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Phoenix dominate, but Bison take the points

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Basingstoke Bison 2 – 1 Manchester Phoenix

Phoenix made the long bus ride to Basingstoke without leading scorer Ed Courtenay, but welcomed number one goalie Steve Fone back to the line up as they looked to keep in touch with Milton Keynes at the top of the EPL table.

Basingstoke started quickly hoping to overturn their previous two home losses to the Phoenix and they opened the scoring inside three minutes as Tom Long netted. Phoenix tried to force their way back into the game, but the home side were playing a strong physical game and containing the Phoenix offensive raids. Veteran Tony Redmond gave the home side a two-goal margin in the eleventh minute and this sparked a resolute response from the visitors only for the home defence to again stand strong in keeping them at bay.

The second period saw the Phoenix dominate the puck possession and take the game to the Bison. Wave after wave of Phoenix offensive play laid siege to the home goal, but a mixture of some wayward finishing from the Phoenix forwards and good defence by the Bison saw the home side keep their goal intact. Former Sheffield goalie Davey Lawrence who had previously conceded 15 goals at home against the Phoenix was in sparkling form and frustrated the Phoenix forwards throughout the period in which the home side were heavily outshot 25 to 7.

The final session again saw the Phoenix take the game to the Bison with almost constant pressure on the home goal and Lawrence continuing to deny them. Phoenix had to work hard to kill off a High-Sticking penalty on Greg Woods and back at full strength, they finally got the breakthrough that their efforts deserved. Player coach Tony Hand and Finn Jaakko Hagelberg worked the opening for Andre Payette to net his third of the season against Basingstoke – all on their ice – in the 50th minute. Phoenix didn’t get carried away by the goal, but continued to try and break down the Bison defence rather than over-committing and leaving themselves exposed at the back. Into the final minute, Phoenix used their timeout to replace Steve Fone with another skater, but the ploy proved unsuccessful and the Phoenix slipped to a disappointing loss having dominated the possession and shots on goal count throughout the sixty minutes.

Phoenix player coach Tony Hand noted, “It’s very disappointing to have lost the game after all the possession we had and having played so much of the game in their end of the ice. It was good to have Foney back between the pipes after his shoulder injury and as soon as we get Ed (Courtenay) back in the line-up after his trip home for Christmas, I’m sure we’ll be back in contention. We’ve got a tough game on Sunday against Slough, but we’ll be at home and I’m sure our fans will be there in numbers to support us.”