipriani, to see the Sharks in a commanding position in the game. 

Sale came close to scoring a third try, but a challenge by Tommy O`Donnell on Chris Cusiter during a good move by Sale, saw him take the Scottish forward without the ball and so saw the Munster man sin binned and had his hold out from the following attack by the Sharks, to go into the break with a lot of thinking to do.

With Sale in total control of the game, Munster went into the break going having to go back to the drawing board, with the Sharks playing a good fast paced game that Munster unable to deal with.

Munster looked like a completely different side after the break and the Pro 12 side enjoyed the majority of possession they had as they looked to try and work their way back into the contest. The Red Army should have made more of a fantastic passing move that had the Sale defence caught napping and saw Andrew Conway dropping the ball at the worst time to let the Sharks off the hook. However it wasn`t to be for much longer, as Conway made up for his error a few minutes later with the right-winger managing to go over in the corner for try and see the lead cut back to 9 point deficit.

The crowd was really up for this, as both sides were willing their respective sides on for the final 20 minutes of the game. Conor Murray then scored Munster`s third try of the game, with the visitors completely changing the face of the game and saw Sale having no or limited ball possession in the half, with the Munster forwards forcing the game and seeing Sale rocked.

Cipriani then kicked over a penalty and was must needed for the hosts, as they were getting pulverised by the Munster side in the second half and was just happy to take points that was on offer, as they tried to keep the scoreboard ticking over with 12 minutes remaining in this tight contest.

Ian Keatley then responded straight away for the visitors, as he converted a penalty for the Irish side and saw the game move into the final 10 minutes of an enthralling contest that saw the game separated by just two points and the game possibly going either way. Sale then had a rare attack in the second half and that saw Munster turnover a ball outside their own 22 and a great kick by JJ Hanrahan had him find touch deep inside the Sharks half.  It saw the Sharks finding a gap as they looked to play their way out of trouble, but some indecision by Cipriani saw the home side having to be at their best for one final defensive effort, as they looked to thwart the likelihood of a drop goal chance by the visitors late on.

Munster led one final assault on the Sharks goals and with time over, it saw Keatley shaping up to kick but had to change plans, with Cusiter charging fast at him inside the Sale 22. Munster then moved the ball back inside the Sale 22 and then with the ball sent backwards to Keatley, he made no mistake under pressure and this time watched it sail through the posts for a drop goal and send the travelling Red Army fans jubilant and the Sale players and fans distraught.

It has to be said though, Munster was the clear favourites heading into the game and yet the Sharks gave them a hell of a game and have no reason to be down, as they battered the Munster side for 40 minutes of the game and not many sides will be able to say they did that to the Limerick based side, in either this competition or Pro 12 this season. 

Munster though shown why yet again, they are so tough to beat and can never write them off as they have the quality and belief to come back, despite the big lead that the Sharks had opened at the break.

 For Steve Diamond and men a trip over the channel awaits and where they face Clermont Auvergne next week in another tough group game. 

However the last time Sale played Clermont in Europe, they beat them on their own patch 32-15 back in 2008 and so they`ll be hoping lightning strikes twice.  

 

POOL A:

Pos	Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	F-A	TF	MP	BP	Pts
1	Saracens	1	1	0	0	30	23	+7	4	5	1	5
2	Munster	1	1	0	0	27	26	+1	3	4	0	4
3	Sale Sharks	1	0	0	1	26	27	-1	2	1	1	1
4	Clermont Auvergne	1	0	0	1	23	30	-7	2	1	1	1